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After pushing themselves into a playoff spot against Austin on Thursday, the Toronto Arrows can move a little higher on Sunday afternoon. Victory over the visiting Utah Warriors at Lamport Stadium would make it five wins in a row with second overall a possibility pending the outcome of Saturday’s games.
With this being their third match in only eight days, the Arrows have been conscious of player overload and have retained only three starters from the York match. Notably absent are Jack Nay, the England u20 loose forward who has been ruled out for the season with an ankle injury, and Canada pair Lucas Rumball and Theo Sauder, missing with knee and shoulder knocks respectively.
Pat Lynott gets his first start of the season having impressed as a replacement in a handful of games. He is part of an all-changed front row with regular starters Andrew Quattrin and Morgan Mitchell alongside. Tom van Horne partners Mike Sheppard at lock, and Peter Milazzo returns on the side of the scrum.
Sam Malcolm captains the side with Dan Moor left on the bench. Jamie Mackenzie tags in for Andrew Ferguson at scrumhalf, and the new midfield is Guiseppe du Toit and Spencer Jones. Johnny Sheridan returns on the wing after several weeks in the wilderness, and Gastón Mieres runs out at fullback.
At the time of writing Utah have not named their lineup but are expected to field a similar side to that which lost in Glendale last weekend. New signings Adam Thomson and Vatemo Ravouvou have yet to make an appearance and could make their Major League Rugby debuts on Sunday.
[EDIT: Utah team added below.]
Despite the short downtime between games, the Arrows will be ready for this. Recovery has been the theme of the week and with so many changes to the lineup from Thursday, bodies should be in reasonable enough condition to get the job done against a Utah side that have flattered to deceive at times this season. Look for the Arrows to continue their drive towards the post-season.
Kickoff is set for 2pm local, 11am Pacific, noon Mountain time. A local broadcast will be available on KMYU in Utah, with ESPN+ carrying the game nationwide. Those in Canada can watch live on GameTV or access the international stream on the MLR Facebook page.
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Pat Lynott, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Morgan Mitchell, 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Tom van Horne, 6 John Moonlight, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Luke Campbell, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 10 Sam Malcolm (capt.), 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Steven Ng, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Paul Ciulini, 20 Kolby Francis, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Dan Moor, 23 Patrick Parfrey
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg, 2 Jeremy Leber, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Saia Uhila, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 Arthur Bergo, 9 Johnny Ika, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Tim O’Malley, 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 Don Pati
Replacements: 16 Alex Tucci, 17 Blake Burdette, 18 Kenny Scott, 19 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 20 John Cullen, 21 Josh Anderson, 22 Josh Whippy, 23 Joseph Nicholls
Date: Sunday, May 12
Venue: Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Kickoff: 14:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 12:00 Mountain)
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (RC) & Michael Jones (RC)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, GameTV, KMYU
