SaberCats feast on woeful Arrows in Houston

The Houston SaberCats dealt a savage beating to the Toronto Arrows at AVEVA Stadium on Saturday evening. While the final score read 29-17 to the home side, three late tries masked what was an otherwise woeful performance from the visitors who trailed 29-0 well into the final quarter.

Both teams squandered early scoring opportunities. Houston settled into the game quickest and Gerrie Labuschagne took the corner on his opposite to win territory. A shot at goal was turned down and when a second penalty was conceded Dean Muir tapped and ran straight through two defenders to score the first try. Kian Meadon knocked over the routine conversion.

Paul Ciulini won a turnover for the Arrows but the backline gave the ball straight back to the SaberCats with a poor pass. Houston went through the phases and it was their forwards who got around the corner quickest with Juan Pablo Zeiss bashing over, again converted by Meadon.

Mistakes continued to plague Toronto as Louritz van der Schyff belted Mitch Voralek to force another turnover. Two overthrows at the lineout added to their misery and Meadon landed a penalty to make it 17-nil to the home side.

Labuschagne’s aggression cost him when a tip-tackle on Voralek resulted in a red card to the Houston winger. That would be the only positive Toronto would take to the half as they trudged into the change room with no points on the board.

There would be nothing for the Arrows to start the second half either. Voralek broke from his own goal-line to halfway but again the ball was turned over. An off-the-ball scuffle landed Siaosi Mahoni in the bin for being the third man in, leaving Houston with only 13 men momentarily until the red card expired.

A bizarre sequence came at the hour mark. van der Schyff burst onto a Marno Redelinghuys offload and cut back inside to score. The TMO initially called the try off for an act of foul play against Houston, but after Toronto kicked to touch from the penalty the TMO rescinded his decision having somehow identified a player from the wrong time.

van der Schyff’s try went back on the board and Meadon landed the conversion. Just two minutes later van der Schyff was in for his double, and slicing back inside to again leave the Arrows defense grasping at air and secure the four-try bonus point.

Replacements streamed into the match and Houston switched to cruise control. Lolani Faleiva would power over for two tries as a replacement, with a single going to Guiseppe du Toit. Emmanuel Albert was binned in the final minute for team infringements before Faleiva’s double. It was all academic as the game slowed to an anticlimactic end.

Both teams will enjoy bye weeks before returning to action on May 8. Toronto limps home to prepare for a do-or-die clash against Rugby New York, while Houston travels for an equally vital match against the San Diego Legion.

SCORING

HOUSTON 29
Tries – D. Muir (12′), J. Zeiss (20′), van der Schyff 2 (60′, 63′)
Cons – K. Meadon 3/4 (13′, 21′, 61′)
Pens – K. Meadon 1/1 (29′)
YC – S. Mahoni (55′), E. Albert (80′)
RC – G. Labuschagne (37′)

TORONTO 17
Tries – L. Faleiva 2 (67′, 80’+1′), G. du Toit (75′)
Cons – S. Malcolm 1/3 (68′)

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Alec McDonnell (17 Frikkie de Beer 59′), 2 Dean Muir (capt.) (16 Diego Fortuny 64′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Pono Davis 59′), 4 Marno Redelinghuys (19 Will Crawford 71′), 5 Siaosi Mahoni (20 Emmanuel Albert 65′), 6 Wynand Grassmann, 7 Keni Nasoqeqe, 8 Jaco Bezuidenhout (22 Malon Al-Jiboori HT), 9 Dillon Smit (21 Zachary Short 70′), 10 Kian Meadon, 11 Gerrie Labuschagne (23 Trace Bolstad 57′), 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Christian Dyer, 14 Matai Leuta, 15 Zach Pangelinan

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 62′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 65′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 62′), 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.) (19 Adrian Wadden 61′), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 James O’Neill (20 Siaki Vikilani 61′), 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Riley DiNardo (21 Gordon McRorie 55′), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Mitch Richardson, 12 Ueta Tufuga, 13 Spencer Jones (22 Guiseppe du Toit 46′), 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Mitch Voralek (23 Gastón Mieres 58′)

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jack Gohl (Australia)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Mitch Damm (USA)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USA)