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New England celebrated another franchise attendance record on Sunday as over 4,700 watched them glide past the Houston SaberCats by a final score of 47-24. The victory is the 14th of the campaign for the Free Jacks which sets a new club mark, eclipsing their 13 wins of last season.
The home side were hit with a blow just a minute into the game as Beaudein Waaka was forced off after taking a thunderous hit to the ribs from Danny Barrett. Reece MacDonald moved up to flyhalf with Spencer Jones coming in at fullback.
Houston took the initiative and camped out in New England territory for over 10 minutes but it was the Free Jacks who struck first. Kian Meadon attempted to chip over the line only to see the long arms of Le Roux Malan reach up and pluck the ball from air. The midfielder raced 75 meters untouched to score against the run of play.
In the background Mitch Wilson limped off with a bad hamstring, forcing loose forward Joe Johnston to come on at the unfamiliar position of wing. Moments later it was another runaway try for Malan. This time it came from a counter-attack, with Paula Balekana’s offload freeing Ben LeSage on the left sideline, who in turn found his center partner back on the inside.
The SaberCats were forced to shuffle their own backline as Robbie Povey went off with Jax Hidalgo coming in on the wing and Nick Boyer moving into the centers. Repeat penalties then saw Wian Conradie binned for collapsing a maul, and Barrett would smash over from close range to get the visitors on the board.
LeSage broke through the middle to set up a try for Balekana at the half-hour mark, with MacDonald’s conversion stretching the lead to 12 points. Meadon knocked over a three-pointer on the stroke of halftime to lead it 19-10 for the home side at the intermission.
A scoring barrage in the second half started when Malan cut through the midfield on first phase to score his hat trick. Fellow Namibian Wian Conradie was next to score, squeezing in under the defense from close range. Another LeSage line break yielded a try for John Poland just before the hour mark.
The SaberCats brought on Gideon van Wyk at the hydration break, but just like Johnston it was on the wing rather than his usual back row position. Kainoa Lloyd then snuck through a gap at the edge of a ruck to score a try in his club debut.
A fracas at a ruck resulted in both Mitch Jacobson and Wynand Grassmann being sent to cool off on the sidelines. Nick Boyer grabbed an intercept try with a few minutes to play, but the final say would go to Conradie who muscled over for his double to the delight of the partisan crowd.
Both teams now look to the postseason. The SaberCats are up first with a road game against the Seattle Seawolves on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Western Conference Final. New England will host the Eastern Conference Final against the either New York or DC on July 1.
SCORING
NEW ENGLAND 47
Tries (7) – L. Malan 3 (12′, 16′, 47′), P. Balekana (31′), W. Conradie 2 (53′, 78′), J. Poland (59′)
Cons (6) – R. MacDonald 6/7 (13′, 32′, 48′, 54′, 60′, 79′)
YC (2) – W. Conradie (24′), M. Jacobson (69′)
HOUSTON 24
Tries (3) – D. Barrett (25′), K. Lloyd (67′), N. Boyer (74′)
Cons (3) – K. Meadon 3/3 (26′, 68′, 75′)
Pens (1) – K. Meadon 1/1 (40’+1′)
YC (1) – W. Grassmann (69′)
TEAMS
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 48′), 2 Mills Sanerivi (16 Andrew Quattrin 48′), 3 Cole Keith (18 Joel Hintz 48′), 4 Semisi Paea (19 Sam Fischli 54′), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Mitch Jacobson (capt.), 7 Slade McDowall (23 Cam Davidowicz 60′), 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 60′), 10 Beaudein Waaka (22 Spencer Jones 1′), 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Mitch Wilson (20 Joe Johnston 13′), 15 Reece MacDonald
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Alec McDonnell (17 Frikkie de Beer 50′), 2 Dean Muir (capt.) (16 Axel Zapata HT), 3 Valdemar Lee-Lo (18 Will Vakalahi 50′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (19 Wynand Grassmann 50′), 5 Emmanuel Albert, 6 Danny Barrett (20 Asa Carter 50′), 7 Keni Nasoqeqe, 8 Hanco Germishuys, 9 Carlo de Nysschen, 10 Kian Meadon, 11 Zach Pangelinan (21 Gideon van Wyk 60′), 12 Robbie Povey (23 Jax Hidalgo 21′), 13 Kainoa Lloyd, 14 Nick Boyer, 15 Gerrie Labuschagne
Not used: 22 Davy Coetzer
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Mike Rudzinsky (USA)
TMO: Luke Rogan (USA)
Attendance: 4,758
