SaberCats Roar past Raptors in MLR season opener

photo credit: JB Fletcher / Bigshots Snapshots / Houston SaberCats

Recap

First blood in the 2020 Major League Rugby season has gone to the Houston SaberCats. Their dominant set piece laid the foundation for a strong 21-12 win over the Colorado Raptors at the AVEVA Stadium in Houston in Saturday’s season opener.

Sam Windsor collected the first points of the year with a routine penalty kick in the 7th minute. Colorado came painfully close to responding with a try but Robbie Petzer was knocked into touch-in-goal before he could ground the ball.

Instead it was the SaberCats who notched the first five-pointer. Houston’s scrum set the platform and a lovely passing sequence between midfielder Matías Freyre and Tiaan Loots ended with Windsor sliding over to Colorado’s disgust.

The Raptors finally found their groove near the half-hour mark and it was bruising left wing John Ryberg who provided the decisive thrust. Last season’s league-leading try scorer game over to the right side looking for work and took an inside pass from Chad London, crashing through Zach Pangelinan’s desperation tackle for the score.

Houston’s scrum continued to dominate and the pressure landed Brendan Daly in the bin for a cynical infringement in a scoring position. The 5-meter shove was slowed but Adriaan Booysen tore off the back and muscled over in the corner for a second SaberCats try on the stroke of halftime.

Colorado regrouped at the break and when Daly returned the pack drove ahead through the maul. It was stopped short illegally but Tomás Quinlan couldn’t curl the penalty attempt in from the left side to let the SaberCats off the hook.

Windsor’s radar was also off soon after as he pushed a penalty wide right, his third miss of the day. The Raptors brought in fresh legs in Ata Malifa and Rene Ranger but the SaberCats would score next. De Wet Roos stuck a cheeky kick in behind Mika Kruse and Malacchi Esdale won the race for the touchdown.

With the clock ticking down Colorado finally created a second score through phase play. Malifa’s dummy line sucked in two defenders and left a gap just wide enough for Kelepi Fifita to barge over with Robbie Petzer adding the extras to make it a one-score game.

Injuries hit both sides in the 77th minute as Osea Kolinisau needed heavy strapping on a knee and Petzer headed to the sidelines in some discomfort. With no backline subs remaining the Raptors were forced to move Sam Slade into the midfield as Jay Finau came into the front row.

The SaberCats smelled blood and kept the pressure on until Colorado’s discipline broke down. Windsor made up for his earlier misses with a well-stuck penalty from 40 meters to push the score beyond the Raptors’ reach.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 21
Tries – S. Windsor (19’), A. Booysen (40’), M. Esdale (64′)
Cons – S. Windsor 0/3
Pens – S. Windsor 2/2 (7’, 78′)

COLORADO 12
Tries – J. Ryberg (29’), K. Fifita (72′)
Cons – T. Quinlan 0/1, R. Petzer 1/1 (73′)
Pens – T. Quinlan 0/1
Yellow cards – B. Daly (39’)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo (18 Nicolás Solveyra 52′), 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Boyd Wiggins 48′), 4 Kyle Breytenbach, 5 Victor Comptat (20 Luke Beauchamp 56′), 6 Cecil Garber, 7 Diego Magno, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Tiaan Loots (21 Taylor Howden 56′), 13 Matías Freyre, 14 Zach Pangelinan (23 Kieran Farmer 71′), 15 Osea Kolinisau

Not used: 16 CJ Burke, 19 Robert Meeson, 22 Jake Christmann

COLORADO RAPTORS
1 Zak Taulafo (16 Kelepi Fifita 58′), 2 Chad Gough, 3 Marco Fepulea’i, 4 Michael Curry (19 Kody O’Neil 58′), 5 Luke White (capt.), 6 Brendan Daly, 7 Mike Stewart (20 Connor Cook 67′), 8 Sam Slade, 9 Carlo de Nysschen (23 Nick Boyer 67′), 10 Tomás Quinlan (21 Ata Malifa 56′), 11 John Ryberg, 12 Robbie Petzer (18 Jay Finau 77′), 13 Chad London (22 Rene Ranger 56′), 14 Mika Kruse, 15 Mason Emerson

Not used: 17 Xendy Tatibouët

 

Result

TeamTCPDPoints
Houston SaberCats302021
Colorado Raptors210012

Houston SaberCats

1Valdemar Lee-Lo 18 Loosehead Prop
2Diego Fortuny Hooker
3Charlie Connolly 17 Tighthead Prop
4Kyle Breytenbach Right Lock
5Victor Comptat 20 Left Lock
6Cecil Garber Openside Flanker
7Diego Magno Blindside Flanker
8Adriaan Booysen Number Eight
9De Wet Roos Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Malacchi Esdale Left Wing
12Tiaan Loots 21 Inside Center
13Matías Freyre Outside Center
14Zach Pangelinan 23 Right Wing
15Osea Kolinisau Fullback
16CJ Burke Tighthead Prop
17Boyd Wiggins 3 Tighthead Prop
18Nicolás Solveyra 1 Loosehead Prop
19Robert Meeson Lock
20Luke Beauchamp 5 Left Lock
21Taylor Howden 12 Inside Center
22Jake Christmann Scrumhalf
23Kieran Farmer 14 Right Wing

Colorado Raptors

1Sakaria Taulafo 16 Loosehead Prop
2Chad Gough Hooker
3Marco Fepulea’i Tighthead Prop
4Michael Curry 19 Left Lock
5Luke White Right Lock
6Brendan Daly Blindside Flanker
7Michael Stewart 20 Openside Flanker
8Sam Slade Number Eight
9Carlo de Nysschen 23 Scrumhalf
10Tomás Quinlan 21 Flyhalf
11John Ryberg Left Wing
12Robbie Petzer 18 Inside Center
13Chad London 22 Outside Center
14Mika Kruse Right Wing
15Mason Emerson Fullback
16Kelepi Fifita 1 Loosehead Prop
17Xendy Tatibouët Loosehead Prop
18Jacob Finau 12 Hooker
19Kody O’Neil 4 Left Lock
20Connor Cook 7 Openside Flanker
21Ata Malifa 10 Flyhalf
22Rene Ranger 13 Outside Center
23Nick Boyer 9 Scrumhalf

Officials

Referee
Scott Green (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Joey Swatzell (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Greg Varnell (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
February 8, 2020 12:00 pm Major League Rugby 2020

Venue

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

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