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San Diego took a bonus-point 29-16 win over Houston at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Though the SaberCats left with nothing to show for, the result was very much in doubt until two late scores from the Legion sealed the deal.
Davy Coetzer’s opening kickoff was won by Christian Dyer and nearly eight minutes of fury from the SaberCats followed. Wynand Grassmann’s line break pinned the Legion back on their goal line but despite wave after wave of attack, the Cats couldn’t quite punch through. Instead they settled for three points from the boot of Coetzer but it was a brutal statement of intent.
The Legion’s riposte was short and sharp. From the back of a lineout drive Richard Judd exploded through a half-gap and offloaded to Marcel Brache in behind the defense. The midfielder showed a clean pair of heels to the cover to slide in under the posts for a seven-pointer.
A scrum penalty gave Houston an immediate chance to regain the lead. Coetzer found the corner and Joe Taufete’e connected with Siaosi Mahoni at the front. The drive came on and after progress was slowed, Taufete’e somehow wrestled his way over the line despite the attention of two defenders for a try in his SaberCats debut. Coetzer split the uprights to make it 10-7 to the visitors with only 14 minutes played.
Another onslaught came from the Cats. Taufete’e bashed ahead, and then Vereniki Tikoisolomone cut through but the cover was there to held them out. A penalty almost in front of the posts was eschewed in favor of the corner, but the gamble didn’t pay off this time. San Diego held out and cleared their lines. When Chris Turori slipped through and set Sama Malolo free, the Legion took no such chances on their own penalty attempt. Josh Henderson’s strike was clean and the flags went up to draw the scores level.
The pendulum swung heavily towards the Legion a minute later. Blair Cowan snuck through on the edge of a ruck, and with the SaberCats defense at sixes and sevens Henderson’s flat pass sent Mikey Te’o roaring through a gap on halfway. He skipped past the outstretched arms of Dom Akina and stepped on the afterburners to score untouched. Henderson’s kick from wide out found its mark.
From a lineout just inside their half, Houston attacked the short side with Taufete’e, Tikoisolomone, and Carlo de Nysschen all making ground. The scrumhalf was isolated but Nathan Den Hoedt pinched the ensuing throw-in from Malolo. A couple phases later a penalty was conceded at the breakdown and this time Coetzer took the three on offer.
Danny Barrett won a turnover in his own end to spark another Houston advance. A high ball from Kian Meadon bounced into Tikoisolomone’s arms and alarm bells were suddenly ringing for San Diego. Malolo was binned for slowing the ball down and when the SaberCats won another penalty with time up on the clock Coetzer took the pragmatic option. The flyhalf sent the ball through the posts to leave it a one-point game at the intermission.
Houston won another scrum penalty early in the second half, but were then pinged for going off their feet at a breakdown. The Legion ran a set move from the lineout and Nate Augspurger looked for all money to be in the clear but a desperate tackle from Coetzer knocked the ball loose just meters away from the line.
A raking kick from Will Hooley put the SaberCats under huge pressure just after the hydration break. The Legion were awarded a scrum after a knock-on, and a set move put Tomas Aoake over the line but Ma’a Nonu was singled out for obstruction and the try was waved off.
Hooley again pinned Houston deep in their end after a high hit on Augspurger was penalised. The set move from the lineout didn’t quite work but Nate Sylvia powered straight through two defenders with a little help from his teammates to score a decisive blow for the Legion with 10 minutes to play.
The final say went to Hooley himself. Te’o cut across the grain on a sweeping attacking move and though his offload didn’t quite go to hand, it ricocheted off a Houston player into Nonu’s arms. One quick pass sent Aoake streaking towards the corner and the inside ball found Hooley for the champagne finish and the bonus point.
San Diego have now won seven straight and can stretch their lead at the top of the Western Conference even further if they defeat the Warriors in Utah next Saturday. It’s a bye week for Houston who return home for a pivotal clash against the Seattle Seawolves on Saturday, May 13.
SCORING
SAN DIEGO 29
Tries (4) – M. Brache (10′), M. Te’o (30′), N. Sylvia (70′), W. Hooley (80′)
Cons (3) – No kick (10′), J. Henderson 1/1 (31′), W. Hooley 1/2 (71′)
Pens (1) – J. Henderson 1/1 (29′)
YC (1) – S. Malolo (40′)
HOUSTON 16
Tries (1) – J. Taufete’e (13′)
Cons (3) – D. Coetzer 3/3 (14′, 34′, 40’+3′)
Pens (1) – D. Coetzer 1/1 (8′)
TEAMS
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia 50′), 2 Sama Malolo (16 Shilo Klein 68′), 3 Luke Green (18 Chris Baumann 62′), 4 Ben Grant, 5 Chris Turori (19 Jale Railala 50′), 6 Tupou Afungia (20 Michael Smith 62′), 7 Blair Cowan (capt.), 8 Tevita Tameilau, 9 Richard Judd, 10 Josh Henderson (21 Will Hooley 62′), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Mikey Te’o (16 Shilo Klein 40′-50′)
Not used: 22 Ryan Matyas, 23 Matías Freyre
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (17 Alec McDonnell 43′), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Will Vakalahi 71′), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Pono Davis 62′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (21 Emmanuel Albert 46′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Danny Barrett (capt.) (20 Malon Al-Jiboori 50′), 8 Wynand Grassmann (19 Keni Nasoqeqe 62′), 9 Carlo de Nysschen (22 Devereaux Ferris 66′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Vereniki Tikoisolomone (23 Gerrie Labuschagne 66′), 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Kian Meadon
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Jacob Gonzales (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
