Houston sprints clear of Utah to reach first MLR Final

Houston are headed to their first ever Championship Final after scoring five tries en route to a convincing 33-19 result over Utah on Saturday night. Despite playing on just four days rest, the SaberCats forwards outmuscled their opposites while a pair of intercept tries held to undo the Warriors. Utah’s best-ever campaign came to an unceremonious end at the hands of the team who had beaten them by similar margins in each of their regular season meetings.

A mistake from Joel Hodgson on the opening kickoff handed Houston an immediate scrum put-in on halfway. The ball went wide to Max Schumacher, whose grubber down the sideline pinned the Warriors deep in their end. An attacking scrum went to the SaberCats from a Utah penalty, and soon after Justin Basson bashed his way to within inches of the line. André Warner had only to reach out and ground the ball for the opening try.

The Warriors stopped what looked like a certain try when they prevented Drake Davis from grounding the ball and drove the winger back out of the in-goal and into touch. They were then hit with an ankle injury to Jordan Trainor, but they didn’t let the misfortunate slow their attack. Nic Benn moved to fullback broke around the outside on an arcing run, finding an unmarked Lance Williams loitering on the wing for the finish. Hodgson’s kick was wide right but the home side was on the board.

A thunderous hit from Davis on Nolan Tuamoheloa forced a knock-on, and the SaberCats would win a penalty at the resulting scrum. They opted for a lineout and when the maul drifted infield, Warner cut back to the short side and connected with AJ Alatimu charging ahead at full tilt. The flyhalf had the strength to hold off the last man and ground the ball in the corner. He then converted his own try, curling the ball through the uprights to make it 14-5 to the visitors.

Disaster stuck for the home side when Tautalatasi Tasi snagged a loose pass from Hodgson just when the Warriors were advancing on Houston’s 22-meter line. The midfielder sprinted 75 meters untouched for the try, with Alatimu’s routine extras making it a three-score game. Just before halftime Joe Mano broke down the left sideline but he was blasted into touch by what looked like a no-arms challenge from Davis, but the TMO controversially ruled it a legal tackle and the 21-5 scoreline would hold to the break.

Alatimu had a chance to stretch the lead early in the second half but his penalty goal attempt drifted wide of the posts. Not long after Williams won a breakdown turnover that the Warriors turned into a lineout deep in Houston territory. The defense held on the right side and when the play came back to the left Williams was there again, but Rufus McLean arrived just in time to knock the ball free as the flanker was reaching for the line.

The coup de grâce came just as the clock ticked over 54 minutes. Utah remained parked in Houston territory and were just a few meters from scoring, but Hodgson’s no-look pass bounced off the turf straight into the hands of Davis. He took off like a rocket and there was nobody to stop him from scoring a 90-meter try against the run of play. The conversion was a formality for Alatimu and put the game well beyond the reach of the Warriors.

When Seth Smith spun over the line for a fifth Houston try, the silenced Utah faithful began to make their way to the exits. Both teams emptied their benches and there was still time for the Warriors to grab two consolation scores. The first came from Paul Lasike, the former Eagles center crashing over in his final game as a professional. Tuvere Vugakoto would claim the second in stoppage time on the end of a driving maul after Marno Redelinghuys was binned for repeat team infringements.

The SaberCats will now enjoy a full week’s rest before attempting to dethrone the two-time defending champion New England Free Jacks in Rhode Island. Centreville Bank Stadium will provide the backdrop for the Championship Final on Saturday afternoon with the MLR Shield on offer to the winner.

SCORING

UTAH 19
Tries (3) – L. Williams (18′), P. Lasike (76′), T. Vugakoto (80’+1′)
Cons (2) – J. Hodgson 2/3 (76′, 80’+2′)

HOUSTON 33
Tries (5) – A. Warner (4′), A. Alatimu (31′), T. Tasi (36′), D. Davis (54′), S. Smith (66′)
Cons (4) – A. Alatimu 4/4 (5′, 32′, 37′, 55′), M. Schumacher 0/1
Pens (0) – A. Alatimu 0/1
YC – M. Redelinghuys (80′)

LINEUPS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Aki Seiuli (capt.) (17 Emerson Prior 65′), 2 Liam Coltman (16 Tuvere Vugakoto 61′), 3 Tonga Kofe (18 Remsy Lemisio 55′), 4 Frank Lochore, 5 Matt Jensen (20 Kalisi Moli 61′), 6 Bailey Wilson, 7 Lance Williams (19 Reid Davis 65′), 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Zion Going (21 Logan Crowley 61′), 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Kyle Brown, 14 Nic Benn (22 Paul Lasike 37′), 15 Jordan Trainor (23 Nolan Tuamoheloa 16′)

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth (17 Wilton Rebolo 70′), 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue (16 Seth Smith 62′), 3 Pono Davis (18 Michael Scott 70′), 4 Justin Basson (19 Javon Camp 70′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Emmanuel Albert, 7 Johan Momsen (20 Keni Nasoqeqe 70′), 8 Marno Redelinghuys, 9 André Warner, 10 AJ Alatimu (22 Jay Renton 65′), 11 Drake Davis (23 Dom Akina 61′), 12 Sam Hill (21 Louritz van der Schyff 52′), 13 Tautalatasi Tasi, 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Max Schumacher

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, June 20
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: sunny, 68°F (20°C), wind N 12-19mph (19-30km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Shanda Assmus (Canada)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS