SaberCats earn convincing win over Elite

photo credit: Jeremy Fletcher / Bigshots Snapshots / Houston SaberCats

Recap

The Houston SaberCats made it two wins a row for the first time in franchise history as they took the all-Texas derby by a convincing 36-15 over Austin Elite on Saturday. It pushes Houston ahead of Utah into 7th place while Austin continue to stare down the barrel of a winless campaign.

From the outset the resurgent SaberCats looked the dominant side. Their powerful ball carriers Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and Thretton Palamo consistently put them on the front foot, with the pair grabbing two tries each on the day.

The first came from their big No8, a late replacement before kickoff for Alejandro Nieto. Austin fumbled the ball inside their own 22 and Diego Magno quickly snapped it off the deck and popped the ball to Fa’anana-Schultz for an easy finish.

Within a couple minutes the SaberCats were in again. Sam Windsor went through a half-gap and offloaded to Palamo, who stepped two cover defenders and sped away for the try. Andrés Vilaseca sent over a penalty goal to get Austin on the board but Houston still had two tries in them before halftime.

Despite being down a man after Pat O’Toole was sent to the bin, it was Fa’anana-Schultz who crossed next as he hit the line flat and sold an exaggerated dummy to Zinzan Elan-Puttick to skip over for his second. Cecil Garber was next to grab glory. Austin turned the ball over the flanker ran through a huge hole and sprinted 40 meters for the score.

Austin began to ring the changes early after the intermission and finally got a try soon after. A couple penalties put them into an attacking position and LaRome White drove over with the help of two teammates to score the try.

Just as it looked as though the Elite were gaining momentum a turnover cost them dearly. Fa’anana-Schultz bulldozed through on a counter-ruck and Malacchi Esdale was there to collect, the winger showing his searing pace with a 60 meter sprint untouched to the corner.

An intercept try from Vilaseca would give Austin a dash of good news but only temporarily. Before the clock ran out Fa’anana-Schultz was at it again, tearing off the back of a scrum and nearly making the line himself only to pop it up to a supporting Palamo to end the game.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 36
Tries – J. Fa’anana-Schultz 2 (13’, 31’), T. Palamo 2 (16’, 79’), C. Garber (34’), M. Esdale (56’)
Cons – S. Windsor 2/5 (14’, 32’), O. Kolinisau 1/1 (80’)
Yellow cards – P. O’Toole (28’)

AUSTIN 15
Tries – L. White (47’), A. Vilaseca (75’)
Cons – A. Vilaseca 0/1, S. Jaoudat 1/1 (76′)
Pens – A. Vilaseca 1/2 (20’)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Jake Turnbull 70′), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 58′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Charlie Connolly 58’), 4 Diego Magno (20 Robert Meeson 66’), 5 Matt Trouville (capt.) (19 Victor Comptat 63’), 6 Luke Beauchamp (22 Chris Coyle 73’), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Zach Pangelinan (21 Chris Saint 57’), 10 Sam Windsor (23 Kieran Farmer 70’), 11 Deion Mikesell (16 Amro Gouda 29’-38’), 12 Thretton Palamo, 13 Josua Vici, 14 Malacchi Esdale, 15 Osea Kolinisau

AUSTIN ELITE
1 Sunao Takizawa (18 LaRome White 47’), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 Tiaan Erasmus 58’), 3 Mason Pedersen (17 Juan Echeverría 53’), 4 Ben Mitchell (capt.), 5 Josh Larsen, 6 Travis Larsen (20 Kyle Breytenbach 63’), 7 Dom Bailey (19 Dylan Pieterse 64’), 8 Rikus Zwart (21 Moe Abdelmonem 47’), 9 Soheyl Jaoudat, 10 Rodrigo Silva, 11 Sione Fangaiuiha, 12 Andrew Suniula (23 Aidan McMullan 53’), 13 Andrés Vilaseca, 14 Reece Czarnecki (22 Alex Faison-Donahoe 49’), 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
Houston SaberCats6300136
Austin Elite211015

Houston SaberCats

1Mateo Sanguinetti 17 Loosehead Prop
2Pat O’Toole 16 Hooker
3Paul Mullen 18 Tighthead Prop
4Diego Magno 20 Left Lock
5Matt Trouville 19 Right Lock
6Luke Beauchamp 22 Blindside Flanker
7Cecil Garber Openside Flanker
8Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz Number Eight
9Zach Pangelinan 21 Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor 23 Flyhalf
11Deion Mikesell Right Wing
12Thretton Palamo Inside Center
13Josua Vici Outside Center
14Malacchi Esdale Left Wing
15Osea Kolinisau Fullback
16Amro Gouda 2 Hooker
17Jake Turnbull 1 Loosehead Prop
18Charlie Connolly 3 Tighthead Prop
19Victor Comptat 5 Right Lock
20Robert Meeson 4 Left Lock
21Chris Saint 9 Scrumhalf
22Chris Coyle 6 Blindside Flanker
23Kieran Farmer 10 Flyhalf

Austin Elite

1Sunao Takizawa 18 Loosehead Prop
2Peter Malcolm 16 Hooker
3Mason Pedersen 17 Tighthead Prop
4Ben Mitchell Left Lock
5Josh Larsen Right Lock
6Travis Larsen 20 Blindside Flanker
7Dom Bailey 19 Openside Flanker
8Rikus Zwart 21 Number Eight
9Soheyl Jaoudat Scrumhalf
10Rodrigo Silva Flyhalf
11Sione Fangaiuiha Right Wing
12Andrew Suniula 23 Inside Center
13Andrés Vilaseca Outside Center
14Reece Czarnecki 22 Left Wing
15Zinzan Elan-Puttick Fullback
16Tiaan Erasmus 2 Hooker
17Juan Echeverría 3 Tighthead Prop
18LaRome White 1 Loosehead Prop
19Dylan Pieterse 7 Blindside Flanker
20Kyle Breytenbach 6 Number Eight
21Moe Abdelmonem 8 Openside Flanker
22Alex Faison-Donahoe 14 Left Wing
23Aidan McMullan 12 Right Wing

Officials

Referee
Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Scott Green (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Butch Neuenschwander (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
May 25, 2019 7:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019

Venue

AVEVA Stadium
12131 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77045, USA

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