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There will be tension in the air at Torero Stadium on Sunday evening as the San Diego Legion host Austin Elite in a match with enormous implication for the Major League Rugby Semi Finals. This is the last regular season game for Austin and it’s win or go home with a loss likely to leave them out in the cold.
San Diego’s door is slightly more ajar but only by virtue of mathematics. Their final game next week will be against the unbeaten Glendale Raptors. It might therefore be prudent to suggest that the Legion’s need for victory is every bit do-or-die as Austin.
After an impressive performance against the New Orleans Gold last weekend with something of a patchwork side, the Legion have kept things consistent this week with only one enforced change to the run-on side. Devin Short’s Junior All-Americans duties keep him out of the lineup so Collegiate All-American Alec Barton steps in on the flank. Taking his place on the bench is another All-American in GCU standout Maceo Brown, a center also capable of playing across the back three.
The Elite had a strong start to their game against the Seattle Seawolves but slipped up in the end, losing by one point. There are three changes to their starting side and a couple new notables signed to the roster this week set to make their MLR debuts.
Up front injury has ruled out Paddy Ryan but Mason Pedersen is fit for duty at tighthead prop. Standing in on the bench is a surprise name in former Eagles lock Lou Stanfill, who has been out of top class rugby since the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Another new addition is former France Universities and Oyonnax Academy scrumhalf Mickaël Romera who forms the French Connection with halfback partner Timothée Guillimin. Roland Suniula returns from a head knock to start beside brother Andrew in the midfield, and Ned Hodson continues to show his versatility with a start on the wing.
This promises to be a an all-action contest between two evenly-matched teams that have met on two previous occasions. The first, during the preseason, saw the Legion take the spoils but the tables were turned in dramatic fashion when they collided at Round Rock just three weeks ago. Expect this to come down to the wire with San Diego’s home field advantage just enough to make them slight favorites.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern. Local viewers can watch on YurView. Those elsewhere in the United States can watch on AT&T SportsNet or ESPN+. All international viewers can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Pat Blair, 3 Nathan Sylvia, 4 Nick Grass, 5 Chris Turori, 6 Alec Barton, 7 Derrick Broussard, 8 Drew Gaffney, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Tadhg Leader (capt.), 11 Nick Evans, 12 Anthony Salaber, 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Taku Ngwenya, 15 Conor Kearns
Replacements: 16 Pat O’Toole, 17 Sione Tu’ihalamaka, 18 Aaron Mitchell, 19 Sam Peri, 20 Gil Covey, 21 Nick Lupian, 22 Maceo Brown, 23 Kyle Rogers
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Ross Deacon, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 9 Mickaël Romera, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sani Taylor, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.), 13 Roland Suniula, 14 Ned Hodson, 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick
Replacements: 16 David LeMasters, 17 Siaosi Finau, 18 Robert Drummond, 19 Lou Stanfill, 20 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 21 Marcus Walsh, 22 Zac Mizell, 23 Junior Naruma
Date: Sunday, June 17
Venue: Torero Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 17:00 local (19:00 Central, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR)
Assistants: Josh Houston (USAR) & John Neiss (USAR)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet, ESPN+, YurView, Facebook
