New York cruise to win over Houston

photo credit: David Snook / 8th Man Photography / Houston SaberCats

Recap

Rugby United New York bounced back from their loss in Seattle with a dominant 35-8 win over the Houston SaberCats on Saturday evening. The visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to one and looked in complete control throughout though they never quite got out of cruise control.

The first points came via the driving maul as Dylan Fawsitt added five points to his stats sheet. Sam Windsor knocked over three points after a rare foray into New York territory, but the points were erased with interest as James Denise was on hand to dive over after Connor Wallace-Sims was stopped short.

Denise would get a second not long after halftime, again from short range. This time it was on the back of a strong Ross Deacon carry from the base of an attacking scrum. The bonus point came shortly after via Ben Foden, the England international coasting through an enormous gap in the SaberCats defense.

Houston lost influential scrumhalf Connor Murphy to a head knock just after the hour mark but instead of deflating they rolled up their socks and went all-in on a lineout drive. Even replacement halfback Chris Saint was in on the act as Pat O’Toole was heaved over by the 12-man effort.

The frustration was evident in the dying moments of the match as a loose pass was scooped up by Derek Lipscomb for an easy seven-pointer. Josua Vici was shown yellow for a bit of afters following the touchdown but New York opted to kick the ball dead on the ensuing penalty at halfway to end the game.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 8
Tries – P. O’Toole (67’)
Cons – S. Windsor 0/1
Pens – S. Windsor 1/1 (21’)
Yellow cards – L. Beauchamp (25’), J. Vici (80’)

NEW YORK 35
Tries – D. Fawsitt (13’), J. Denise 2 (27’, 48’), B. Foden (53’), D. Lipscomb (80’)
Cons – C. Marsh 3/3 (14’, 28’, 49’), C. Mattina 2/2 (54’, 80’)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 74’), 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Josh Turnbull 54’), 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Chris Parker (20 Chad Joseph 51’), 7 Luke Beauchamp, 8 Ayron Schramm (19 Cecil Garber 74’), 9 Connor Murphy (21 Chris Saint 66’), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills (22 Max Tacket 69’), 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Zach Pangelinan

Not used: 18 Matt Almeida, 23 Kelly Kolberg

RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford (17 Anthony Parry 54’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Sullivan 51’), 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Trevor Cassidy (19 Matt Wirken 76’), 6 Matt Hughston (20 Myles McQuone 61’), 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon (16 Mike Brown 72’), 9 Mike Petri (capt.) (21 Marcus Walsh 63’), 10 Cathal Marsh (23 Derek Lipscomb 66’), 11 Connor Wallace-Sims (22 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison 74’), 12 Will Leonard, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Chris Mattina, 15 Ben Foden

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
Houston SaberCats10108
Rugby United New York5500135

Houston SaberCats

1Jamie Dever Prop
2Pat O’Toole 16 Hooker
3Charlie Connolly 17 Tighthead Prop
4Robert Meeson Left Lock
5Matt Trouville Right Lock
6Chris Parker 20 Blindside Flanker
7Luke Beauchamp Openside Flanker
8Ayron Schramm 19 Number Eight
9Connor Murphy 21 Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Malacchi Esdale Right Wing
12Conor Mills 22 Inside Center
13Osea Kolinisau Outside Center
14Josua Vici Left Wing
15Zach Pangelinan Fullback
16Amro Gouda 2 Hooker
17Jake Turnbull 3 Loosehead Prop
18Matt Almeida Tighthead Prop
19Cecil Garber 8 Openside Flanker
20Chad Joseph 6 Blindside Flanker
21Chris Saint 9 Scrumhalf
22Max Tacket 12 Inside Center
23Kelly Kolberg Wing

Rugby United New York

1James Rochford 17 Loosehead Prop
2Dylan Fawsitt Hooker
3Paddy Ryan 18 Tighthead Prop
4Alex MacDonald Left Lock
5Trevor Cassidy 19 Right Lock
6Matt Hughston 20 Blindside Flanker
7James Denise Openside Flanker
8Ross Deacon 16 Number Eight
9Mike Petri 21 Scrumhalf
10Cathal Marsh 23 Flyhalf
11Connor Wallace-Sims 22 Left Wing
12Will Leonard Inside Center
13Mark O’Keeffe Outside Center
14Chris Mattina Right Wing
15Ben Foden Fullback
16Mike Brown 8 Hooker
17Anthony Parry 1 Loosehead Prop
18Chris Sullivan 3 Tighthead Prop
19Matt Wirken 5 Right Lock
20Myles McQuone 6 Left Lock
21Marcus Walsh 9 Scrumhalf
22Gavan D’Amore-Morrison 11 Left Wing
23Derek Lipscomb 10 Right Wing

Officials

Referee
Ben Crouse (South Africa)
Assistant Referee 1
Gavin McCandless (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Greg Varnell (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
March 2, 2019 8:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019

Venue

Constellation Field
Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, Texas, United States of America

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