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All three of this weekend’s Major League Rugby games are on Saturday, and unfortunately all three overlap to a degree. The Houston SaberCats will host Rugby United New York in the first that kicks off an hour before the other two. It’s the fourth match of the season for each so the rust should be shaken off though neither are at full strength just yet.
Houston will be without their four Uruguayan players while Jason Harris-Wright, Charlie Hewitt, Alex Elkins, and Cecil Garber remain sidelined with injury. One change in the starting pack sees Jamie Dever switch to loosehead prop and Charlie Connolly promoted to the tighthead spot.
Matt Almeida comes onto the bench to cover tighthead along with Chad Joseph. The former NOLA Gold flanker has been summoned from the Dallas Reds to help out as fit bodies are hard to come by this week.
Two players return to the lineup in the backs. Conor Mills is recalled at inside center and Josua Vici is ready to play again after sitting out the Arrows match with an ankle complaint. Max Tacket and Kelly Kolberg drop to the bench to make room.
New York came up short against Seattle but Mike Tolkin has not spent much time ruminating over selection. Dylan Fawsitt returns from Eagles duty to start at hooker and Matt Hughston takes up the vacancy on the flank in the absence of Kyle Sumsion. Matt Wirken makes it two locks on the bench alongside Myles McQuone.
There are no changes to the backline but for a game of musical chairs in the outside backs. Ben Foden is named at his traditional fullback position for the first time this season with Mark O’Keeffe pushing into the midfield and Chris Mattina lining up on the wing.
The SaberCats are a wounded animal after losing their last two matches to San Diego and Toronto. It’s too early to write them out of the playoff picture but the next four games will tell us more about where they stand. Coming away with some kind of points against New York should be considered a must.
For the visitors it’s a chance to come away with a highly valuable road win. Houston are shorthanded and lack experience on the bench. New York showed against Seattle they are an 80 minute team and their stronger reserves should see them through if they can push out to a lead early in the second half.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on KUBE, SNY, NBC Sports Washington, and NBC Sports Philadelphia. A live stream will be available on the official MLR Facebook page.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Chris Coyle, 8 Ayron Schramm, 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Replacements: 16 Amro Gouda, 17 Josh Turnbull, 18 Matt Almeida, 19 Chris Parker, 20 Chad Joseph, 21 Chris Saint, 22 Max Tacket, 23 Kelly Kolberg
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Trevor Cassidy, 6 Matt Hughston, 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Mike Petri (capt.), 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Chris Mattina, 15 Ben Foden
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Anthony Parry, 18 Chris Sullivan, 19 Matt Wirken, 20 Myles McQuone, 21 Marcus Walsh, 22 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, 23 Derek Lipscomb
Date: Saturday, March 2
Venue: Constellation Field, Sugar Land
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Facebook, KUBE, SNY
