The Seattle Seawolves play in their 100th Major League Rugby match, becoming the first MLR team to reach 100 games played in the competition!

Unfortuntely, their party was spoiled by the Houston SaberCats, who took a narrow 28-25 victory at SaberCats Stadium.

The San Diego Legion travel to Texas to face Houston at SaberCats Stadium in a western conference clash that could well be a prequel to a playoff match-up.

The Houston SaberCats were the only team to defeat the Legion during their outstanding 15-1 season in 2023, and it seeems that they still have San Diego’s number. Ronan Murphy opened the scoring roughly 15 minutes in and the ‘Cats never looked back. They led 14-0 at the half, before a red card to Tiaan Erasmus put them down a man very early in the second half, giving the Legion a golden opportunity to take control of the game. The Legion however, failed to move the scoreboard at all during the 20 minute man advantage, and almost immediately after returning to full strength Ronan Murphy scored his 2nd of the game to extend the ‘Cats lead.

About 8 minutes later, the ‘Cats were awarded a penalty try to secure the try BP and pile more woes on the Legion before Seth Smith, the youngest player in MLR history, trundled over behind a rolling maul to score Houston’s 5th of the game and become the youngest try scorer in MLR history! This was the final score of the game, with the SaberCats securing a comfortable 33-0 victory over the San Diego Legion, who suffer their first ever shutout defeat.

The New England Free Jacks travel down to Texas to take on the undefeated Houston SaberCats in a cross-conference clash at SaberCats Stadium.

In a game that would make defence coaches wince, the visitors emerged as 35-47 victors after a combined 13-try scorefest! The SaberCats scored 2 tries within the final 10 minutes to bring the score back to 35-40, but a Free Jacks try in the final minute sealed the result. With the SaberCats recording their first loss of the season, all 12 MLR teams in 2024 have now lost and no teams remain undefeated. Houston had an off day from the tee, combining for 2/7 and only 1 of their 6 conversions.

In a game where Free Jacks’ center Wayne van der Bank received a yellow card, he also recorded his first career MLR hattrick in this game, the 37th in league history, and the 4th in club history for New England who take the bonus point victory on the road to extend their lead atop the Eastern Conference.

The first game of the Western Conference in the 2024 season saw the Utah Warriors travel to Texas to face the SaberCats. Both teams finished with the same 10-6 record in 2023, but Utah missed out on the post-season while Houston did not. The Warriors won both 2023 match-ups in the growing rivalry.

The action didn’t take long to start, with a fearsome SaberCats maul bundling over to score just 4 minutes in, Ronan Murphy scoring for the first points and first try of 2024 for the ‘Cats. Despite Joel Hodgson slotting a pen for the Warriors’ first points of 2024, Houston dominated the first half and led 15-3 at the break. Utah managed to get back into the game thanks in part to a yellow card to Johan Momsen, allowing Spencer Jones to exploit a gap for the first Warriors’ try of the season, and the first try by a Canadian in 2024.

The Warriors were on top for much of the 2nd half but a beautiful Tautalatasi Tasi interception allowed Houston to extend their lead to 22-8. The ‘Cats continued to absorb the pressure but could not hold, with Bailey Wilson dotting down for another try and Hodgson nailing the conversion to bring the Warriors within 7 and secure the losing Bonus Point, final score 22-15 to the hosts.

The Houston SaberCats host Old Glory DC in the Lone Star State.

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.