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Eight weeks after falling decisively in New Orleans, the Glendale Raptors will get the chance to redeem themselves on home turf against the visiting NOLA Gold. The Raptors are stepping into the second half of their season and it’s fair to say that the first half has not gone entirely to plan for the 2018 finalists.
The good news for Glendale is that this is a stronger lineup than the one that lost in Week 2, though that didn’t save them last weekend in New York. More will be expected from Eagles halfback duo Shaun Davies and Will Magie, who this week welcome the return of powerhouse left wing John Ryberg. He is one of two changes to the backs with Robbie Petzer starting in place of the injured Chad London at inside center.
There are two further changes in the forwards. Chad Gough rotates in at hooker with Zach Fenoglio switching to the bench, and Kody O’Neil adds some lineout ability to the second row at the expense of Luke White. The back row is identical though their numbers have been corrected this week.
New Orleans snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Austin but will soldier on with just two changes to the starting side. Kane Thompson gets a week off with Billy Stewart starting in the second row, and Tristan Blewett makes a timely return from a head knock to start at outside center in place of the injured Taylor Howden.
John Sullivan makes it three loose forwards on the bench with Nikola Bursic and Kyle Baillie potential cover at lock if required. There are now two props on the bench who could make their Major League Rugby debuts as Capital Selects regular Jim ‘Doc’ Irey joins the team with Kavika Peniata an unused replacement against Austin.
Glendale are unbeaten in MLR competition at Infinity Park, the draw against San Diego two weeks ago the only time they haven’t won outright. More importantly this is a team that needs a statement victory, a reminder that they are still capable of beating anyone.
Against NOLA the Raptors must hold the scrum on their own ball and close down the space against the league’s best attacking side. Achieving that may be easier said than done.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. A live stream available to all viewers can be found on 9News.
GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Noah Barker, 2 Chad Gough, 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Will Munro, 5 Kody O’Neil, 6 Brendan Daly, 7 Peter Dahl, 8 Hanco Germishuys, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.), 10 Will Magie, 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Robbie Petzer, 13 Mika Kruse, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson
Replacements: 16 Zach Fenoglio, 17 Blake Rogers, 18 Max Lum, 19 Luke White, 20 Malon Al-Jiboori, 21 Mickey Bateman, 22 Ata Malifa, 23 Campbell Johnstone
NEW ORLEANS GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Eric Howard (capt.), 3 Ben Tarr, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Nikola Bursic, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Kyle Baillie, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Scott Gale, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff
Replacements: 16 Kavika Peniata, 17 Cam Falcon, 18 Doc Irey, 19 Moni Tonga’uiha, 20 John Sullivan, 21 Kevin O’Connor, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Joeli Tikoisuva
Date: Saturday, March 30
Venue: Infinity Park, Glendale
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Lex Weiner (USAR) & Kage Green (USAR)
Broadcasts: 9News.com
