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Rugby United New York earned a 54-19 victory over the Houston SaberCats at Belson Stadium. A storming 42-point opening half did the damage for the home side, though they may come to regret a substandard second half should points differential come into the final playoff equation.
It was Houston who scored first, as New York spilled possession in their own end. Zachary Short picked out Paula Balekana alone on the wing and after beating his opposite on the outside there was only green in front on a straight sprint down the sideline.
The tables turned immediately. New York pushed into Houston territory with Andy Ellis crossing under the sticks after selling a dummy at a ruck. Soon after Dylan Fawsitt broke to the short side of a maul and there was nobody home to stop him. Both tries were converted by Dan Hollinshead.
Within just a few minutes time both Ellis and Fawsitt would have doubles. Ellis reached out of a lifting tackle from Zachary Short to ground the ball on the line. Fawsitt’s second came on a barging run up the middle after a Kyle Sumsion charge had put the defensive line on retreat.
Two more tries came just ahead of the halftime break. Samu Tawake went through some soft defense on the post to reach out and score. From the restart Fawsitt was put in the clear and then Benjamín Bonasso tore upfield, offloading to Apenisa Cakaubalavu for the finish.
New York did not have the same energy in the second half. Just two minutes in Zach Pangelinan busted through the line and connected with Veramu Dikidikilati on his outside to finish off a long-range effort. Sam Windsor chipped over the routine conversion.
It would be almost half an hour before either team would score again. Taylor Howden spotted a gap a slipped through, finding Nick Boyer in support on the inside for a clear run to seven points. New York still held a commanding lead but their differential was suddenly diminished.
Two scores just a minute apart helped expand the margin once more. Max Dacey reached out of a ruck to score his first points in Major League Rugby and then Joel Miranda provided a moment of individual magic, chipping over Boyer’s head and regathering to scorch his way to the try zone.
Houston will have one more chance to end their losing streak before the season ends but it’s a short turnaround for their road game against Seattle on Thursday. New York have got the bonus point win they needed and will now prepare for home game against NOLA next Saturday that will play a major role in deciding who moves into the Eastern Conference Final.
SCORING
NEW YORK 54
Tries – A. Ellis 2 (5′, 13′), D. Fawsitt 2 (11′, 19′), S. Tawake (34′), A. Cakaubalavu (36′), M. Dacey (75′), J. Miranda (76′)
Cons – No kick 2 (5′, 75′), D. Hollinshead 5/6 (12′, 14′, 20′, 35′, 37′)
HOUSTON 19
Tries – P. Balekana (1′). V. Dikidikilati (42′), N. Boyer (69′)
Cons – S. Windsor 1/2 (43′), No kick (69′)
TEAMS
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Zak Taulafo (17 James Rochford 53′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.) (16 Diego Maquieira 53′), 3 Samu Tawake (18 Kirk Hamilton 53′), 4 Charlie Hewitt (19 Max Dacey 47′), 5 Evan Mintern, 6 Kyle Sumsion, 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Kara Pryor (20 Rob Irimescu 47′), 9 Andy Ellis (21 Conor McManus 47′), 10 Dan Hollinshead, 11 Apenisa Cakaubalavu, 12 Will Leonard (22 Harry Bennett 53′), 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai (*23 Connor Wallace-Sims 30′), 14 Joel Miranda, 15 Ben Foden
*23 Connor Wallace-Sims left the field at 72 minutes and could not be replaced
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nik Hildebrand (17 Patrick Donovan HT), 2 Diego Fortuny (16 Mike Brown 63′), 3 CJ Burke (18 Jeffery Steele 38′), 4 Bronson Teles (19 Adriaan Booysen 49′), 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Apisai Tauyavuca (20 Will Crawford 63′), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Luke Beauchamp (capt.), 9 Zachary Short (21 Nick Boyer HT), 10 Taylor Howden, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Sam Windsor, 13 Joe Thomas, 14 Zack Godfrey (22 Veramu Dikidikilati HT), 15 Zach Pangelinan (23 Jake Hidalgo 44′)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Miles McIvor (USA)
