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The forecast is warm and sunny weather for Sunday’s match at Coney Island but the air will be thick with tension on top of the humidity. A loss for Rugby United New York would put them in a precarious position in the playoff race. In a slightly better position are the NOLA Gold, but even they won’t be interested in leaving anything to chance.
For the Gold this is a match of vital importance for reasons other than post-season participation. They have now dropped two in a row including the upset of the season in Marrero last weekend, as the Houston SaberCats toppled a team that has spent much of the season at the top of the table.
Despite the loss, the only changes to the match day squad are on the bench. Kevin Sullivan returns to provide loosehead prop cover and John Sullivan replaces Billy Stewart as an extra loose forward. Eagles cap Tadhg Leader is set to make his Gold debut on loan from the New England Free Jacks.
New York bounced back from their loss to Seattle with a slightly lethargic win over lowly Austin. They got the bonus point they wanted and are ahead of the Arrows by a nose but with a trip to Toronto coming up next week they’ll want as large a buffer as possible.
There is good news for RUNY fans as four key players return to the starting lineup. Paddy Ryan is back in at tighthead prop with Ross Deacon at No8. Dylan Fawsitt reverts to his usual hooker spot with Sean McNulty dropping to the bench.
In the backs Cathal Marsh is most welcome at flyhalf and Ben Foden is recalled to the run-on side at fullback. There is quality waiting in reserve as last week’s starters Harry Bennett and Luke Hume will sit beside winger Marcus Satavu.
This is a difficult match to call. Their earlier match in New Orleans ended in a three-point win for New York. Neither have looked at their best as of late with the attrition of a long season starting to take its toll. NOLA might be favorites on account of their standing but RUNY are giving away little if anything at home. Expect this to be another nail-biter.
Kickoff is set for 1pm local time, 10am Pacific, noon Central. A local broadcast will be available on SNY in New York, with ESPN+ airing the game nationwide. Those located outside the USA can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 John Quill, 7 Matt Hughston, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Mike Petri (capt.), 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Mike St. Claire, 15 Ben Foden
Replacements: 16 Sean McNulty, 17 Anthony Parry, 18 Chris Sullivan, 19 Trevor Cassidy, 20 Kyle Sumsion, 21 Harry Bennett, 22 Marcus Satavu, 23 Luke Hume
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 Kevin Sullivan, 19 John Sullivan, 20 Moni Tonga’uiha, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Taylor Howden, 23 Tadhg Leader
Date: Sunday, May 26
Venue: MCU Park, Brooklyn
Kickoff: 13:00 local (10:00 Pacific, 12:00 Central)
Referee: Elgan Williams (WRU)
Assistants: Mike O’Brian (USAR) & Amelia Luciano (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, SNY
