Raptors Drop Season Opener to SaberCats

The Colorado Raptors didn’t kick off their 2020 campaign the way they would’ve liked to, falling 21-12 to the Houston SaberCats on the road on Saturday afternoon.

As with any new team, it’s going to take some time for the Raptors to gel and that was apparent after the dust settled.

The one thing the Raptors couldn’t afford to do was let SaberCats’ fly-half Sam Windsor get hot, and that’s exactly what happened. Windsor hit two penalty goals and scored a try to lead all scorers in the match with 11 points. Colorado was fortunate to not face a deeper deficit than they did as Windsor left 11 more points off the board by missing all three of his conversion attempts and one more penalty goal.

If those numbers are any indication, the opportunities to flip the momentum of the match were there for the Raptors on Saturday. One of the big things that Houston had going for them was a quick start.

The SaberCats jumped out to an 8-0 lead to on a Windsor penalty goal and try during the first 20 minutes, and were able to hang on to that lead throughout the entire match. The Raptors had a few scoring chances early but weren’t able to convert until the 28th minute when wing John Ryberg took an inside ball from inside center Robbie Petzer and rumbled in for a try to cut the deficit to three points.

The straw that broke the Raptors back came right before halftime. Backed deep into their own territory, Brendan Daly was sent to the sin bin and with a man down, the Raptors couldn’t stop the SaberCats’ eight-man Jan Adriaan Booysen from rolling in for a try at the halftime mark. Windsor missed the conversion, but the SaberCats took a comfortable 13-5 lead into the locker room.

After the break, the Raptors were presented with another opportunity to shorten the deficit, but fly-half Tomas Quinlan couldn’t hit his penalty goal and the lead stood firm heading into the 60-minute hydration break.

One the other side of the hydration break, Houston wing Malacchi Esdale ran down and jumped on a well-executed box kick for the SaberCats’ third try of the match. Windsor missed the conversion, but Houston settled into a 13-point lead with around 17 minutes to play.

After some substitutions, the Raptors settled into their system a bit and began to move the ball. Unfortunately for them, it was too little, too late. Fullback Mason Emerson ripped off a big run in the 69th minute that moved the Raptors deep into Houston territory and eventually resulted in a Kelepi Fifita try in the 75th minute. Petzer hit the conversion to cut the SaberCats’ lead to just six points, but with so little time the Raptors would have had to play a flawless five minutes to come away with the victory.

That wasn’t the case, as a penalty in the ruck gave Windsor a makeable shot at a penalty goal in the 78th minute. Windsor made his attempt and the SaberCats walked away with a 21-12 victory.

The Raptors had their chances, but handling errors and some issues with the scrum were some of the things that undid their match on Saturday. Colorado conceded 19 turnovers to Houston’s 12, and only won 67 percent of their own scrums. Those are issues that the Raptors will need to correct as they get ready to take on a San Diego Legion team that dethroned the reigning Major League Rugby champion Seattle Seawolves 33-24 on Sunday.

While Colorado didn’t come away with the victory, they had some big performances out of a few of their newcomers.

Eight-man Samuel Slade had a monster game on Saturday. He finished with 17 tackles and eight ball carries for 40 meters gained in a full 80 minutes of work that included him sliding back into the centers to finish the match. Alongside Slade was Mason Emerson, who also put in an 80 minutes shift on Saturday afternoon. He finished the match with 12 carries for 94 meters and made all seven of the tackles that he attempted.

In addition to some big performances from the newcomers, the Raptors also received some big shifts from some of their returners as well. Wing John Ryberg, the leading try-scorer in the MLR in 2019, picked up right where he left off on Saturday. He finished the match with nine carries for a match-high 118 meters and a try while also adding five tackles. Both captain Luke White and Marco Fepulea’i finished with 12 tackles apiece.

SCORING

Houston SaberCats

Tries: Sam Windsor, Jan Adriaan Booysen, Malacchi Esdale

Conversions: Sam Windsor (0/3)

Penalty Goals: Sam Windsor (2/3)

Colorado Raptors

Tries: John Ryberg, Kelepi Fifita

Conversions: Tomas Quinlan (0/1), Robbie Petzer (1/1)

Penalty Goals: Tomas Quinlan (0/1)