Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Denver Stampede return after a week’s vacation to officially take up residence at their new home, CIBER Field, where they will host the Ohio Aviators on Sunday. A victory for the undefeated Denver would all but wrap up the inaugural PRO Rugby title. The visitors must win if they are to have any hope at all of staying in touch.
Ohio are back in a winning mood after clobbering San Diego in Obetz last weekend, and have accordingly refrained from dabbling with the side. The captain Shaun Davies returns to the starting lineup after subbing last week, with Robbie Shaw swapping to the bench. Roland Suniula replaces the injured Matt Hughston alongside Dom Waldouck in the midfield, and Zac Mizell slots in at fullback for his second start of the season.
Denver have changed half their pack and made one change in the backs from the team that nudged past San Diego. Props Ben Tarr and Chris Baumann are on Eagles duty so Nick Wallace moves from hooker to loosehead and Soane Leger starts at tighthead. Zach Fenoglio runs out at hooker, and Logan Collins starts on the blindside in place of Hanco Germishuys who moves to the bench.
The only change out wide sees Martin Knoetze stand in at outside center for Chad London, also with the Eagles. Michael Al-Jiboori is back in the squad for the first time in a month as a reserve, and Glendale’s Lynton Mare, another young South African, is set to make his PRO debut as a back row substitute.
Ohio return to Denver in a better mood after their dominant win over San Diego and confident of stopping the Stampede after losing in the first over PRO match at Infinity Park in April. The snows have melted this time and with a new backdrop in CIBER Field, the Aviators will hope their run-and-gun style is enough to end Denver’s unbeaten streak. The Stampede will look to the scrum to set the platform, and will again depend on Will Magie’s ability go keep the ball out of the clutches of clydesdale wingers Alex Elkins and Spike Davis.
DENVER STAMPEDE
1 Nick Wallace 2 Zach Fenoglio 3 Soane Leger 4 Christian Wiessing 5 Casey Rock 6 Logan Collins 7 Peter Dahl 8 Pedrie Wannenburg (capt.) 9 Mose Timoteo 10 Will Magie 11 Timana Tahu 12 Ata Malifa 13 Martin Knoetze 14 Mike Garrity 15 Maximo de Achaval
16 Hanco Germishuys 17 Luke White 18 Jake Turnbull 19 Brodie Orth 20 Lynton Mare 21 Bobby Impson 22 Dustin Croy 23 Michael Al-Jiboori
OHIO AVIATORS
1 Jamie Mackintosh 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Demecus Beach 4 Pierce Dargan 5 Ryan McTiernan 6 Filippo Ferrarini 7 Sebastián Kalm 8 Riekert Hattingh 9 Shaun Davies (capt.) 10 Taylor Howden 11 Alex Elkins 12 Roland Suniula 13 Dominic Waldouck 14 Spike Davis 15 Zac Mizell
16 Peter Malcolm 17 Derrek van Klein 18 Dominic Pezzutti 19 Chad Joseph 20 Allan Hanson 21 Robbie Shaw 22 Chris Kunkel 23 Ahmad Harajly
Date: Sunday, June 19
Venue: CIBER Field, Denver
Kickoff: 15:00 local (14:00 PDT, 17:00 EDT)
Referee: Leah Berard
Assistants: Derek Summers & Scott Green
Broadcasts: PRO Rugby (web stream)
Tickets: TicketsWest
