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A pivotal match to usher in the midpoint of the PRO Rugby season takes place at Torero Stadium on Sunday as local heroes San Diego host table-toppers Denver in a battle for first place. In Week 2 it was Denver who took a convincing but competitive 22-16 victory at the same venue, however the home side have upgraded their lineup since then and this promises to be a thrilling encounter.
Five changes have been made to the San Diego team that defeated Sacramento a week ago. France 7s star Jean-Baptiste Gobelet will suit up after all, but in a new position of flanker after spending the entirety of his professional career in France as an outside back. With only a handful of competitive appearances for O.M.B.A.C. as a forward, it’s an intriguing experiment.
On the other flank is another new name to the franchise is Bruce Thomas. Named in the original Eagles roster for the Americas Rugby Championship, the S.F.G.G. openside missed the tournament with injury but has now recovered sufficiently to take part in PRO. Thomas was previously linked to the San Francisco franchise but with their flanker stable full he’ll suit up for San Diego instead.
The other forward change sees Sione Tu’ihalamaka restored with Tai Tuisamoa pushed back up to the second row to fill in for absent Brian Doyle. Belmont Shore prop Brice Schilling has been called up to the bench, where he is joined by clubmate Ian Carpenter with Chile’s Nikola Bursic covering the back row.
A head knock to Tom Bliss sees Charlie Purdon start at scrumhalf, while Kurt Morath is recalled at flyhalf. Kalei Konrad and Pono Haitsuka will cover the halfbacks from the bench with no specialist scrumhalf reserve named. There are no other changes to the backs.
Denver enjoyed a week off after just stretching past San Francisco in Week 6. Only three changes have been made, all in the forwards. Nick Wallace and Chris Baumann swap with Zach Fenoglio and Luke White respectively, with Ben Tarr moving to loosehead prop in a new front row. Logan Collins moves to the bench, and Hanco Germishuys stats in a dual-openside role with Peter Dahl wearing no6.
In their last meeting it was a classic style match-up of forwards versus backs, but a fit-again Joe Taufete’e and the the arrival of Jake Ilnicki has shored up the San Diego front row. While Denver’s backs have performed well, the home team enjoys a clear speed advantage, even more-so than their last encounter.
San Diego’s chances for an upset looks to depend heavily on the effectiveness of new flankers Gobelet and Thomas against the experienced Dahl and vigorous Germishuys. The Denver pair’s ability to disrupt at the breakdown will be vital to slow the San Diego attack.
Much will also rest on the tactical kicking of Will Magie. The San Diego counter-attack, led by the dazzling Mike Te’o, is unequivocally the most lethal in PRO Rugby. If Magie’s accuracy or decision-making wavers even for a moment it could have catastrophic implications.
Those questions will be answered at 5pm Pacific on Sunday evening. Live broadcasts will be available on One World Sport and via PRO Rugby, both on their official Facebook page and YouTube channels.
SAN DIEGO
1 Hubert Buydens 2 Joe Taufete’e 3 Jake Ilnicki 4 David Dolinar 5 Tai Tuisamoa 6 Jean-Baptiste Gobelet 7 Bruce Thomas 8 Sione Tu’ihalamaka 9 Charlie Purdon 10 Kurt Morath 11 Tim Stanfill 12 Andrew Suniula 13 Phil Mackenzie (capt.) 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya 15 Mike Te’o
16 Mike Sosene-Feagai 17 Brice Schilling 18 Mason Pedersen 19 Ian Carpenter 20 Nikola Bursic 21 Pono Haitsuka 22 Kalei Konrad 23 Ben Leatigaga
DENVER
1 Ben Tarr 2 Nick Wallace 3 Chris Baumann 4 Casey Rock 5 Christian Wiessing 6 Peter Dahl 7 Hanco Germishuys 8 Pedrie Wannenburg (capt.) 9 Mose Timoteo 10 Will Magie 11 Timana Tahu 12 Ata Malifa 13 Chad London 14 Mike Garrity 15 Maximo de Achaval
16 Zach Fenoglio 17 Luke White 18 Jake Turnbull 19 Brodie Orth 20 Logan Collins 21 Bobby Impson 22 Martin Knoetze 23 Dustin Croy
Date: Sunday, June 5
Venue: Torero Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 17:00 local (18:00 MDT, 20:00 EDT)
Referee: Derek Summers
Assistants: Scott Green & Nick Ricono
Broadcasts: PRO Rugby (web stream) & ONE World Sports (cable)
Tickets: University of San Diego
