SaberCats Fall to Seawolves: ‘Too many bad moments’

SaberCats fall to 7-4, lose consecutive games first time this season

By Aaron Wilson

A squandered lead. A difficult second half. Momentum lost. 

And an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot evaporated for the SaberCats on Saturday night against Seattle Seawolves.

After building a 17-3 lead on tries from Christian Dyer, Joseph Faufete’e and Louritz van der Schyff, the SaberCats allowed five tries in a row in the second half, including three tries by Ina Futi, during a 34-17 home loss.

In the second half, the Seawolves kept the ball in SaberCats territory and were constantly on the attack.

The defeat dropped the SaberCats to 7-4 overall and improved the Seawolves’ record to 9-2. The SaberCats remain in contention to earn a playoff spot for the second year in a row after dropping two matches in a row for the first time this season following a 6-1 start in the Major League Rugby standings.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Dye said. “I think we really need to do individual audits on our own performance and then a team audit and really understand where we let ourselves down.  There were some good moments, but there were way too many bad moments and that got them right back in the game.

“I’m confident we can play 80 minutes and we’re up there with the best in the league. I think we failed to put in an 80-minute performance. That’s something we’re searching for and working towards each week and each game. We’re not going to stop or be satisfied until we achieve that.”

Seattle tied the score on a try in the 58th minute by Futi followed by a try by Martin Iosefo to take the lead for good followed by two more tries tacked on by Futi to put the game out of reach.

Now, the SaberCats are in third place in the Western Conference with 36 points, three more than the Utah Warriors. The San Diego Legion lead the Western Conference at 11-1 with their lone loss coming against the SaberCats.

“It was two game-changing moments,” van der Schyff said. “We have to go back to the drawing board and get back to winning ways. The end goal remains the same: We want to win the MLR. We made it a little more difficult. We just have to play better. We need to think one game at a time.”

The SaberCats’ next game is on the road against the Warriors.

Whether it’s been slow starts or second-half swoons, the SaberCats are searching for consistency. The talent is there on a younger team still gaining experience.

“I think from the start we played really well,” Emmanuel Albert said. “I think we had good momentum going. The second half, it was a quick momentum shift. The ball wasn’t going our way.

“I don’t want to say it was a lack of experience. We had it. It’s just a mental lapse. It’s hard when the momentum shifts. You got to get back in there no matter what. It was a lack of mental focus. They had the momentum and we couldn’t get it back in the end.”

Following the match, there was a significant amount of soul-searching as the players discussed what happened in the locker room. The SaberCats are determined to get back on track and put in the work to finish the season strong. 

“I don’t think it’s consistency that we lack,” Gerrie Labuschagne’ said. “I think we lack belief in the second half. When they scored that try off the kickoff, I feel like we just gave up after that. We had a chat about that. All the boys feel the same way. We want to win a championship. 

“That’s not the behavior we can have. We have to play 80 minutes to win games. At the end of the day, things happen and the ball didn’t bounce our way. We have to take a hard look at ourselves and fix our mistakes.”

*Photos by BigShots SnapShots