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Houston overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to leave California with a convincing 45-28 win over RFC Los Angeles on Sunday. A dominant second half showing from the visiting forwards paved the way to 5 tries and 33 unanswered points as the SaberCats clawed their way back from defeat.
It was the visitors who scored first, with Max Schumacher on the end of a multi-phased attack after the scrum had earned a penalty. The home side fired back with a fine passage of their own. Ben Houston’s offload found Jack Shaw in support, who in turn set Rory van Vugt free for a run-in.
The champagne rugby continued from LA as they went wide left, then all the way right and Seth Purdey was the one to get the credit at the end. An easy shot at the posts were then turned down in favor of the corner, and the gamble paid off when Billy Meakes snuck a grubber through the onrushing defense for Nick Chan to slide on and score.
Pita Anae-Ah Sue won a penalty at the breakdown to set up a response for the SaberCats. It was the captain Nathan Den Hoedt who crossed the line from short range. LA punched their fourth try in on the stroke of halftime when Gonzalo Bertranou fired a wide skip-pass to van Vugt to give the fullback his brace and make the score 28-12.
Pote Human’s halftime talk set his charges in the right direction, and within two minutes they had closed the gap. Sam Tuifua somehow had the strength to take to the air while being tackled by Jack Shaw, and miraculously grounded the ball in the corner before being taken into touch. Davy Coetzer’s sideline conversion made it a full seven.
Players from both teams were guilty off poor discipline and dispatched to the sin bin. Johan Momsen was sidelined for a reckless off-the-ball clearout on Tim Anstee, and then Declan Leaney saw yellow for a tip tackle. Not long after Momsen returned the SaberCats looked wide and Jeremy Misailegalu stepped his way past a defender to reduce LA’s lead to just four points.
The home side lost their skipper Jason Damm for 10 minutes when he was adjudged to have collapsed a maul, with a penalty try putting seven points up on the board. Houston stretched their lead to 10 points through Justin Basson, the big lock squeezing in from in close after the forwards had pushed LA back to their goal line.
With time all but up on the clock Leaney’s frustration boiled over and he was spotted delivering some afters to a prone player at a ruck. The second yellow meant red, but LA would still get one last chance with possession. It would go the opposite of their hopes, as Dom Akina snatched a loose ball and sprinted clear under the posts to bring the curtains down on the match.
Los Angeles will have a week off to rest and prepare for their California Cup clash against the Legion in San Diego on March 8. Houston head home for another Western Conference battle against the Seattle Seawolves next Saturday.
| SCORING |
LOS ANGELES 28
Tries (4) – R. van Vugt 2 (13′, 40’+1′), S. Purdey (19′), N. Chan (27′)
Cons (4) – C. Leali’ifano 4/4 (14′, 20′, 28′, 40’+2′)
YC (2) – D. Leaney (55′), J. Damm (68′)
RC (1) – D. Leaney (80′)
HOUSTON 45
Tries (7) – M. Schumacher (6′), N. Den Hoedt (34′), S. Tuifua (42′), J. Misailegalu (62′), Penalty try (68′), J. Basson (77′), D. Akina (80’+2′)
Cons (5) – D. Coetzer 3/5 (7′, 43′, 78′), No kick 2 (68′, 80’+2′)
YC (1) – J. Momsen (48′)
| LINEUPS |
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney (17 Declan Leaney HT), 2 Ben Sugars (16 Mike Sosene-Feagai 50′), 3 Cronan Gleeson (18 Maliu Niuafe 47′), 4 Jason Damm (capt.), 5 Reegan O’Gorman (20 Matt Heaton 47′), 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Ben Houston (1 Alessandro Heaney 55′-65′) (21 Ben Strang 78′), 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Christian Leali’ifano (22 Tas Smith 74′), 11 Seth Purdey (23 Cameron Gerlach 58′), 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Nick Chan, 14 Jack Shaw, 15 Rory van Vugt
Not used: 19 Mikaea Wynyard
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo (17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth 43′), 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue (16 Seth Smith 63′), 3 Pono Davis (18 Michael Scott 63′), 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.) (19 Justin Basson 58′), 6 Emmanuel Albert (20 Keni Nasoqeqe 58′), 7 Marno Redelinghuys (21 Ronan Murphy 58′), 8 Sam Tuifua, 9 André Warner (22 Jay Renton 65′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu, 12 Sam Hill (23 AJ Alatimu 53′), 13 Dom Akina, 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Max Schumacher
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, February 23
Venue: Wallis Annenberg Stadium, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 15:00 local
Weather: sunny, 72°F (22°C), wind SW 6-9mph (10-14km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Kirk Swanner (USA)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
