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Week 7 of the Major League Rugby regular season begins in Round Rock where Austin Elite host the Utah Warriors on Friday evening. Both teams have moved up into Semi Final contention after big wins last week. With only five points separating third place from the bottom of the table, every match from here out will be hotly contested.
Austin produced their best performance of the season at home last week as they outscored the favored San Diego Legion by four tries to one. They have made just two changes to the starting lineup – one each in the forwards and backs – with one positional switch.
Chris Schade moves back to loosehead prop with Mike Brown starting at hooker in the only change up front. In the backs there is no sign of Sione Fangaiuiha so it’s Alex Faison-Donahoe who gets the call on the wing for his first start of the season. Junior Naruma replaces Todd Clever on the bench with David LeMasters stepping in for Mason Pedersen.
The Warriors had enough petrol in the tank to grind out a 36-30 win on the road against the Houston SaberCats. They’ll enjoy a bye next week so won’t have any fear of running themselves dry in the Texas heat once again. Alf Daniels has made five personnel changes to the side with three positional switches.
Lote Tu’ipulotu will wear the No1 shirt having started every game previously at hooker. Tabbed to start beside him in the front row is Tino Mafi with Alex Tucci dropping to the bench. John Cullen forms an all-Eagles second row unit with Matt Jensen and Saia Uhila moves to the back of the scrum with David Tameilau left among the reserves.
With Kurt Morath away on international duty former BYU All-American Jonny Linehan will run the show at flyhalf. AJ Tu’ineau is recalled in the midfield and Fetu’u Vainikolo is shifted back to the wing. Kisa Kalougata is a straight change for Don Pati at fullback.
This is the second meeting between the two sides this season, the first a convincing 41-22 win for the Warriors in Salt Lake. Both teams have improved since but have Austin done enough to make up the difference? The lineout battle between Ben Mitchell and Victor Comptat and Utah’s Eagles duo of Jensen and Cullen could well lean in Austin’s direction.
Morath’s absence is significant for Utah but Linehan is a quality replacement and brings added attacking flair to the backline. Utah proved they can win in Texas last weekend and should remain favorites on Friday though by a significantly smaller margin than the previous result.
Kickoff is set for 8pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Viewers in the USA can watch on AT&T SportsNet or ESPN+. Internationals viewers, including those in Canada, can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sani Taylor, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.), 13 Roland Suniula, 14 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick
Replacements: 16 David LeMasters, 17 Siaosi Finau, 18 Robert Drummond, 19 Junior Naruma, 20 Ross Deacon, 21 Ned Hodson, 22 Knute O’Donnell, 23 Zac Mizell
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Lote Tu’ipulotu, 2 Tino Mafi, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 John Cullen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 Saia Uhila, 9 Joseph Nicholls, 10 Jonny Linehan, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Paul Lasike (capt.), 13 AJ Tu’ineau, 14 Tonata Lauti, 15 Kisa Kalougata
Replacements: 16 Ray Forrester, 17 Maka Tameilau, 18 Les Soloai, 19 Alex Tucci, 20 David Tameilau, 21 Josh Anderson, 22 Iniki Fa’amausili, 23 Ben Nicholls
Date: Friday, June 1
Venue: Round Rock Multipurpose Complex
Kickoff: 20:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 19:00 Mountain, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Adam Leal (RFU)
Assistants: Scott Green (USAR) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet, ESPN+, Facebook
