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The defending champions are snapped a two-game losing streak against Toronto last weekend, but the Seattle Seawolves will face a new opponent on Sunday. Rugby United New York put the rest of Major League Rugby on notice after upsetting the previously unbeaten NOLA Gold on their own turf.
There is good and bad news for RUNY fans this week. The good is that Paddy Ryan is fit to return at tighthead prop after being a late scratch against NOLA. The bad is that Dylan Fawsitt and Nate Brakeley have been called up the Eagles squad alongside John Quill.
Mike Brown will deputise for Fawsitt at hooker with Callum Mackintosh providing cover on the bench. Alex MacDonald will lock down the scrum in place of Brakeley, and there is a change in the back row as James Denise replaces Matt Hughston at openside flank. Myles McQuone is set to make his regular season debut for New York having played for NOLA last season.
The backs, on the other hand, are unchanged. Luke Hume was also a late withdrawal against NOLA and has not recovered in time for this week’s game. Gavan D’Amore-Morrison was a flanker in preseason but filled in as an emergency wing last week and is asked to cover the backs again this week.
Seattle will roll out a nearly unchanged lineup with the only switch coming in the midfield. Club captain Shalom Suniula returns at inside center with George Barton shifting out one spot and William Rasileka moving to the bench. Cam Polson will start again on the blindside despite being forced off early against Toronto with Eric Duechle again named at openside flank.
On the replacements list there are two notable switches. Dan Trierweiler sees his first action of the season as backup hooker and Eagles cap Aladdin Schirmer also returns having recovered from injury to take his place as loose forward cover.
A full strength New York lineup would have been a stern challenge for the Seawolves but with three of their best forwards missing for a match in the narrow confines of Starfire Stadium the scales of power tilt ever further towards the home side. Look for Seattle to absorb the early attacks from the visitors and turn up the heat in the final quarter as they did against the Arrows.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 7pm Eastern. A live broadcast will be available on CBS Sports Network. Those in Canada or elsewhere around the world can access the live stream on the MLR Facebook page.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Olive Kilifi, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Apisai Naikatini, 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Cam Polson, 7 Eric Duechle, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Kellen Gordon, 18 John Hayden, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Aladdin Schirmer, 21 JP Smith, 22 William Rasileka, 23 Sequoyah Burke-Combs
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Trevor Cassidy, 6 Kyle Sumsion, 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Mike Petri (capt.), 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Ben Foden, 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 Chris Mattina
Replacements: 16 Callum Mackintosh, 17 Anthony Parry, 18 Kirk Hamilton, 19 Myles McQuone, 20 Matt Hughston, 21 Marcus Walsh, 22 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, 23 Derek Lipscomb
Date: Sunday, February 24
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Seattle
Kickoff: 16:00 local (19:00 Eastern)
Referee: Ben Crouse (SARU)
Assistants: Lex Weiner (USAR) & Austin Reed (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Facebook
