Paced by two tries from fullback Kelly Kolberg and a second half where they straightened out their defense, the Dallas rugby club defeated Fort Worth 33-15 in Texas league play this weekend.

The victory improved Dallas to 4-5, which is more important a record than it might seem – the Dallas Harlequins, 6-2 and winners on Saturday over the Austin Huns – do not qualify for the playoffs. Therefore when Dallas won with a bonus point and the Huns lost without one, Dallas moved six points clear for the #2 playoff spot and secured a home playoff game against West teams from the North.

“Getting a home playoff game is huge, if only to save money,” said Holberg.

Forth Worth had the run of play in the early going, scoring first and leading 15-10 with halftime looming. However, they had converted none of their three tries, leaving the door open. Neither had Dallas, for that matter. They had, however, moved Kolberg from center to fullback, making him more difficult to mark and thus giving him more space to run. This he did, scoring twice in the first half.

Just before halftime Paul Boyd kicked a penalty to inch Dallas closer at 15-13.

In the second half, a Dan Carson try put Dallas ahead 18-15. Boyd added a penalty and Darrell Tigh a try, before Boyd converted his own score to end the match with 13 points.

“I don’t know what it is with us but we don’t seem to come together early in a match,” said Kolberg. “We made some mistakes and they took opportunity, for sure. “After we got into the match things started to flow together and I think our fitness showed. We’ve been moving our lineup around, but I think this is the one we’ll be using going forward.”

The Harlequins beat the Austin Huns 37-26, while HARC lost 52-10 to league-leaders Austin Blacks.

So now the playoff seedings come down to what HARC can do with a game in hand. HARC will face the Harlequins next Saturday in a makeup of a postponed game. They then finish up against Fort Worth. The Huns, meanwhile, face rivals Austin, who you can bet won’t select down for this crosstown rivalry game.

So HARC, despite being in the #4 playoff spot at the moment, has an excellent shot and leapfrogging in to third.