2023 – RD 17: Houston SaberCats v Old Glory DC

31 v 7

Report

The Houston SaberCats host Old Glory DC at SaberCats Stadium in the Lone Star State during Round 17 of the 2023 season.

Coming into this game, the SaberCats were still fighting with Utah for the 3rd Playoff spot in the Western Conference. Old Glory DC had already clinched a playoff spot but not home advantage, but chose a vastly different lineup for this game which included blooding two of their rookies, KoiKoi Nelligan & Mike Weir, who both made their MLR debuts in this game. The DC starting lineup was also the first time ever that Danny Tusitala did not start a game for DC, although he did appear off the bench in the 2nd half.

A BP win would give Houston the best chance at a playoff spot, and put the most pressure on the Utah Warriors, and that is exactly what they got. A convincing 31-7 victory over the visitors which they led for almost the entire 80 minutes thanks to two early tries from USA Eagle Christian Dyer.

Details

Date	Time	League	Season
June 9, 2023	9:00 pm	Major League Rugby	MLR 2023

Results

Team	Tries	Conversions	Penalty Kick	TB	LB	Points
SaberCats	5	3	0	1	0	31
Old Glory	1	1	0	0	0	7

SaberCats

#	Player	Position	T	C	MG	Tackles	KS/KA	Pts
1	Rob Cobb 17	Prop	0	0	5	4	0	0
2	Dean Muir 16	Hooker	0	0	14	8	0	0
3	Joe Taufete’e 18	Hooker	0	0	0	7	0	0
4	Siaosi Mahoni 19	Lock	0	0	16	3	0	0
5	Marno Redelinghuys	Flanker	0	0	43	7	0	0
6	Wynand Grassmann 20	Lock	1	0	20	8	0	5
7	Malon Al-Jiboori 22	Flanker	0	0	26	7	0	0
8	Gideon van Wyk	Number 8	0	0	51	9	0	0
9	Dillon Smit	Scrum-half	0	0	6	10	0	0
10	Davy Coetzer 23	Fly-half	1	2	72	8	2/4	9
11	Vereniki Tikoisolomone	Wing	1	0	125	2	0	5
12	Louritz van der Schyff	Center	0	0	44	6	0	0
13	Dominic Akina	Flanker	0	0	38	4	0	0
14	Christian Dyer 21	Center	2	0	63	0	0	10
15	Drew Wild	Fullback	0	0	5	2	0	0
16	Axel Zapata 2	Hooker	0	0	11	6	0	0
17	Alec McDonnell 1	Prop	0	0	2	5	0	0
18	Pono Davis 3	Prop	0	0	31	7	0	0
19	Emmanuel Albert 4	Flanker	0	0	0	6	0	0
20	Keni Nasoqeqe 6	Number 8	0	0	16	5	0	0
21	Carlo de Nysschen 14	Scrum-half	0	0	2	3	0	0
22	Danny Barrett 7	Flanker	0	0	7	2	0	0
23	Robbie Povey 10	Fly-half	0	1	0	0	1/1	2
	Total		5	3	597	119	3/5	31

Old Glory

#	Player	Position	T	C	MG	Tackles	Pts
1	Calixto Martinez 18	Prop	0	0	15	5	0
2	KoiKoi Nelligan 16	Hooker	0	0	8	5	0
3	Quentin Newcomer 17	Prop	0	0	3	2	0
4	Tevita Naqali 20	Lock	0	0	25	7	0
5	Collin Grosse	Flanker	0	0	15	7	0
6	Niko Jones	Flanker	0	0	92	6	0
7	Alejo Daireaux	Flanker	0	0	51	11	0
8	Langilangi Haupeakui 19	Number 8	0	0	32	8	0
9	John Lefevre	Scrum-half	0	0	37	8	0
10	Tito Díaz Bonilla 23	Fly-half	0	0	7	3	0
11	Junior Sa’u	Wing	0	0	30	3	0
12	Doug Fraser	Center	0	0	33	8	0
13	Marcos Young 22	Center	0	0	0	1	0
14	John Rizzo	Wing	0	0	8	8	0
15	Owen Sheehy 21	Fullback	0	0	15	2	0
16	Nic Souchon 2	Hooker	0	0	14	3	0
17	Jack Iscaro 3	Prop	0	0	26	4	0
18	Kyle Stewart 1	Prop	0	0	5	3	0
19	Fintan Coleman 8	Flanker	0	0	7	2	0
20	Apisai Naikatini 4	Lock	0	0	12	1	0
21	Danny Tusitala 15	Scrum-half	0	0	44	1	0
22	Thretton Palamo 13	Center	0	0	34	1	0
23	Mike Weir 10	Fly-half	0	0	5	1	0
	Penalty Try	-	1	1	0	0	7
	Total		1	1	518	100	7