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The third game of Major League Rugby‘s second weekend takes place at Torero Stadium on Sunday where the San Diego Legion will host the Utah Warriors. San Diego took a beating against Seattle in their season opener last weekend while the Warriors are making their regular season debut.
Utah’s lineup is largely as expected with only minor adjustments from their preseason rotation. Lance Williams starts at openside flanker for the first time and Eagles forward David Tameilau is named on the bench after arriving from France during the week.
BYU and USA Select XV hooker Alex Vorster is a new addition to the roster and former USC lineman John Martinez covers prop. Of note is that only four forwards are named in the reserves, a surprise given Utah’s issues with fitness in previous matches.
A new halfback combination is the main feature of the backline. Joseph Nicholls takes over from brother Ben at scrumhalf and Tonga World Cup flyhalf Kurt Morath makes his first appearance in a Warriors shirt. Jared Whippy moves to the midfield to replace injured brother Josh and Fetu’u Vainikolo has escaped suspension despite being red-carded against the Prairie Wolf Pack for a dangerous tackle last weekend.
San Diego have taken immediate steps to rectify their scrum problems with Eagles trio Pat Blair, Tony Purpura, and Siaosi Mohoni coming into the tight five. Purpura starts at tighthead prop despite preferring loosehead but will be comforted with the 134kg (295lbs) figure of Mahoni backing him up.
More Eagles upgrade the backs division with Nate Augspurger, Ryan Matyas, and Dylan Audsley all named though Mike Te’o is ruled out with injury. Tadhg Leader takes over at flyhalf from Ben Cima who instead finds himself dropped to the bench this week.
The Warriors have not looked the sharpest in their exhibition fixtures and the loss of Josh Whippy for the season is a big blow to their backline. Selecting only four replacement forwards is confusing and could bite them if the Legion keep the pace high.
San Diego’s upgrades up front should make a significant different in the scrum though Utah’s set piece has not looked particularly menacing as is. This is a much stronger Legion side on paper and it’s reasonable to expect a similar lift in their on-field performance. Expect San Diego’s welcome party for Utah to end at the pre-game handshake, the Legion’s stock to rise dramatically after a convincing win.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 5pm Mountain, 7pm Eastern. A collegiate curtain-raiser between USD and the NorCal Pelicans will begin at 1:30pm local.
Those in the San Diego area can watch live on YurView. Other USA broadcasters include AT&T SportsNet and ESPN+. Canadians and all other international viewers can watch live on Facebook.
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Sione Tu’ihalamaka, 2 Pat Blair, 3 Tony Purpura, 4 Siaosi Mahoni, 5 Jay Harmon, 6 Chris Turori, 7 Devin Short, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 10 Tadhg Leader, 11 Ryan Matyas, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Anthony Salaber, 14 Taku Ngwenya, 15 Dylan Audsley
Replacements: 16 Gil Covey, 17 Aaron Mitchell, 18 Tasi Toilolo, 19 Derrick Broussard, 20 Lance Lamprecht, 21 Nick Boyer, 22 Ben Cima, 23 Naima Fuala’au
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Alex Tucci, 2 Lote Tu’ipulotu, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Kory Olsen, 6 Kenny Scott, 7 Lance Williams, 8 Saia Uhila, 9 Joseph Nicholls, 10 Kurt Morath, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Paul Lasike (capt.), 13 Jared Whippy, 14 Josh Anderson, 15 Tonata Lauti
Replacements: 16 Alex Vorster, 17 Maika Hafoka, 18 John Martinez, 19 David Tameilau, 20 AJ Tu’ineau, 21 Ben Nicholls, 22 Paki Afu, 23 Don Pati
Date: Sunday, April 29
Venue: Torero Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 16:00 local (17:00 Mountain, 19:00 Eastern)
Referee: Pierre-Henri Courbier (USAR)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (RC) & John Neiss (USAR)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet, ESPN+, YurView, Facebook
