The Austin Blacks moved to 3-0 in the Texas League with an impressive away victory at the Dallas Harlequins.

The Blacks got some outstanding work from their forwards, paced by three lineout-and-drive tries and two more set up by captain and No. 8 Will Martin off eightman picks, to defeat the 'Quins 43-26.

"I am very happy with the performance, especially considering we had six weeks of not doing anything," said Austin Head Coach Lachlan Ferguson. "We have more work to do in the scrum and more work to do in fitness, but I was very impressed with our defensive effort."

Ferguson said he was expecting to give up points simply because Dallas plays such a daring, wide open style. The trick was not to let the game get away from them. For that they needed Levi Kereti to have an outstanding game at center, which he did, and for the entire backline to communicate and make their tackles, which they did.

"I felt we dominated the rucks and that came in part from good decision-making, as players decided whether to go into the ruck or stay out and spread. We wanted to focus on defense today, and we did well. I am very pleasded with the backline."

The forwards weren't bad at all, with Martin dominating the lineout and flanker James Lowery outstanding as well. They linked up through former Cal scrumhalf Zach Triplett, who controlled the game from the base of the scrum.

Ferguson added that he was impressed with the refereeing, adding that referee John Savage was clear with his instructions and made sure the teams knew what he wanted, ensuring a "clean, good, open game."

In other Texas action, Dallas edged HARC 33-21. The game was closer than the score indicates, as HARC led at halfitme and weren't really shaken from the Reds boots until the final ten minutes, when a HARC yellow card allowed Dallas to score enough to keep clear.

Captain and No. 8 Rhys Ball scored two tries.

"It was close all the way," said Dallas club secretary Chris Cheftis. "Only after Houston got the yellow card could we pull away."

Both teams played relatively close to their mid-season form, posited Cheftis.

"We've had a mild winter and everyone's been able to train, so I don't think we missed a deat," he said.
Dallas improved to 2-1, while HARC is 1-1.

And Fort Worth imporved to 1-2 with a 27-11 win over the Austin Huns Saturday.