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UPDATE: Rugby United New York and the Ontario Arrows have met and agreed that in the interest of player welfare, today’s match has been cancelled.
With accumulating ice on the pitch, both teams agreed that the risk of injury was above the threshold for playing matches at this level and that the game be cancelled. Both teams agreed that their partnership is just beginning and will look for another fixture date this year.
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Nearly a month after being part of Rugby United New York‘s first ever match the Ontario Arrows will at last make their much-anticipated home debut against their American rivals on Saturday. The match in New Rochelle ended with New York winning 36-19 but the Arrows have since defeated the Utah Warriors and will be desperate to make their home debut a successful one.
The untimely stretch of poor weather in Toronto has forced a small change of plans for the Arrows. Originally scheduled to take place at York Lions Stadium, the natural grass turf has been deemed unfit to play on so the match has been shifted to the adjacent York Alumni Stadium, which instead features a turf surface. The new stadium will instead have to wait until the May 5 match against Boston Mystics.
Thankfully it’s only a minor inconvenience given the proximity of the two locations and with a seating capacity of 2,500 and room for another 2,000 on the grass berm it should have minimal effect on attendance figures. Fans unaware of the change will have little trouble finding the game with the ‘backup’ field just steps away.
Head coach Chris Silverthorn has kept the faith in his Arrows side with only two changes to the starting roster that caused problems for the Warriors. Andrew Wilson is forced to miss out so Kolby Francis shifts to his preferred No8 position and Marcello Wainwright comes in on the flank. A straight change on the left wing sees Jon West recalled at the expense of Josh Campbell.
Each team has named an extended bench of nine players. The Arrows will have both van Horne twins – Josh and Tom – to come into the second row with captain Mike Sheppard tabbed to cover the back row if required and reserve hooker Jack McRogers also an option on the flank. Returning to the squad after missing the last two games is Nova Scotian utility back Cooper Coats.
New York show four changes to the team that were victorious at Mazzella Field. Former USA Select XV prop Chris Sullivan replaces Kirk Hamilton at tighthead with Scottish import Callum Mackintosh named as bench cover. In the second row there is no David Gannon but the lineout will certainly not suffer with 6’10” (2.08m) Dave Shotton named beside Eagles regular Nate Brakeley.
Dylan Fawsitt will skipper the side once more before packing his bags for Denver. The Eagles hooker will spend the Major League Rugby season with the Glendale Raptors.
Harry Bennett’s injury is a blow but a suitable replacement has been found in USA international flyhalf James Bird. Canada ‘A’ rep Jack Fitzpatrick misses out on the trip north so it’s powerful Fijian Chris Vakasisikakala who lines up beside Eagles World Cup starter Seamus Kelly in the midfield. Another Eagles cap, Luke Hume, returns at fullback after missing the trip to Boston.
With Canada coach Kingsley Jones in attendance there could be more on the line than simply pride for the Arrows. Ten full internationals spread between the two sides and a number of age-grade reps is exactly the type of fixture that national selectors are interested in.
The Arrows had big problems against New York in the first half of their last encounter but have taken no chances this time with all their big guns taking the field from the outset. With the psychological hurdle of a first victory already behind them and home field advantage, the stage is set for the Arrows to hand New York a taste of defeat for the first time.
Kickoff is set for 4:30pm local. No live broadcast is scheduled at this time.
ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 AJ Quattrin, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Kolby Francis, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Jon West, 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Aaron McLelland
Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Josh van Horne, 20 Tom van Horne, 21 Alex Gliksten, 22 Shawn Windsor, 23 Cooper Coats, 24 Kyle Lagasca
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Anthony Parry, 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Chris Sullivan, 4 Dave Shotton, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 Alex Schwarz, 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 James Bird, 11 Michael St. Claire, 12 Chri Vakasisikakala, 13 Seamus Kelly, 14 Connor Wallace-Sims, 15 Luke Hume
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Brian McKellar, 18 Callum Mackintosh, 19 David Morgan, 20 Nick Wolley, 21 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, 22 Mike Petri, 23 Greg Voigt, 24 Kyle Granby
Date: Saturday, April 14
Venue: York Alumni Stadium, Toronto
Kickoff: 16:30 local (13:30 Pacific)
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (RC)
Broadcasts: n/a
