Sluggish SaberCats come up short against Warriors

The Utah Warriors made it three wins in a row as they defeated the SaberCats 30-24 in Houston on Saturday. A late surge from the home side made things interesting, but it was the visitors who took control of the game just before halftime as the Cats came up short on energy.

A penalty goal from Joel Hodgson five minutes in got the Warriors on the board first. Houston turned down an immediate chance to even things up in favor of the corner. The first assault saw Louritz van der Schyff held up, but the pressure stayed on until Danny Barrett drove in under the defense.

The visitors got their first try on a counter-attack. Quick hands put Mika Kruse in space down the right side. He used footwork to check Gerrie Labuschagne, and then pass inside to a trailing Logan Tago. One more pass to Connor McLeod and the scrumhalf was in under the posts.

With Utah on the attack around halfway, the ball came loose from a ruck and Wynand Grassmann hacked it ahead. Tago recovered it but the SaberCats were there in numbers to win the turnover. Carlo de Nysschen’s pass intended for Dean Muir was knocked down by a retreating Bailey Wilson and the Utah skipper was issued a yellow card. Davy Coetzer took three points off the tee to level the scores.

A handling error turned over possession to the Warriors near halfway and Caleb Makene combined with Tago to make ground on the right side. The ball came back to the midfield and McLeod spotted a gap on the post, offloading to Makene cutting back across the grain and he had just enough pace to reach out of the tackle from Drew Wild to ground the ball. Hodgson’s conversion made it 17-10 to the visitors as the two sides jogged off for the intermission.

Grassmann was singled out early in the second half for what the TMO deemed a dangerous chop tackle, earning a trip to the sin bin as Hodgson sent over his second three-pointer. Houston then moved into Utah territory but it was only fleeting as the Warriors won a scrum penalty to clear their lines.

It was the scrum that set the platform for Utah’s next try. On a first phase set move Calvin Whiting circled around from his left wing spot into the midfield and created the overlap for Cliven Loubser to race in untouched for a seven-pointer as the Warriors took a commanding 17-point lead.

Front row reserves came on but the result was the same, another scrum penalty giving Hodgson his third penalty kick of the game and stretching the gap to 20 points. Houston look to have struck back when a chip kick from Coetzer was bobbled by Whiting into the waiting arms of Dom Akina. The TMO spotted something innocuous, however, and decided the try should be taken off the board.

More replacements entered the match to breathe new life into Houston’s heavy legs. Saia Uhila was binned for repeat infringements and within a minute Axel Zapata went over at the end of a scything counter-attack from Wild. Nick Boyer was next to cross, a turnover sending Coetzer through the middle with the offload to his new halfback partner for the finish.

A Utah throw-in with just seconds to play went their way, but the Cats won a turnover with a counter-ruck at the first breakdown. They piled into the Warriors end and won a 5-meter penalty, opting for a tap play. Akina took the wrong option, however, angling towards the corner and the Warriors drove him into touch to end the game.

Both teams will play at home next Saturday. It’s a Texas derby in Houston as the SaberCats take on the Dallas Jackals, while the Warriors will try for four in a row against the Seattle Seawolves.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 24
Tries (3) – D. Barrett (10′), A. Zapata (75′), N. Boyer (78′)
Cons (3) – D. Coetzer 3/3 (11′, 76′, 78′)
Pens (1) – D. Coetzer 1/1 (29′)
YC (1) – W. Grassmann (44′)

UTAH 30
Tries (3) – C. McLeod (21′), C. Makene (38′), C. Loubser (56′)
Cons (3) – No kick 2 (21′, 56′), J. Hodgson 1/1 (39′)
Pens (3) – J. Hodgson 3/3 (5′, 44′, 63′)
YC (2) – B. Wilson (27′), S. Uhila (74′)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (17 Alec McDonnell 59′), 2 Dean Muir (capt.) (19 Axel Zapata 59′), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Pono Davis 59′), 4 Siaosi Mahoni (23 Emmanuel Albert 52′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Danny Barrett (20 Malon Al-Jiboori HT), 8 Wynand Grassmann (16 Asa Carter 74′), 9 Carlo de Nysschen (21 Nick Boyer 74′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Gerrie Labuschagne (22 Zach Pangelinan 60′), 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Drew Wild

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Franco van den Berg 50′), 2 Tuvere Vugakoto (16 Joey Backe 69′), 3 Angus MacLellan (18 Paul Mullen 50′), 4 Jurie van Vuuren (19 Saia Uhila 50′), 5 Onehunga Havili, 6 Bailey Wilson (capt.) (20 Jeremiah Noaese 66′), 7 Lance Williams, 8 Thomas Tu’avao, 9 Connor McLeod (21 Zion Going 69′), 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Calvin Whiting, 12 Tyler Fisher, 13 Mika Kruse (22 Tomasi Tonga 42′), 14 Logan Tago, 15 Caleb Makene (23 Cliven Loubser HT)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Brian Dusablon (USA) & Jono Cooper (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)