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Two teams languishing in the basement of the Major League Rugby table will have a chance to build some momentum in a rare Thursday-night match at Constellation Field. The Houston SaberCats have lost five straight since their opening week win over Austin, while the lone Utah Warriors win of the season was against the same opposition.
Houston’s back stores have been stretched to their limit this week with Fijian duo Osea Kolinisau and Josua Vici suspended after being sent off against NOLA on the weekend. Kolinisau will return against Glendale but Vici could be out significantly longer pending a possible appeal. Also absent are scrumhalves Santiago Arata and Chris Saint. The former limped off against the Gold with a knee complaint.
In the meantime Max Tacket fills in at outside center and Malacchi Esdale returns on the left wing with Kelly Kolberg retained on the right. The SaberCats have strangely opted not to call any other backs into the squad this week, instead naming Kieran Farmer as the only non-forward replacements.
There is better news up front with Mateo Sanguinetti back in action at loosehead prop and second row Victor Comptat arriving from France to take up a spot on the bench. Otherwise the team is intact and asked to man the parapets on only four days rest.
The Warriors enjoyed a bye week return with six changes to the side that lost against New York in the snow. Two of them come up front as Jeremy Leber and Jackson Kaka are handed their first career starts in MLR. Leber is a new arrival but for Kaka the opportunity has been a long time coming after missing the entirety of the 2018 season with a shoulder injury.
Sione Ika returns from illness to start at scrumhalf, and Gannon Moore is back from international duty to take over at outside center. Tonata Lauti is on the bench this week with Josh Whippy rested, so it’s Josh Anderson who runs out on the wing with last year’s starter Don Pati making his first appearance of the season at fullback.
Neither side has looked especially sharp to date but the only factor that tilts towards Houston is home field advantage. Their forwards are on a short turnaround and their backs are simply outgunned by a Warriors side known for their explosive attackers. Look for Utah to exploit the speed advantage out wide.
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm local time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on KMYU in Utah. All others can watch the live stream on the SaberCats Facebook page.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Max Tacket, 14 Kelly Kolberg, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Replacements: 16 Amro Gouda, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Jamie Dever, 19 Victor Comptat, 20 Chris Parker, 21 Chris Coyle, 22 Kieran Farmer, 23 Ayron Schramm
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg, 2 Jeremy Leber, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Saia Uhila, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Jackson Kaka, 7 Lance Williams, 8 John Cullen, 9 Sione Ika, 10 James Semple, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Josh Anderson, 15 Don Pati
Replacements: 16 AN Other, 17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 18 Blake Burdette, 19 Kenny Scott, 20 Alex Tucci, 21 Tonata Lauti, 22 Jeremy Misailegalu, 23 Joseph Nicholls
Date: Thursday, March 21
Venue: Constellation Field, Sugar Land
Kickoff: 19:30 local (17:30 Pacific, 20:30 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Gavin McCandless (USAR) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)
Broadcasts: Facebook, KMYU
