Jackals Beat Houston To Advance To Conference Final

The Jackals, a team nobody wanted to face in the first round of the playoffs, showed why Saturday evening with a stunning 34-22 victory over the top-seeded Houston SaberCats on their home pitch.

The match wasn’t clinched until the 76^th minute when the Jackals turned an errant SaberCat pass into a kick-and-chase. Scrum half Juan-Dee Oliver raced past three SaberCats to collect the ball and sprint the final few meters for the try.

With his leg cramping, Oliver had to be helped to his feet. In many ways, that summed up what this match was all about. Having lost their two regular season matches to the SaberCats by a total of just four points, the Jackals had a different plan for the third meeting.

For starters, they were intent on using their team speed to make the SaberCats work harder. And they wanted to keep them at their end of the pitch as much as possible.

The players followed the lead of their team captain, Jeronimo Gomez Vara. He didn’t score any points but he seemed to be everywhere and involved in every key play in the match. He was an easy choice for the player of the match.

“It was a huge effort from the whole team,’’ he said. “All the guys.”

Other examples of players who didn’t score tries but were pivotal in the victory included:

• Martin Elias, whose booming kicks helped keep the SaberCats in their end and set up a couple of the scores.
• Fullback Tomas Malanos, whose speed and savvy play helped wear out the SablerCats.
• Samuel Tuifua, the 8 man, who had several big plays.

Ronan Foley, Connor Winchester and Tomas Cubilla scored tries as the Jackals took a 20-15 lead at halftime. Jason Tidwell, off a nice pass from Tuifua, accounted for their only try in the second half until Oliver’s clincher.

Like Oliver, Gomez Vara was limping off the pitch after the match. “I feel like an empty tank,’’ he said.

He has time to refill that tank before next week when the Jackals play the winner of Sunday’s game between Seattle and San Diego.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Lori Barber

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The Dallas Jackals are a professional rugby team that plays at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Jackals are members of Major League Rugby. The team has played in Dallas/Fort Worth since 2022. Stay connected with the latest updates by following the Dallas Jackals on social media and visiting the official team website.