Houston defeats Austin to close MLR preseason

The Houston SaberCats completed their warm-up routine with a 26-22 win over the Austin Gilgronis at AVEVA Stadium on Thursday evening. With no further competitive matches scheduled between now and next Saturday, the Major League Rugby preseason has come to a close.

Both sides crossed the line early. A huge breakout by Cam Dodson saw the Austin lock swerve and sprint away for an impressive individual try. Mack Mason had no sooner converted when Houston pushed back. The AGs were pinned on their goal line and Nicolás Solveyra used his footwork and power to spin over, with Zach Pangelinan adding the extras.

Pangelinan had been switched to inside center from fullback in a late change before kickoff, and he showed a keen eye for the gap as he took Taylor Howden’s short pass in for a try of his own. Houston’s pack had the better of the AGs in the scrum and tight-loose, and Diego Magno was driven over by two of his teammates for a third SaberCats score.

A fourth try would come for the home side with Pangelinan again there to finish off an attacking move, this time on the right side of the pitch. The AGs managed to get one back just before the break, with Dom Bailey getting the credit from a driving maul. At halftime the score was 26-12.

Replacements streamed in and out of the match disrupting the flow in the second half. Both tries would come from the visitors. A Dominic Akina line break set up Cole Davis for a try in the right corner, and then Will Magie’s cross-kick found Maclean Jones loitering wide on the left to bring a close to proceedings.

SCORING

HOUSTON 26
Tries – N. Solveyra, Z. Pangelinan 2, D. Magno
Cons – Z. Pangelinan 3/4

AUSTIN 22
Tries – C. Dodson, D. Bailey, C. Davis, M. Jones
Cons – M. Mason 1/3, W. Magie 0/1
Yellow cards – C. Mooneyham

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Kody O’Neil, 5 Van Stewart, 6 Cecil Garber, 7 Diego Magno, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Taylor Howden, 11 Zack Godfrey, 12 Zach Pangelinan, 13 Veramu Dikidikilati, 14 Paula Balekana, 15 Matías Freyre

Replacements: Tiaan Erasmus, Liam Murray, Nik Hildebrand, Nikoloz Khatiashvili, Apisai Tauyavuca, Bronson Teles, Jinho Mun, Crosby Stewart, Zachary Short, Max Tacket, Jake Hidalgo

AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Cam Dodson, 5 Christian Ostberg, 6 Dom Bailey, 7 Moe Abdelmonem, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Kurt Morath (capt.), 11 Rodrick Waters, 12 Mack Mason, 13 Lui Sitama, 14 Cole Davis, 15 Conner Mooneyham

Replacements: Mason Koch, Jamie Mackintosh, LaRome White, Maclean Jones, Dominic Akina, Sidney Shoop, Will Magie, Ned Hodson

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)