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Memorial Park in Obetz will have the honor of hosting the final PRO Rugby match of season one, and as it happens the match to decide the inaugural champions. Denver have the slight advantage as they sit four points above Ohio in first place. As such two bonus points even in defeat will be enough to claim the top spot, but the door is very much open if the Aviators can secure a bonus point victory and keep Denver from coming within seven points. There are several different permutations and the bottom line is it’s essentially a cup final with the winner likely taking home the bragging rights.
Ohio have had two weeks off since their win over Sacramento, which could either be a hindrance or a blessing. It does allow the return of key Italian flanker Filippo Ferrarini and heavyweight second row Ryan McTiernan. The latter adds ballast to the engine room with Pierce Dargan finding himself on the bench for the first time this season. Aside from the season-ending injuries to Matt Hughston and JP Eloff the team is at full strength.
The Stampede have made three personnel changes and one positional switch to the side that won in San Francisco last weekend. Ben Tarr is out so Luke White moves to his preferred loosehead role, with Casey Rock moving into the vacancy in the second row. The absence of Ata Malifa is softened by the return of Max de Achaval at fullback, while Dustin Croy is preferred to Martin Knoetze on the left wing. Soane Leger and Zac Pauga are recalled to the bench.
This one is for all the marbles so expect fire and brimstone. The two sides of course famously kicked off the PRO season with an overtime win for Denver, but their second meeting was a decisive win for Ohio in Week 10. Losing Tarr and Malifa at the final hurdle is unfortunate, and might be just enough to tilt the balance that little bit extra for the Aviators to come away with the points they need.
Perhaps more importantly Ohio have been unstoppable at home this season. In five matches at Memorial Park they have won all five, outscoring their opponents 271-106 in the process. Look for that to continue on Sunday afternoon.
OHIO AVIATORS
1 Jamie Mackintosh 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Demecus Beach 4 Ryan McTiernan 5 Kyle Baillie 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 Angus MacLellan 19 Pierce Dargan 19 Chad Joseph 21 Robbie Shaw 22 Ahmad Harajly 23 Allan Hanson
DENVER STAMPEDE
1 Luke White 2 Zach Fenoglio 3 Chris Baumann 4 Logan Collins 5 Casey Rock 6 Hanco Germishuys 7 Peter Dahl 8 Pedrie Wannenburg (capt.) 9 Mose Timoteo 10 Will Magie 11 Dustin Croy 12 Timana Tahu 13 Chad London 14 Mike Garrity 15 Maximo de Achaval
16 Nick Wallace 17 Jake Turnbull 18 Soane Leger 19 Christian Wiessing 20 Zac Pauga 21 Bobby Impson 22 Kyle Hitt 23 Martin Knoetze
Date: Sunday, July 31
Venue: Memorial Park, Obetz
Kickoff: 15:00 local (12:00 PDT, 13:00 MDT)
Referee: Derek Summers
Assistants: Nick Ricono & Jamie Miller
Broadcasts: PRO Rugby (web stream) & Time Warner (cable)
Tickets: TicketsWest
