Few teams entered Major League Rugby’s first season with as much fanfare as the Houston SaberCats. Houston was a leader in social media engagement and preseason scheduling leading into the 2018 kickoff. That preseason, which consisted of a league-leading 11 matches, ended with an impressive 33-17 win over the San Diego Legion. It seemed to place Houston firmly in title contention.

It would not be so. A 1-7 regular season followed the preseason hype, and Houston finished the year at the bottom of the table.

In MLR’s second season, the SaberCat s will get the chance to prove that 2018 was a fluke to be forgotten. Though only winning one game, the SaberCats lost an uncanny amount of matches by less than a try. Each of those could have gone another way with a luckier bounce of the oval ball.

The return of outstanding talents like Osea Kolinisau and Josua Vici will help. They are both in the argument for best ball carriers in the league. MLR-leading points scorer Sam Windsor also returns. But in 2018, their talents were not enough.

Worsening matters, some key departures will hurt. Paul Mullen, current Eagle starting tight-head, departed for Europe. He has since been released and the SaberCats will no doubt be hoping to secure his return. Kyle Sumsion, a team captain, also transferred out.

Pursuing a much more limited preseason schedule this year, Houston will want to start quickly to build confidence that whatever wasted their skills in 2018 is only a memory in 2019.

2018 Review

Houston dropped its opener at home to a NOLA Gold team that many were picking as a dark horse challenger in 2018. Now, looking back, it is clear this was an ill omen. NOLA would finish second to last.

Hope after a Round 2 victory over Austin Elite Rugby was short-lived, as they would not win again.

In Round 3, San Diego only narrowly defeated the SaberCats 35-32. Even with a 1-2 record, things still seemed on track. Then another narrow loss in Round 5 to NOLA began to put real distance between the Cats and playoff contention.

In Round 6, Houston conceded its third straight loss by less than a converted try, going down 30-36 at home to the Utah Warriors. Then, in Round 7, meeting the cream of the season one crop, they barely challenged Seattle Seawolves. Likewise the Glendale Raptors in Round 8.

The season ended with yet another narrow loss, this time giving way to the Warriors by a score of 27-31. As with much of the season, they had the ability to compete but just could not find a way to win.

Key Additions

Like their Texan brethren in Austin, most of Houston’s notable additions came by way of South America.

Santiago Arata is one such newcomer. Arata mans the #9 shirt for Uruguay and has 30 caps and seven tries on the international stage. He will likely push Connor Murphy for the starting job going into the season.

Also from Uruguay, Diego Magno (loose forward, 85 caps), Alejandro Nieto (loose forward, 63 caps), and Matteo Sanguinetti (prop, 53 caps) will add ball carrying and strength to the forward pack.

Along with Sanguinetti, the SaberCats brought in a couple more new front rowers to help fill the scrummaging void left (for now) by Paul Mullen. Jason Harris-Wright is a hooker who played in the Irish age-grade system and spent last year playing for Bristol in their Premiership Rugby promotion campaign. Rounding out the front row additions is surprising newcomer Matt Almeida. Almeida is apparently quite a unit, tipping the scales at 315 pounds. Matt comes up from the West Houston Lions.

The SaberCats also poached Victor Comptat from the Austin Elite.

Key Losses

Paul Mullen’s quick rise to the USA starting #3 occurred while he was scrumming down for the SaberCats. His success soon brought him to Europe, leaving a hole at tight-head, where Houston lacks depth.

But losing a captain is always a special challenge. Kyle Sumsion heads to the Big Apple to play for debutant Rugby United New York, though perhaps a change in captaincy is just what this squad needs. Sumsion will also be helping coach West Point.

2019 Outlook

It’s hard to see Houston fairing as poorly as they did in 2018. Narrow losses simply should not go against you with that frequency for long.

Assuming some reversion to the mean on that front, this talented side will be a dangerous matchup. But at the same time, they have tooled up a little less than the other top teams in the league. A side that looked loaded with talent in the first season may have lost some of its edge relative to the other teams in the league who have been busy bringing in players.

Also, they won’t have the benefit of home matches in the Houston summer this time around. With only two matches at home after April, climate is likely to be less of an ally this year.

I never want to be in the position of betting against the likes of Kolinisau and Vici. But I’m not sure Houston has done enough to be ranked near the top of the pack coming into the season. A preseason loss to Austin this weekend is not generating increased confidence. Hopefully, whatever personnel changes they have executed will help find that winning chemistry. A lot went wrong for them last year. A lot will need to go their way this year for them to finish above the middle of the table.