A four-try Houston win over San Diego this coming weekend would put the Sabercats back on top of the Western Conference, giving them 34 points over the 33 for Seattle, who has a bye this week.
Houston had a decisive 38-17 win last week over Old Glory DC, a team that beat Eastern Conference leader New England Free Jacks early in the season and hasn’t done much since.
Can San Diego defeat Houston on Saturday – or keep them from scoring four tries and the accompanying bonus point? Not based on last week’s surprising performance when they fell to Utah, 33-32. When it was about time to leave Utah out of the playoff picture, they hung on and relied on a 78th minute penalty kick for the one-point win. This sounds more like the Utah of old. They play DC this coming weekend, and a win there could get them to fourth place in Western Conference over Dallas, if the Jackals lose to Miami.
However, another surprise from last weekend was Miami’s 42-27 victory over New Orleans. The Sharks (2-5) are fifth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind NOLA’s 16 points in the standings. New Orleans (3-4) should have an easy game against Anthem this week, but even a four-try win won’t advance them in the standings as they are seven points behind Chicago, who is off this week.
Despite their loss to the Seawolves last week, New England remains on top of the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Chicago, who trounced LA last week, 54-31.
Seattle’s 29-21 win over New England was rewarded by four Seawolves named to the week’s Top 15, all forwards (what about Mack Mason, Dan Kriel and Divan Rossouw?). Here’s what the Major League Rugby said about the Seawolves on the Top 15:
Hooker, Joe Taufete’e – Seattle Seawolves
38 Meters Gained
17 Tackles Made
15 Ruck Arrivals
Left Lock, Rhyno Herbst – Seattle Seawolves
12 Tackles Made
25 Ruck Arrivals
Five Lineout Takes
Openside Flanker, Charles Elton – Seattle Seawolves
77 Meters Gained
20 Ruck Arrivals
18 Tackles Made
No 8, Riekert Hattingh – Seattle Seawolves
One Try Scored
68 Meters Gained
14 Tackles Made
Can Seawolves’ fans root for San Diego? Maybe at 5 p.m. this Saturday. Looks like The Rugby Network may be the only choice for seeing the Houston-San Diego game. Go Legion!