Second half collapse sees Houston fall to Seattle

The Seattle Seawolves scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to take a 34-17 come-from-behind victory in Houston on Saturday night. Despite holding the vast majority of possession and territory for nearly 50 minutes, the SaberCats failed to close out the game and took no competition points out of the pivotal Western Conference clash.

Rain poured onto the pitch in the early exchanges and it was the Seawolves who opened the scoring through the boot of AJ Alatimu. A scrum penalty shortly after gave Gerrie Labuschagne a chance to tie it up from 50 meters out. The fullback had the distance but the kick was pulled wide left.

Houston used tactical kicking to repeatedly pin Seattle in their own end. The pressure soon yielded points from a defensive 5-meter lineout. Peter Malcolm’s throw-in ricocheted off the fingertips of Rhyno Herbst straight into the hands of Joe Taufete’e, who crashed over the line for the try.

From the restart Coetzer attempted an ambitious cross-kick in his own end. It found its target in Christian Dyer, who stepped past two defenders and connected with Dom Akina. The midfielder fed Labuschagne on the outside but the return pass attempt was broken up by a Lauina Futi streaking back in defense.

It was only a temporary reprieve. A knock-on spilled possession but Seattle couldn’t clear their lines. Labuschagne fired a probing kick into the corner and Futi misjudged it, stepping out of bounds to concede the lineout. From there the pressure stayed on until Coetzer popped a cheeky chip kick just over the line for Louritz van der Schyff to catch in-goal. Two more points went up on the board with Coetzer’s extras.

Futi made amends by somehow knocking back the restart, but it was quickly in the hands of Houston once again and Labuschagne drilled the ball into the corner again for a 50-22. Taufete’e thundered ahead but the defense held and the Seawolves earned some breathing room.

A free kick from a scrum gave Alatimu a chance to clear but Wynand Grassmann partially charged it down. Dillon Smith fired a wide pass to a waiting Labuschagne who launched a drop goal attempt but it was just wide of the mark. From the ensuing drop-out, Labuschagne returned fire with a towering up-and-under that eluded Adriaan Carelse and the ball bounced into the hands of Vereniki Tikoisolomone. As the winger slid towards the line it slipped from his grasp and the chance was lost, leaving the score 12-3 at halftime.

Repeat infringements saw Mason Pedersen sent to the sin bin early in the second half. The SaberCats hammered away at the Seawolves defense until an overlap was spotted out wide. Smit’s wide pass found Labuschagne and it was a simple two-on-one to send Dyer into the corner. This time the conversion was no good but it was a 14-point lead to the home side.

For a third time the SaberCats botched the restart and instead it was Martin Iosefo who snatch the ball from the air, the winger tearing upfield inside the 5-meter line. Samu Manoa was there in support and the big man picked and drove in for the try. Alatimu’s kick made it a one-score game.

The floodgates opened just ahead of the hour mark. From a set move off a scrum, Houston’s midfield were caught at sixes and sevens with a chasm left open for Futi to take an inside ball from Jordan Chait straight through for a try. The conversion from Alatimu drew the scores level.

Seattle took the lead moments later when Dyer opted to let a clearance kick from Chait roll into touch, only to watch in horror as Iosefo toed the ball ahead, regathered, and sprinted away for a gift of a try. Next it was a grubber from Chait that sat up for Futi in-goal to give the winger a double and the Seawolves the bonus point.

With time winding down there was time for one more Seawolves try. Appropriately it was Futi again who did the honors. Again it came through a grubber, with Alatimu poking the ball into the corner for Futi to regather for his hat trick.

Both teams return to the pitch next Saturday. The SaberCats face another crucial match in the playoff race as they head for Utah to meet the Warriors, while the Seawolves will host the Chicago Hounds.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 17
Tries (3) – J. Taufete’e (13′), L. van der Schyff (23′), C. Dyer (48′)
Cons (1) – D. Coetzer 1/3 (24′)
Pens (0) – G. Labuschagne 0/1
DG (0) – G. Labuschagne 0/1

SEATTLE 34
Tries (5) – S. Manoa (50′), L. Futi 3 (58′, 65′, 78′), M. Iosefo (60′)
Cons (3) – A. Alatimu 3/5 (51′, 59′, 61′)
Pens (1) – A. Alatimu 1/1 (6′)
YC (1) – M. Pedersen (46′)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (17 Alec McDonnell 61′), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Will Vakalahi 61′), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Pono Davis 61′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (23 Emmanuel Albert 39′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Wynand Grassmann (19 Keni Nasoqeqe 66′), 8 Malon Al-Jiboori (20 Danny Barrett 59′), 9 Dillon Smit (21 Carlo de Nysschen 70′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Vereniki Tikoisolomone (22 Robbie Povey 61′), 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Gerrie Labuschagne

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Mzamo Majola (17 Jake Turnbull 61′), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 James Malcolm 56′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Mason Pedersen 37′), 4 Samu Manoa (20 Andrew Durutalo 51′ {17 Jake Turnbull 52′-56′}), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry (co-capt.) (19 Taylor Krumrei 79′), 7 Charles Elton (co-capt.), 8 Ronan Foley* (21 Nakai Penny 61′), 9 JP Smith, 10 Jordan Chait, 11 Martin Iosefo (22 Karl Keane 79′), 12 AJ Alatimu, 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Adriaan Carelse (23 Tavite Lopeti 66′)

*8 Ronan Foley was off the pitch from 54 to 56 minutes due to uncontested scrums

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Jono Cooper (USA) & Brian Dusablon (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)