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The Toronto Arrows return to Major League Rugby on Friday evening when they travel to the great state of Texas to take on Austin Elite at Dell Diamond. Under normal circumstances the expansion side might have been favored but with four more internationals off on Canada duty and another unavailable, the home side’s chances are significantly improved.
Chris Silverthorn has made seven changes all told to the starting lineup, five of them enforced. Cole Keith, Mike Sheppard, Lucas Rumball, and Kainoa Lloyd all played against NOLA but are in South America this weekend while John Moonlight was unavailable to make the trip.
Former Southland prop Morgan Mitchell gets his first Arrows start at tighthead prop with Josh van Horne coming into the second row. Marcello Wainwright and Kolby Francis both came off the bench against the Gold and will get the chance to start at flanker and No8 respectively.
In the backs there is a re-jigged midfield and an entirely new back three. Jamie Leveridge drops out with Spencer Jones moving in one spot and Dan Moor shifting to outside center. Moor takes over the captaincy in the absence of both Rumball and Sheppard. Johnny Sheridan starts on the left wing, with highly rated teenager Avery Oitomen on the right and veteran utility back Shawn Windsor in the No15 jersey.
There are more changes on the bench. Pat Lynott is called up to cover loosehead prop with Tom Dolezel switching his focus to the tighthead side. Tom van Horne covers the second row and a surprise choice sees mobile prop Mike Smith asked to cover the back row, a position he played before converting to the front row. Versatile midfielder Mitch Richardson is set to make his MLR debut and Jack Evans is relegated to bench duty.
Austin’s changes are far less significant. Simon Courcoul swaps with Chris Schade in the only alteration to the forwards. Uruguay star Rodrigo Silva arrives to make his MLR debut at fullback with Soheyl Jaoudat moving to the left wing at the expense of Alex Faison-Donahoe. Peni Tagive is ruled out so Reece Czarnecki starts on the right wing. The reserves are otherwise unchanged with Faison-Donahoe filling the vacancy left by Czarnecki’s promotion.
The Elite have lost both of their matches but neither were one-sided. They might feel rightly aggrieved that they did not take a losing bonus point against Utah after the match officials appeared to incorrectly disallow a late Tim Guillimin penalty goal. The weather has also played a factor and while Friday’s forecast is on the chilly side, at least rain is unlikely to be in the picture.
Toronto’s personnel changes are significant. For the most part the team has played together before under the Ontario banner but this is undoubtedly a step up for many and nerves can be expected in the opening minutes. They remain a quality outfit with Mitchell more than capable of fronting up against Courcoul and Windsor a calming presence at fullback.
That said the edge in continuity must go to Austin, and the addition of Silva gives them some attacking flair that has been missing in previous matches. The prospect of the Uruguayan linking with the speedy Jaoudat on the counter-attack is one the Elite will be banking on. Look for Silva to also pop up on occasion as an extra option at first receiver for fellow Spanish-speaker Marcelo Torrealba.
Barring the unlikely event of a draw, one team will be walking away with their first win of the season. The Arrows have been stripped to bare-bones but remain competitive. Finding a win on the road against an upgraded Austin side, however, might be a step too far this week. Look for the Elite to take their golden opportunity and close out a narrow win over their guests.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. Live broadcasts will be available in the USA on ESPN+ and the Austin Elite website. Those in Canada can watch on GameTV with a live stream available worldwide on the Toronto Arrows Facebook page.
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Simon Courcoul, 2 Tiaan Erasmus, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Ben Mitchell (capt.), 5 Rikus Zwart, 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Dom Bailey, 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Soheyl Jaoudat, 12 Sione Fangaiuiha, 13 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 14 Reece Czarnecki, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Brendan Rams, 17 LaRome White, 18 Dylan Pieterse, 19 Craig Welborn, 20 Mickaël Romera, 21 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 22 Andrew Suniula, 23 Chris Schade
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 AJ Quattrin, 3 Morgan Mitchell, 4 Josh van Horne, 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Marcello Wainwright, 8 Kolby Francis, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Johnny Sheridan, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Dan Moor (capt.), 14 Avery Oitomen, 15 Shawn Windsor
Replacements: 16 Steve Ng, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Tom Dolezel, 19 Tom van Horne, 20 Mike Smith, 21 Riley DiNardo, 22 Mitch Richardson, 23 Jack Evans
Date: Friday, February 8
Venue: Dell Diamond, Round Rock
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR)
Assistants: Scott Green (USAR) & Derek Summers (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, GameTV, Live Stream
