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The New Orleans Gold will look to become the first team in the 2019 Major League Rugby season to record three wins when they host the Seattle Seawolves at Gold Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Defeating the defending champions will not be an easy task but San Diego showed last week that the Seawolves are far from invincible.
Seattle were dealt a savage blow near the end of their game against the Legion when star flanker Vili Toluta’u went down with a serious ankle injury. The severity and anticipated return have yet to be revealed but in the meantime Richie Walker has opted for a gargantuan loose forward trio with Eric Duechle joining Brad Tucker and Riekert Hattingh.
Further changes come in the backs. Shalom Suniula pushes out to the midfield as Ben Cima returns after missing the match in San Diego, and for the first time in franchise history Phil Mack will start the game from the bench. South African age-grade international JP Smith wears the No9 jersey giving the team strong kicking options from both halfback positions.
NOLA aren’t messing with a winning formula though they do have a reinforcement up front as Ignacio Dotti makes his MLR debut in the second row after returning from Americas Rugby Championship duty with Uruguay. In the backs there is one enforced change as Scott Gale is ruled out so Nick Feakes steps into the pivotal flyhalf position.
This match promises to be the highlight of the weekend as two of the top two sides in the competition go head-to-head. New Orleans have won the respect of pundits with back-to-back wins over formidable opponents Toronto and Glendale. A win over Seattle would vault them into title-talk with the new season barely underway.
The Seawolves nearly covered the distance after falling behind early against the Legion. They will be targeting a faster start by using their kickers to control territory and take points when on offer.
It’s a virtual coin toss with Seattle tried and true and NOLA the hottest property in MLR. Give the edge to the home team strong bets either way are all-advised. Could this be the first tie in MLR history?
Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern. Live broadcasts will be available on Root Sports locally in Seattle and ESPN+ across the USA. Those in Canada and abroad can watch a live stream available on the official MLR Facebook page.
NOLA GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Matt Harmon, 3 Ben Tarr, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Billy Stewart, 6 John Sullivan, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Kane Thompson, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Nick Feakes, 11 Joeli Tikoisuva, 12 Con Foley, 13 Taylor Howden, 14 Tristan Blewett, 15 JP Eloff (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Mason Briant, 17 Cam Falcon, 18 Kevin Sullivan, 19 William Waguespack, 20 Malcolm May, 21 Caleb Meyer, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Cameron Troxler
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Olive Kilifi, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Api Naikatini, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Brad Tucker, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Mike Shepherd, 17 Kellen Gordon, 18 John Hayden, 19 Jérémy Lenaerts, 20 Cole van Harn, 21 Phil Mack, 22 George Barton, 23 Scott Dean
Date: Sunday, February 10
Venue: Gold Stadium, New Orleans
Kickoff: 15:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USAR) & Ed Gardner (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, Root Sports
