The Houston SaberCats lost to Rugby United New York 33-8 on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Constellation Field.
Prior to the match, the SaberCats needed to adjust their match-day squad after Chris Coyle was unavailable after his wife went into labor. Congratulations to Chris and Simone on the birth of their son Cato.
The resulting SaberCats squad changes had Chris Parker moving to flanker and Cecil Garber entering the reserves.
Match Recap
Rugby United New York missed Dylan Fawsitt in Seattle last week as he was on international duty. His return played immediate dividends scoring the first try with Cathal Marsh adding a conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The SaberCats then went through multiple phases before electing to go for goal after a RUNY penalty. Sam Windsor slotted the kick to cut the lead to 7-3.
When faced with a chance to go for points, RUNY elected to attack from a lineout and were then held up in-goal. A subsequent high tackle by Luke Beauchamp then sent him to the bin.
A RUNY 5-meter scrum had Zach Pangelinan moving to flanker for the SaberCats. A drive by RUNY and quick ball to Wallace-Sims led to a James Denise try and a conversion by Marsh to push the lead to 14-3.
After a RUNY penalty, the SaberCats also elected not to go for points. They attacked from a lineout about 9 meters from the tryline, but a knock on gave a scrum to RUNY and allowed them to clear.
Even though Rugby United New York controlled the majority of possession during the first half, the Houston SaberCats were within striking distance as RUNY took a 14-3 lead into the break.
During the second half, James Denise and Ben Foden scored tries for RUNY with marsh slotting both conversions for a 28-3 lead. With the team’s fourth try, a bonus point was also guaranteed for RUNY.
Pat O’Toole then scored for the SaberCats from a maul to cut the lead to 28-8. Derek Lipscomb added a final try for RUNY as they left Houston with a 33-8 win.
Man of the Match honors went to Jamie Dever for the SaberCats and to James Denise for RUNY.
With the win, RUNY’s record improves to 3-1 with the team in 5th place with a game in hand with 13 points. The SaberCats are in 8th place with a 1-3 record.
Rugby United New York will travel to meet the Utah Warriors on Friday, March 8, while the Houston SaberCats also travel to Seattle to face the Seawolves on Sunday, March 10.
Squads with Player Article Links & Match Preview
Houston SaberCats: 1 Jamie Dever 2 Pat O’Toole 3 Charlie Connolly 4 Robert Meeson 5 Matt Trouville (C) 6 Chris Parker 7 Luke Beauchamp 8 Ayron Schramm 9 Connor Murphy 10 Sam Windsor 11 Malacchi Esdale 12 Conor Mills 13 Osea Kolinisau 14 Josua Vici 15 Zach Pangelinan 16 Amro Gouda 17 Jake Turnbull 18 Matt Almeida 19 Cecil Garber 20 Chad Joseph 21 Chris Saint 22 Max Tacket 23 Joe Kelly + Head Coach Justin Fitzpatrick
Rugby United New York: 1 James Rochford 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Paddy Ryan 4 Alex MacDonald 5 Trevor Cassidy 6 Matt Hughston 7 James Denise 8 Ross Deacon 9 Mike Petri (C) 10 Cathal Marsh 11 Connor Wallace-Sims 12 Will Leonard 13 Mark O’Keeffe14 Chris Mattina 15 Ben Foden16 Mike Brown17 Anthony Parry 18 Chris Sullivan 19 Matt Wirken 20 Myles McQuone 21 Marcus Walsh 22 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison 23 Derek Lipscomb + Head Coach Mike Tolkin
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