ATL salvage bonus point after first half mauling in Houston

The SaberCats scored a 40-28 victory over Rugby ATL in Houston on Saturday evening. It saw the home side exploding with 35 unanswered points to start the game, but the visitors fought back to salvage a losing bonus point with a more concerted effort in the second half.

Houston were on the attack from the start and Danny Barrett nearly crossed only for ATL to win a turnover deep in their end. Davy Coetzer grew impatient and attempted a snap drop goal that was wide of the mark, but the visitors couldn’t clear their lines. Martini Talapusi saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on and the floodgates opened.

Coetzer sliced through himself to start the onslaught, and barely two minutes later he was in for a double after Dom Akina broke free from his own end. Next it was Carlo de Nysschen scoring on an offload from Dean Muir, and Muir himself would cross as he peeled off a driving maul.

A fifth try came when Coetzer picked out Christian Dyer with a cross-kick. Talapusi looked to have the winger covered but somehow Dyer completed the catch and grounded the ball in the corner. ATL would get on the board just before the break when Jordan Brown went in from close range to make it 35-7.

Dyer nearly had a double only for an earlier infringement to scrub out the try early in the second half. Kurt Coleman entered the game for ATL and immediately upped the tempo. With his team now on the front foot, Te Rangatira Waitokia stepped back inside the defense to score under the posts.

Rowan Gouws was next to breach the line, following up his forwards with a dart on the short side. A few minutes later a Gerrie Labuschagne stepped, whirled, and rolled in for a sixth Houston try, but Ryan Rees found his way through to snag the bonus-point for ATL on full-time.

Both teams are on the road next Sunday. Houston head north to face the Chicago Hounds for the first time, while ATL are up against the defending champion New York Ironworkers.

SCORING

HOUSTON 40
Tries (6) – D. Coetzer 2 (20′, 22′), C. de Nysschen (28′), D. Muir (32′), C. Dyer (37′), G. Labuschagne (75′)
Cons (5) – D. Coetzer 5/5 (21′, 23′, 29′, 33′, 38′), D. Wild 0/1
DG (0) – D. Coetzer 0/1

ATL 28
Tries (4) – J. Brown (40’+3′), T. Waitokia (49′), R. Gouws (65′), R. Rees (80′)
Cons (4) – D. van Schalkwyk 1/1 (40’+4′), No kick (49′), K. Coleman 2/2 (66′, 80’+1′)
YC (1) – M. Talapusi (18′)

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Alec McDonnell (17 Frikkie de Beer 68′), 2 Dean Muir (capt.) (19 Axel Zapata 66′), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Pono Davis 64′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (23 Emmanuel Albert 49′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Danny Barrett (16 Gideon van Wyk HT), 8 Wynand Grassmann (20 Malon Al-Jiboori 66′), 9 Carlo de Nysschen (21 Nick Boyer 70′), 10 Davy Coetzer (22 Zach Pangelinan 66′), 11 Gerrie Labuschagne, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Drew Wild

RUGBY ATL
1 Will Burke (16 Alex Maughan 50′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 62′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Lincoln Si’i 62′), 4 Nahuel Milán (21 Ross Deacon 56′), 5 Jordan Brown (19 Justin Basson HT), 6 Johan Momsen (capt.), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Daemon Torres (20 Frederick Henry-Ajudua 66′), 9 Rowan Gouws (22 Ryan Rees 66′), 10 Duncan van Schalkwyk (23 Kurt Coleman 45′), 11 Jack Shaw, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Martini Talapusi

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Jono Cooper (USA) & Blair McClure (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)