By Aaron Wilson
Reflecting on the significance of a history-making victory, AJ Alatimu was left with a major takeaway.
The SaberCats remain undefeated at 4-0, the lone Major League Rugby team with no losses, after beating the Seattle Seawolves, 42-40, at their Pacific Northwest stadium for the first time in the history of the franchise.
“I think it’s definitely heading in the right direction,” said Alatimu, who was named Man of the Match after delivering several accurate kicks to provide scoring punch against his former team. “I think it all starts at the top. I think it’s been really good engagement from ownership to everyone in the office to the coaching staff and the players. It’s a big step forward for the franchise. We can keep building on it.“We’re a big family. Everybody has bought into what the coaches are teaching and their vision. We had a culture camp at the start of the season. We started being comfortable around each other right away. That keeps us going and winning this season.
The SaberCats held on for a 42-40 win after building a 28-13 lead.
The fast start wasn’t sustained as mistakes in the second half allowed the Seawolves to climb back into the match.
The Seawolves were down by two with one final play. A missed kick after a try was a key moment in the last minutes, and the SaberCats managed the situation to come home with a win.
“Every game this year is going to be a important game,” wing Jeremy Misailegalu said. “This game meant a lot, not only to myself, but the guys who have been with the team having near beat Seattle. Seattle is a juggernaut team, a team that’s won a lot. Beating a team like that shows what we’re about. It was a lot closer than it should have been, but that’s how the game goes sometimes.”
One of the top plays of the match was delivered by Tautalatasi Tasi when he intercepted a pitch and sprinted untouched for a try.
At halftime, Andre Warner had a 4.0 hang time to lead the SaberCats followed by kicks by Alatimu and Davy Coetzer.
“I thought we had a good first half,” Alatimu said. “We applied pressure and kept them spread out in areas of the field. We kind of let them back in. I thought we had it under control, but silly penalties let them back in the game.”
For players like back row lock Emmanuel Albert who have been with the SaberCats for years, it was an emotional moment to beat Seattle.
“I’ve got to say it’s about time.” Albert said. “It feels pretty good. It’s like a weight off of our shoulders. We’ve always known we could beat them. To finally make it reality, it’s really great.“In the first half, we came out swinging. We were playing aggressively and playing pretty smart. I don’t know what happened in the second half, but Seattle came back and there were some errors on our part. We were trying to hold the lead, playing more on defense, and it almost bit us in the end. Especially against a team like Seattle.”
The SaberCats have another fast turnaround with a road match Friday night against the 2-2 Dallas Jackals.
They return home April 13 against the New England Free Jacks when the SaberCats will hold a Honoring Heroes Night: Tribute to First Responders and Military.
The SaberCats won a franchise-record 10 matches last season. They’ve made it to the playoffs for two consecutive years.
And, now, they’re going for it all: a Major League Rugby championship.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Albert said. “We’re trying to get the shield this year. We can with this team this year, this atmosphere. Everyone is very driven to be the ones at the end of the season lifting the shield.”
