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Sitting just one point behind San Diego but with one game to spare, the NOLA Gold are looking in good shape to make the Semi Finals but cannot rest on their laurels against a Houston SaberCats side desperate to end their traumatic season in a better place than where it started.
It was no contest when they last met at Constellation Field in March, a 49-11 result in favor of the Gold, and turning that around in New Orleans seems a tall task for the visiting SaberCats.
Houston’s match against Glendale last weekend was rained out so they’ve had an extra week to prepare under interim head coach Paul Emerick. The side shows just three changes to the starting lineup that were shut out in New York.
Mateo Sanguinetti is absent so it’s Jake Turnbull who gets his first start of the season at loosehead prop. Victor Comptat comes into the second row with Matt Trouville moving to the blindside flank, Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz switching to No8, and Alejandro Nieto dropping to the bench.
The most notable change is at scrumhalf where Santiago Arata at last returns from a troublesome foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup, ironically, since the first game against NOLA. He replaces Connor Murphy in a straight swap and will look to inspire the Cats with his attacking flair.
There is a return for Eagles prop Paul Mullen among the reserves, with second row Robert Meeson also set to make his first match appearance in a month. The two backs replacements are Zach Pangelinan and Junior All-American flyhalf Kieran Farmer, the latter yet to see the field this season.
New Orleans are looking to bounce back from their loss to the Legion last week. They will hand a first Major League Rugby start to Alex Maughan at tighthead prop, with Matt Harmon covering hooker from the bench this week in the only change to the starting lineup.
The bench is also similar with two exceptions. New signing Ross Davies takes over from Kevin Sullivan as prop cover, the 35-year-old enlisted from the Dallas Reds during the week. Taylor Howden is fit to play and takes up a spot with Kevin O’Connor dropping out of the match day squad.
Had the Gold come away with the win against San Diego there might have been a chance for complacency against the SaberCats, but that seems highly improbable now. Final seeding will determine home field advantage in the playoffs and NOLA have a shot to have it their way. Expect them to take maximum points from Houston on Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 5pm Eastern, 2pm Pacific. A local broadcast will be available on Cox Sports TV in New Orleans with ESPN+ providing nationwide coverage. Those located outside the USA can watch a live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
NOLA GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Eric Howard (capt.), 3 Alex Maughan, 4 Kane Thompson, 5 Nikola Bursic, 6 Ignacio Dotti, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Scott Gale, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff
Replacements: 16 Matt Harmon, 17 Cam Falcon, 18 Ross Davies, 19 Billy Stewart, 20 Moni Tonga’uiha, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Taylor Howden, 23 Joeli Tikoisuva
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Matt Trouville (capt.), 7 Luke Beauchamp, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Thretton Palamo, 13 Josua Vici, 14 Deion Mikesell, 15 Osea Kolinisau
Replacements: 16 Jamie Dever, 17 Amro Gouda, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Robert Meeson, 20 Cecil Garber, 21 Alejandro Nieto, 22 Zach Pangelinan, 23 Kieran Farmer
Date: Saturday, May 18
Venue: Gold Stadium, Marrero
Kickoff: 16:00 local (14:00 Pacific, 17:00 Eastern)
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
Assistants: Derek Summers (USAR) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)
Broadcasts: Cox Sports TV, ESPN+, Facebook
