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The top team from the regular season will play no further part in the Major League Rugby playoffs. Having never beaten the SaberCats previously, the Dallas Jackals pulled off a remarkable 34-22 upset to leave the Houston crowd stunned in silence on Saturday night.
Dallas were intent on playing fast from the start. An early salvo was repelled by Houston, and it was the home side who got points up first through the boot of AJ Alatimu. The Jackals came straight back, however, and after several phases Ronan Foley went low and was just long enough to ground the ball over the line. Juan-Dee Oliver’s conversion attempt was wide but the Jackals were ahead.
Tomás Malanos broke from his own end to spark a second try for the visitors. Nic Benn was next to carry down the right side, followed by charging runs from Sam Tuifua and Jerónimo Gómez Vara. The final touch went to Connor Winchester, who like Foley reached out of a tackle to grab the try. This time Oliver converted and Dallas were now up 12-3.
Houston hit a purple patch when Louritz van der Schyff fired a grubber into the corner. Benn couldn’t corral the bounce and just before it found touch Tautalatasi Tasi tapped the ball back into play where Seimou Smith was waiting to score unchallenged. Just a couple minutes later it was an angled run from van der Schyff off a lineout that beat the defense. Alatimu’s kick rang off the uprights but the SaberCats were back in the lead.
Oliver brought the scores level with a penalty goal after more phase play. As the clock ticked over the half-hour mark, fatigue was clearly setting in for SaberCats who were struggling with the pace in the humid air. Incisive runs from Tuifua and Malanos won territory for the Jackals, and then Tomás Cubilla went over to leave the score 20-15 in favor of the visitors at halftime.
A superb 50-22 by Martín Elías from well inside his own half ended a wild end-to-end sequence that saw both sides nearly break free. Tuifua was held up as he tried to barge over from the resulting maul, but Gideon van Wyk saw yellow for illegal entry. Winchester then looked certain to score only for Alatimu to arrive at the last moment and jar the ball loose in a tackle.
At last the stalemate ended and in unusual fashion. Tasi attempted an ill-advised grubber on his side of halfway but missed the ball completely with his foot. Tuifua was on hand to snatch up possession with a simple pass to Jason Tidwell setting the winger free for a game-changing try.
Once van Wyk returned from the bin he broke through on a counter attack. Tasi was there alongside to work a give-and-go, with van Wyk then setting André Warner away for a runaway score. Alatimu’s conversion made it 27-22 with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
By now both teams were cramping up and replacements flooded onto the field. Houston were parked in Dallas territory but Gómez Vara stole an attacking throw-in and the Jackals earned some breathing room. A loose pass went to deck and ricocheted off a sliding Max Schumacher’s shin. He could only watch as Cubilla hacked it ahead and Oliver regathered, sliding in-goal to put the result beyond doubt.
After their best-ever regular season campaign, the SaberCats are now left to wonder what if. Dallas celebrate a famous victory in their first ever playoff match and will now move on to the Western Conference Final that will be hosted by the winner of Sunday’s game between Seattle and San Diego.
| SCORING |
HOUSTON 22
Tries (3) – S. Smith (21′), L. van der Schyff (24′), A. Warner (66′)
Cons (2) – A. Alatimu 2/3 (22′, 67′)
Pens (1) – A. Alatimu 1/1 (10′)
YC (1) – G. van Wyk (51′)
DALLAS 34
Tries (5) – R. Foley (12′), C. Winchester (18′), T. Cubilla (33′), J. Tidwell (58′), J. Oliver (77′)
Cons (3) – J. Oliver 2/4 (19′, 59′), C. Winchester 1/1 (78′)
Pens (1) – J. Oliver 1/1 (29′)
YC (1) – T. Bekerman (69′)
| LINEUPS |
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (17 LaRome White 57′), 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue (16 Tiaan Erasmus 68′), 3 Pono Davis (18 Val Lee-Lo 68′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (19 Emmanuel Albert HT), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Keni Nasoqeqe (20 Gideon van Wyk 49′), 8 Ronan Murphy, 9 André Warner (21 Devereaux Ferris 68′), 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Seimou Smith, 12 Louritz van der Schyff (23 Dom Akina HT), 13 Tautalatasi Tasi (22 Max Schumacher 67′), 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Davy Coetzer
DALLAS JACKALS
1 Joaquín Horcada (16 Connor Grindal 71′), 2 Dewald Kotze (17 Tomás Bekerman 67′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Kyle Steeves 67′), 4 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.) (19 Kyle Breytenbach 79′), 5 Javon Camp (20 Daemon Torres 67′), 6 Ronan Foley, 7 Makeen Alikhan (22 Marques Fuala’au 49′), 8 Sam Tuifua (2 Dewald Kotze 70′-79′), 9 Juan-Dee Oliver (21 Evan Conlon 79′), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Nic Benn, 12 Connor Winchester, 13 Tomás Cubilla, 14 Jason Tidwell (23 Joeli Tikoisuva 71′), 15 Tomás Malanos
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, July 20
Venue: SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 18:30 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 86°F (30°C), humidex 97°F (36°C), wind NE 0-5mph (0-8km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
