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Round 3 of the PRO Rugby season sees another historic first for the competition. The upcoming Sunday tilt at Memorial Park in Obetz marks the first home match for the Ohio franchise. Despite the fact that it is only Week 3, it is an important match as only one of the teams will walk away with their first win.
Ohio is coming off of a bye week after a disappointing road loss to Denver in which they were defeated in extra time. Ohio had the upper hand throughout the match but struggled badly with finishing, making a hash of numerous attacking moves that ended in handling errors rather than tries. However, there were some definite bright spots for Ohio against a Denver side that overpowered the San Francisco team they are about to face.
Ohio may not have a flashy back line, but their lineup is filled with physical players that can grind away at a match. They have also have put together one of the better looking forward packs in the competition, a fact that San Francisco cannot overlook. Former All Black prop Jamie Mackintosh captains the side and will lead the charge against an embattled San Francisco pack.
Ohio Head Coach Paule Barford has made a handful of changes to the starting lineup from their Week 1 loss. The only change in the pack is the addition of Canadian international Kyle Baillie, who makes his PRO debut at lock. Two changes in the backline see Mason Baum replacing Alex Elkins on the wing and Ahmad Harajly slides up to outside center with Zac Mizell getting the nod at fullback.
Changes on the bench see a return to a conventional 5-3 split, with Chad Joseph and Chris Schade left out and Zach Stryffeler covering loose forward. Robbie Shaw continues as backup scrumhalf, with Chris Kunkel covering the inside backs and Alan Hanson outside.
“We’ve had a great two weeks of training and refining our weak points we showed in the Denver match,” said Ohio flanker Matt Hughston. “Huge focus on set pieces especially in the lineouts. San Francisco is a dangerous team in this ‘must-win’ game for them. We feel like we have yet to show what our team is capable of and we need this win to launch our season off on the right foot. This will be the first game at the new pitch for an eager Ohio crowd.”
With two losses to start the season San Francisco is a team in need of a shift in momentum. The backs have looked dangerous with ball in hand in their first two matches – Volney Rouse is second in the competition with 15 points scored – and there is plenty of talent.
The glaring weakness, however, has been in their forwards. Their pack is large but technique in the scrum and their overall fitness appear to be a very real issue. Sacramento ran them off the pitch in the final 15 minutes in Week 1 and Denver dominated them in Week 2. If the San Francisco forwards can shore up, their backs are more than capable of putting points on the scoreboard.
San Francisco’s discipline has also been costly as they have had three players sent to the bin in their first two matches. Back-to-back yellow cards against Sacramento served as a turning point in the loss.
The squad takes a big hit with the loss of Eagles flanker Alec Gletzer who left the Denver match with an ankle injury. Sam Finau switches to openside to cover, and Siupeli Sakalia moves to the blindside from lock. Rich Knight has joined the team on loan this week from Sacramento to help out and he starts in the vacant second row slot.
Patrick Latu is the only returning front row starter from the Denver match as Niko Lolohea and Tom Coolican come in to try to steady the ship. Four reserves are ready to step in if things get messy. Codi Jones performed admirably as a makeshift loosehead last week but looks set to cover his preferred hooker spot this week, with Jay Finau covering virtually everywhere but lock. Life West loose forward Naibuka Tawake is a new addition to the team.
Injury has also ruled out Devereaux Ferris, so Michael Reid returns at scrumhalf. Orene Ai’i will provide cover but will start again in the no10 shirt. Volney Rouse plays his third position in three matches as he moves to outside center, and a new signing makes his first appearance on the right wing. Tongan international Pila Iongi joins the team directly from Nottingham, where he scored an incredible 11 tries in 11 matches during the Greene King IPA Championship season. He should add serious firepower out wide.
Given the run of play during the first two weeks of the season, it is highly likely that this is going to be another match that hinges on the play of the forwards for each squad. Ohio is going to target the San Francisco pack and their scrum. How San Francisco responds to the challenge is going to decide the match. After their disappointing loss to Denver, Ohio is itching to get into the win column. The squad is eager to impress their home fans as well as show the rest of the competition that they are going to contend this season.
The match kicks off at 3pm local time and will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable, with a web stream available on AOL for those outside of Ohio.
OHIO
1 Jamie Mackintosh (capt.) 2 Peter Malcolm 3 Angus MacLellan 4 Pierce Dargan 5 Kyle Baillie 6 Filippo Ferrarini 7 Matt Hughston 8 Sebastián Kalm 9 Shaun Davies 10 JP Eloff 11 Mason Baum 12 Roland Suniula 13 Ahmad Harajly 14 Spike Davis 15 Zac Mizell
16 Cameron Falcon 17 Demecus Beach 18 Anthony Parry 19 Dominic Pezzutti 20 Zach Stryffeler 21 Robbie Shaw 22 Chris Kunkel 23 Allan Hanson
SAN FRANCISCO
1 Niko Lolohea 2 Tom Coolican 3 Patrick Latu (capt.) 4 Siaosi Mahoni 5 Rich Knight 6 Siupeli Sakalia 7 Sam Finau 8 David Tameilau 9 Michael Reid 10 Orene Ai’i 11 Jack O’Hara 12 Martini Talapusi 13 Volney Rouse 14 Pila Iongi 15 Jake Anderson
16 Codi Jones 17 Maka Tameilau 18 Fancy Namulau’ulu 19 Jacob Finau 20 Naibuka Tawake 21 Isaac Helu 22 Junior Helu 23 Charles Mateo
Date: Sunday, May 1
Venue: Memorial Park, Obetz
Kickoff: 15:00 local (12:00 PDT, 13:00 MDT)
Referee: Derek Summers
Assistants: Scott Green & Jamie Miller
Broadcasts: AOL.com (web stream) & Time Warner (cable)
Tickets: TicketsWest
