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With only two games left in the regular season, the San Diego Legion will be aiming to take maximum points from their match against the Utah Warriors on Saturday evening. A slender one-point lead over second-place New Orleans is a poor buffer given the Gold have a game at hand, and home field advantage in the finals is what’s at stake.
The Legion took bragging rights in a tense match last weekend to rebound from their tough defeat in Toronto. It has been an exceptional season for San Diego, with all three of their defeats coming by no more than seven points. Prior to the Arrows loss they had won five on the trot.
There are four changes to the starting lineup this week, three up front. Kapeli Pifeleti and Psalm Wooching miss out so it’s Pat Blair at hooker and Drew Gaffney at openside flanker filling in. Paddy Ryan is given a half-rest as Dino Waldren gets his first Major League Rugby start at tighthead prop.
Joe Pietersen’s injury opens the door for Tai Enosa to make his run-on debut at flyhalf. Nate Augspurger assumes the captaincy in an otherwise unchanged backline. There are three props named on the bench with no specialist cover at hooker but there is good news with Devin Short returning after missing last week’s game.
Utah braved horrid weather in Toronto and came away with a bonus point in defeat. It’s been a long season for the Warriors with many of their starters sporting layers of tape to keep them in one piece. Making matters more difficult is that only two subs were used against the Arrows, and with one less day to recover there will be some sore bodies asked to front up against the Legion.
Alf Daniels has nonetheless retained a near-identical starting lineup with the only change coming in the backs. James Semple is recalled at fullback with Don Pati moving to the left wing and Fetu’u Vainikolo dropping to the bench.
Under the circumstances it’s hard to project anything but a comfortable win for San Diego. Utah’s only win in six games at home this season was against Austin. It’s fair to say that the Legion are a significant step up from the Elite. The Warriors are dangerous on offense but won’t be strong enough in defense to hold off the Legion’s advances.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on KMYU in Utah and CW San Diego. ESPN+ will carry the game nationwide, while those located outside the USA can watch the live stream on the MLR Facebook page.
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 Don Pati, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 James Semple
Replacements: 16 Alex Tucci, 17 Les Soloai, 18 Metai Tu’imoala, 19 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 20 John Cullen, 21 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 22 Josh Whippy, 23 Joseph Nicholls
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Pat Blair, 3 Dino Waldren, 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Keni Nasoqeqe, 6 Jasa Veremalua, 7 Drew Gaffney, 8 Jordan Manihera, 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 10 Tai Enosa, 11 Nick Boyer, 12 Conor Kearns, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Save Totovosau, 15 Mike Te’o
Replacements: 16 Paddy Ryan, 17 Nathan Sylvia, 18 Aaron Mitchell, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Devin Short, 21 Will Holder, 22 Nick Lupian, 23 Kyle Rogers
Date: Saturday, May 18
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (RC) & Kage Green (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, KMYU, CW San Diego
