Houston outgun Austin in Battle of Texas

photo credit: Judy Teasdale / Houston SaberCats

Recap

The first edition of Major League Rugby‘s ‘Battle of Texas’ has gone to Houston. Like a good old-fashioned Western, the SaberCats outscored Austin Elite by 50-38 in a match that saw an incredible nine tries scored in a wild second half.

Houston got off to a rocking start with Connor Murphy over the line within seconds of the kickoff. Osea Kolinisau was next to touch down, bursting on to a Conor Mills offload to grab a second try inside 10 minutes for the home side. Sam Windsor made both conversions and added a penalty to make it 17 unanswered points barely through the first quarter.

A dangerous tackle by Matt Trouville on Zac Mizell saw Houston’s eightman dispatched to the bin for a 10 minute timeout and Austin used the numerical overlap to their advantage. Quick hands down the line put Sione Fangaiuiha into the corner and just before the break a Timothée Guillimin cross-kick found Hanco Germishuys loitering with intent to close the gap to just seven.

Again it was Houston who stormed ahead after the intermission. Lindsey Stevens, Josua Vici, and Justin Allen each crossed the paint in quick succession. With the score now 36-10 the SaberCats looked to have wrapped up the result early but Austin were not finished just yet.

Fangaiuiha grabbed his second with Guillimin himself not far behind, both tries converted as the Elite struck for 14 points in the span of a couple minutes. That would be as close as they would come however, as Houston pulled away in the final quarter.

Windsor equaled his opposites heroics by charging through to score and then came a thrilling moment for crossover fans. Former NFL running back Joey Iosefa took the field and with his first touch of the ball left a trail of devastation as he powered home from 35 meters out.

Replacements Alex Faison-Donahoe and Knute O’Donnell picked up consolation tries in the final minutes to end the action-packed contest. It wasn’t enough to steal a losing bonus point but Austin had already done enough to grab the four-try bonus.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 50
Tries – C. Murphy (1’), O. Kolinisau (8’), L. Stevens (42’), J. Vici (45’), J. Allen (48’), S Windsor (61’), J. Iosefa (65’)
Cons – S. Windsor 6/7 (2’, 9’, 43’, 46’, 61’, 66’)
Pens – S. Windsor 1/1 (20’)
Yellow cards – M. Trouville (22’), J. Vici (78’)

AUSTIN 38
Tries – S. Fangaiuiha 2 (26’, 55’), H. Germishuys (39’), T. Guillimin (57’), A. Faison-Donahoe (69’), K. O’Donnell (79’)
Cons – T Guillimin 4/6 (56’, 58’, 70’, 80’)
Pens – T. Guillimin 0/2

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Estevan Florez (17 Kenneth Hepburn 59’), 2 Lindsey Stevens (16 Diego Maquieira 62’), 3 Adam Macklin (18 Jack Riley 62’), 4 Charlie Hewitt, 5 Justin Allen (19 Robert Meeson 59’), 6 Kyle Sumsion (capt.), 7 Chris Coyle (21 Cecil Garber 59’), 8 Matt Trouville (20 Pago Haini 66’), 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Alex Elkins (23 Joey Iosefa 62’), 12 Conor Mills (22 Dan Paul 66’), 13 Malacchi Esdale, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Osea Kolinisau

AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade, 2 Mike Brown (17 Siaosi Finau HT), 3 Mason Pedersen (18 Robert Drummond 69’), 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat (23 Junior Naruma 49’), 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Ross Deacon (19 Todd Clever 59’), 8 Hanco Germishuys (16 David LeMasters 70’), 9 Marcus Walsh (21 Knute O’Donnell 69’), 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sione Fangaiuiha, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.) (22 Alex Faison-Donahoe 69’), 13 Sani Taylor, 14 Reece Czarnecki, 15 Zac Mizell (20 Ned Hodson 22’)

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
Houston SaberCats7610150
Austin Elite6400138

Houston SaberCats

1Estevan Florez 17 Loosehead Prop
2Lindsey Stevens 16 Hooker
3Adam Macklin 18 Tighthead Prop
4Charlie Hewitt Right Lock
5Justin Allen 19 Left Lock
6Kyle Sumsion Blindside Flanker
7Chris Coyle 21 Openside Flanker
8Matt Trouville 20 Number Eight
9Connor Murphy Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Alex Elkins 23 Left Wing
12Conor Mills 22 Inside Center
13Malacchi Esdale Outside Center
14Josua Vici Right Wing
15Osea Kolinisau Fullback
16Diego Maquieira 2 Hooker
17Kenneth Hepburn 1 Loosehead Prop
18Jack Riley 3 Tighthead Prop
19Robert Meeson 5 Left Lock
20Pago Haini 8 Number Eight
21Cecil Garber 7 Openside Flanker
22Dan Paul 12 Outside Center
23Joey Iosefa 11 Inside Center

Austin Elite

1Chris Schade Loosehead Prop
2Mike Brown 17 Hooker
3Mason Pedersen 18 Tighthead Prop
4Ben Mitchell Left Lock
5Victor Comptat 23 Right Lock
6Kyle Breytenbach Blindside Flanker
7Ross Deacon 19 Openside Flanker
8Hanco Germishuys 16 Number Eight
9Marcus Walsh 21 Scrumhalf
10Timothée Guillimin Flyhalf
11Sione Fangaiuiha Left Wing
12Andrew Suniula 22 Inside Center
13Sani Taylor Outside Center
14Reece Czarnecki Right Wing
15Zac Mizell 20 Fullback
16David LeMasters 8 Openside Flanker
17Siaosi Finau 2 Loosehead Prop
18Robert Drummond 3 Tighthead Prop
19Todd Clever 7 Number Eight
20Ned Hodson 15 Fullback
21Knute O’Donnell 9 Scrumhalf
22Alex Faison-Donahoe 12 Left Wing
23Junior Naruma 5 Blindside Flanker

Officials

Referee
Derek Summers (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Phil Akroyd (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Tim O’Gara (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
April 28, 2018 3:30 pm Major League Rugby 2018

Venue

Dyer Stadium
2020 Mangum Rd, Houston, TX 77092, USA

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