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The Houston SaberCats host the Seattle Seawolves on Saturday evening in the second of three Major League Rugby games this weekend. It’s going to take something special for Houston to get back into Semi Final contention after losing three close games in a row, meanwhile Seattle are top of the pack and can all but clinch a playoff spot with a win at Dyer Stadium.
Despite the shortcomings Justin Fitzpatrick has opted to keep the faith with only two changes made to the run-on side. Robert Meeson takes over from Charlie Hewitt in the second row, and Zach Pangelinan returns from suspension to take his place at fullback with Osea Kolinisau moving up to outside center. Dan Paul drops out to make room.
There is one further change on the bench where Jack Riley acts as tighthead cover in place of Petey Hepburn. Pago Haini, Joey Iosefa, and Alex Elkins represent a significant amount of firepower able to be called upon as impact replacements.
The Seawolves have made three changes to the team that defeated the Gold in Seattle, all in the tight five. Kellen Gordon and John Hayden start at prop with Olive Kilifi and Tim Metcher rotated to the bench. Cam Polson returns from a minor injury to start at lock in place of Jérémy Lenaerts.
This is the first time the two teams have met, and their fortunes to this point have been very different. Seattle enter as clear favorites given their respective league positions but had some troubles in the Southern heat in New Orleans so the result may not go entirely as planned.
Kickoff is set for 8pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Viewers in Canada or the USA can watch on CBS Sports Network. All other viewers will have access to a live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Adam Macklin, 2 Lindsey Stevens, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Matt Trouville, 6 Chris Coyle, Cecil Garber, 8 Kyle Sumsion (capt.), 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Josua Vici, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Malacchi Esdale, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Replacements: 16 Diego Maquieira, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Jack Riley, 19 Charlie Hewitt, 20 Pago Haini, 21 Chris Slater, 22 Joey Iosefa, 23 Alex Elkins
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Kellen Gordon, 2 Ray Barkwill, 3 John Hayden, 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Cam Polson, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Vili Toluta’u, 8 Aladdin Schirmer, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Will Holder, 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Cole van Harn, 20 Nakai Penny, 21 Andre Coquillard, 22 Mozac Samson, 23 Sequoyah Burke-Combs
Date: Saturday, June 2
Venue: Dyer Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 20:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 19:00 Mountain, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (ARU) & Mitch Damm (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Facebook
