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It’s a short turnaround for Austin Elite as they host the New Orleans Gold at Round Rock Multipurpose Complex to kick off Round 3 of the Major League Rugby regular season. After battling to a 50-38 defeat against Houston on Saturday the Elite will have to front up against a NOLA team that has enjoyed a week off following their own upset win over the SaberCats in Week 1.
Despite the short recovery period Austin have made only three changes to the side, and just one in the forwards. The return of Pedrie Wannenburg after pulling a hamstring against Glendale sees the Springbok restored at No8 with Hanco Germishuys shifting to the flank. Victor Comptat moves to the bench with Kyle Breytenbach pushed into the second row to make room.
Another injury returnee is Roland Suniula, who returns to partner brother Andrew in the midfield. Sani Taylor moves to the wing and Reece Czarnecki drops out of the match day squad. Ned Hodson starts at fullback after replacing Zac Mizell early in Saturday’s match. Former Collegiate All-American Pat Sullivan is called up to the bench to cover the inside backs and could see his first regular season action.
The Gold have opted to rotate their props with Derrek van Klein and Cam Falcon getting the start and Hubert Buydens and Ben Tarr switching to the reserves. Moni Tonga’uiha is set to continue his role as a makeshift flanker with only four specialist forwards on the bench.
In the backs there are two changes. Peceli Rinakama replaces Joeli Tikoisuva on the left wing, and injury rules out Tim Maupin with Zack Stryffeler named at outside center. A new name joins the bench in Tongan scrumhalf Vita Makasini, a familiar face to many having played under coach Nate Osborne at Metropolis.
Austin have been unable to find victory thus far but will welcome their first home game of the campaign and the returns of key veterans Wannenburg and Suniula. New scrumhalf Marcus Walsh will have had an extra few days to work on his combination with Timothée Guillimin and the team did finish on a high note against Houston.
The week off could be either a blessing or a curse for NOLA. They will be anxious to return to action but may have just a hint of rust especially in the early goings. Confidence won’t be an issue having won three straight including the last two games of the preseason – both convincing wins over Austin.
Expect this to be a close match. Leaving their most experienced props on the bench is a gamble by New Orleans and the loss of Maupin in the midfield is a significant blow to the attack. Austin will be dead set on redemption after dropping both exhibition fixtures, and while on the wrong side of two results are trending upwards and look to have a stronger bench. Home field advantage may be just enough to edge them into the winning column at last.
Kickoff is set for 8pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Those in the USA can watch on AT&T Sportsnet and ESPN+. International viewers can access a live stream on the MLR Facebook page.
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Kyle Breytenbach, 6 Ross Deacon, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sione Fangaiuiha, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.), 13 Roland Suniula, 14 Sani Taylor, 15 Ned Hodson
Replacements: 16 David LeMasters, 17 Siaosi Finau, 18 Todd Clever, 19 Victor Comptat, 20 Pat Sullivan, 21 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 22 Knute O’Donnell, 23 Robert Drummond
NEW ORLEANS GOLD
1 Derrek van Klein, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Cam Falcon, 4 Nikola Bursic, 5 Matt Wirken, 6 John Sullivan, 7 Matt Hughston, 8 Sebastián Kalm, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Taylor Howden (capt.), 11 Peceli Rinakama, 12 JP Eloff, 13 Zack Stryffeler, 14 Bobby Johns, 15 Michael Baska
Replacements: 16 Amro Gouda, 17 Hubert Buydens, 18 Ben Tarr, 19 Myles McQuone, 20 Vita Makasini, 21 Joeli Tikoisuva, 22 Moni Tonga’uiha, 23 Melvin DeSouza
Date: Thursday, May 3
Venue: Round Rock Multipurpose Complex
Kickoff: 20:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (ARU) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet, ESPN+, Facebook
