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San Diego’s unbeaten start to the campaign came to a screeching halt in Texas on Saturday night, as they were dominated by a hungry SaberCats side by a final score of 34-12. It was a clear statement of intent by Houston, who had seen their preseason favorites tag in the West slide to the Legion.
A combative deadlock to start the game was broken after Brandon Harvey saw yellow for a no-arms tackle. Davy Coetzer immediately took three points off the tee, but the Legion responded with a try on a heads-up play by Shilo Klein. The hooker caught Houston’s defense napping with a quick tap and bashed his way over from short range, giving the visitors their first and only lead of the game.
Celebrations were short-lived as Houston were quickly back on the front foot. Coetzer cleaned up a loose ball and stepped through a gap, passing back inside to André Warner. The scrumhalf stepped past the last man to slide in under the posts. Not long after Coetzer himself would do the finishing, taking an offload from a rampaging Sam Tuifua to leave it 17-7 to Houston at the half.
Early in the second half San Diego were under pressure again, and this time a penalty try was the result when Jed Holloway was sin binned for deliberately collapsing a driving maul. Rufus McLean sparked the next score with a line break. Drew Wild’s grubber was regathered by Tautalatasi Tasi, and then Warner picked out a wide-open McLean loitering on his opposite wing for the finish.
Now holding a 31-7 lead, Houston shifted into cruise control with AJ Alatimu casually knocking over three more points with as many minutes left on the click. Pita Anae-Ah Sue was binned for after flooring Ethan Grayson with a shoulder charge, and Christian Poidevin would score from the following lineout but it was far too little, far too late for San Diego to even contemplate a bonus point.
Both teams will play at home next Saturday night. The SaberCats host another Californian side in RFC Los Angeles, while the Legion will look to bounce back against the Chicago Hounds.
| PREDICTION |
HOUSTON 34
Tries (4) – A. Warner (19′), D. Coetzer (26′), Penalty try (46′), R. McLean (57′)
Cons (4) – No kick 2 (19′, 46′), D. Coetzer 2/2 (27′, 58′)
Pens (2) – D. Coetzer 1/1 (13′), A. Alatimu 1/1 (77′)
YC (1) – P. Anae-Ah Sue (78′)
SAN DIEGO 14
Tries (2) – S. Klein (16′), C. Poidevin (78′)
Cons (2) – L. McClutchie 1/1 (17′), M. Brache 1/1 (79′)
YC (2) – B. Harvey (12′), J. Holloway (46′)
| LINEUPS |
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth (17 LaRome White 60′), 2 Seth Smith (16 Pita Anae-Ah Sue 60′), 3 Pono Davis (18 Michael Scott 60′), 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.) (19 Justin Basson 60′), 6 Emmanuel Albert (20 Keni Nasoqeqe 43′-55′, 66′), 7 Marno Redelinghuys (2 Seth Smith 80′), 8 Sam Tuifua (21 Ronan Murphy 64′), 9 André Warner, 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Max Schumacher, 12 Dom Akina, 13 Tautalatasi Tasi (23 AJ Alatimu 60′), 14 Rufus McLean (22 Jay Renton 71′), 15 Drew Wild
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Shilo Klein (16 Liki Chan-Tung 69′), 3 Darcy Breen (18 Brook To’omalatai 69′), 4 Jed Holloway, 5 Brandon Harvey (7 Brad Wilkin 63′), 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Brad Wilkin (capt.) (19 Charlie Hewitt 52′), 8 Jimmy Hokafonu (20 Christian Poidevin 46′), 9 Richard Judd (21 Inoke Waqavesi 77′), 10 Lincoln McClutchie (22 Tiaan Loots 60′), 11 Ryan James, 12 Tavite Lopeti (22 Tiaan Loots 39′-43′), 13 Ethan Grayson (10 Lincoln McClutchie 79′), 14 Tomas Aoake (23 Marcel Brache 71′), 15 Rhian Stowers
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 29
Venue: SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 85°F (29°C), wind SE 14-22mph (22-35km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Blair McClure
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
