California Cup Round 2 Lineups

The California Cup heads into Round 2 this week with teams heading to their home fields as opposed to the opener that featured a triple-header at Ray Sheeran Field. SFGG will stay put when they host Olympic on Treasure Island. Life West head south to San Diego where Old Aztecs await. Belmont Shore will look to upset OMBAC in Long Beach. The number of PRO and representative players has increased this week.

 

ROUND 2 LINEUPS

 

SFGG vs OLYMPIC
Sat, Dec 10, 13:00, Ray Sheeran Field, Treasure Island

Golden Gate will have their second straight home game with sights set on continuing their perfect start after the big win over Old Aztecs. They have opted to shift their forward pack slightly with captain Brendan Daly sliding back to no8 and former Eagles training squad flanker Danny LaPrevotte selected at openside. Isimeli Ratumaimuri is called in on the right wing, and a pair of PRO Rugby additions in Isaac Helu and Fatai Vailala join the bench.

After suffering a heavy 58-10 defeat at the hands of OMBAC, Ray Lehner’s Olympic side will have had to look for inspiration within during the week. On the personnel front they have drafted in former Eagles tighthead prop Will Johnson to anchor the front row and will start Peter Rogers at no8 with Matt Frederickson sliding to the flank. A new halfback combination in Will Johnston and star flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht will take the field, allowing Jake Anderson to return to his favored fullback position. Connor Rosenbaum starts in the midfield alongside Josh Tucker who moves in from the wing with Torsten Christian taking up the vacancy out wide.

SFGG
1 Jacob Nelson, 2 Neil Barrett, 3 Saimone Laulaupea’alu, 4 Brendan Hardiman, 5 Drew Hyjer, 6 Opeti Okusi, 7 Danny LaPrevotte, 8 Brendan Daly (capt.), 9 Colby Stevens, 10 Volney Rouse, 11 Pila Huihui, 12 Eae Okusi, 13 Tevita Okusi, 14 Isimeli Ratumaimuri, 15 Jack Halalilo

16 Grant Hyjer, 17 Sam Tofi, 18 Joe Fukofuka, 19 Nick Grass, 20 Isaac Helu, 21 Tevita Vehikite, 22 Fatai Vailala, 23 Jesse Fuller

OLYMPIC
1 Alex Drake, 2 Travis Moscone, 3 Will Johnson, 4 Zack Purdy, 5 Jack Seymour, 6 Tanner Mohr (capt.), 7 Matt Frederickson, 8 Peter Rogers, 9 Will Johnston, 10 Keegan Engelbrecht, 11 John Gallo, 12 Connor Rosenbaum, 13 Josh Tucker, 14 Torsten Christian, 15 Jake Anderson

16 Mark Shughart, 17 Josh Galant, 18 Andrew King, 19 Tom Bernardi, 20 Nick Jones, 21 Matt McCarthy, 22 Ben Cunningham, 23 AN Other

 

OLD AZTECS vs LIFE WEST
Sat, Dec 10, 13:30, Robb Field, San Diego

The two Division 1 clubs will go head-to-head in what should be a very closely contested match at Robb Field. Life West started on a good note with an upset win over Belmont Shore last weekend. This week they have lost the services of Siupeli Sakalia but will be able to call upon three other San Francisco Rush players. Jay Finau steps in at hooker, Junior Helu at scrumhalf, and Tongan international Pila Iongi is on the left wing. Other changes see Alex Pedjase starting at lock, Tyler Harrison shifting to fullback, Calvin Nell moving from wing to outside center, with Anthony Munoz handed a start on the wing.

Old Aztecs didn’t have the same luck but still put in a creditable performance against a tough Golden Gate side at Treasure Island last weekend. Coach Jaco Breytenbach has opted to keep the faith with only once change to the run-on side. James Niblock is selected on the right wing with Jose Lugo dropping to the bench. Breytenbach fills in the replacements roster with Alex Blair also finding a spot after missing out last weekend.

OLD AZTECS
1 Tristan Pickering, 2 Pat Blair, 3 Tasi Toilolo, 4 Joe Ramonas, 5 Lucas Edwards (capt.), 6 Leon Hayward, 7 Bryan Barnard, 8 Jeff Diggs, 9 Robert Stortz, 10 Mike Deel, 11 Cleeandre Ross, 12 Tim Howard, 13 Connor Mariani, 14 James Niblock, 15 Jon Prickett

16 Chris Gonzales, 17 Alex Blair, 18 Joe Wesolek, 19 Des Wellington, 20 Robert Laulualo, 21 Jaco Breytenbach, 22 Jose Lugo, 23 Boomer Roller

LIFE WEST
1 Tone Ngaluafe, 2 Jay Finau, 3 Holo Mo’ungaloa, 4 Alex Pedjase, 5 Rich Knight, 6 Zack Tannous, 7 Naibuka Tawake, 8 Akuila Uaisele (capt.), 9 Junior Helu, 10 Guillaume Cazenave, 11 Pila Iongi, 12 Nua Vete, 13 Calvin Nell, 14 Anthony Munoz, 15 Tyler Harrison

16 Sione Fifita, 17 Lopeti Liu, 18 Ben Fano, 19 Kalafitoni Pole, 20 Anthony Aranda, 21 Naima Fuala’au, 22 Suli Holani, 23 Tevita Tonga

 

BELMONT SHORE vs OMBAC
Sat, Dec 10, 15:00, Long Beach State University, Long Beach

OMBAC look to continue their winning ways when they travel up the coast to Long Beach to take on Belmont Shore. Only one change is made to the starting lineup. Jamie Purcell starts at scrumhalf with Ian Cassidy swapping to the bench. Among the reserves head coach Jason Wood steps out with Johnny Abdallah stepping in as a front row extra, while San Diego Breakers standout Chris Turori takes over from Gregor Hartman in the backup loose forward spot.

The home side will be fired up and boosted by the return of skipper Ian Carpenter to the second row along with big hitting Samoa ‘A’ rep Pita Semeane at the back of the scrum. Coach Peter Sio will dust off the boots to slot in at fullback in place of Adam Channel. Veteran prop Brice Schilling also moves into the starting lineup having come off the bench last week. Despite the additions they face a tough challenge after dropping their opener to Life West by a 27-20 score last Saturday.

BELMONT SHORE
1 Mason Pedersen, 2 JP Palaita, 3 Brice Schilling, 4 Sam Lilley, 5 Ian Carpenter, 6 Timothy Mendoza, 7 Sione Masoe, 8 Pita Semeane, 9 John Gray (capt.), 10 Hilton Mexted, 11 Andy Jackson, 12 Ed Pitts, 13 Max Paronelli, 14 Greg Daniels, 15 Peter Sio

16 Damien Kamu, 17 Adam Channel, 18 Daniel Va’afuti, 19 Rob Newcomb, 20 Cameron Reed, 21 Peter Nifo, 22 James Muse, 23 Mafi Seanoa

OMBAC
1 Josh Bart, 2 Jed Gillespie, 3 Ethan Willis, 4 Jay Harman, 5 Brian Doyle, 6 Josh Vainikolo, 7 Shane Moise, 8 Tai Tuisamoa (capt.), 9 Jamie Purcell, 10 Ben Batger, 11 Ian Denham, 12 Kalei Konrad, 13 John Grant, 14 Mila Setefane, 15 Zach Pangelinan

16 Johnny Abdallah, 17 Nick Zajda, 18 Tai Te’o, 19 Bryce Baker, 20 Chris Turori, 21 Ian Cassidy, 22 Andy Early, 23 Matt Long