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The last week of the 2019 Major League Rugby regular season will start with a match in Herriman on Saturday. Zions Bank Stadium will host the Utah Warriors and the Houston SaberCats. Neither team will be taking part in the Semi Finals but there is still much to play for.
Houston have seen a remarkable resurgence since the appointment of Paul Emerick as Interim Head Coach. The team has now won three straight, including a comprehensive victory over the Glendale Raptors in a rescheduled match on Wednesday.
In their earlier meeting in March, the SaberCats won 29-27 at Constellation Field. They have since added a handful of players such as Eagles caps Thretton Palamo and Deion Mikesell. Attrition, however, will be a significant factor with this the third match in a week for Houston at the end of a long season.
Utah are also a team that has been left frustrated this season but unlike their Texan visitors they have not had a fairy tale stretch this season. The Warriors ended a run of three straight defeats with a draw at Seattle last weekend, and have still won just two out of 15 matches.
Expect this to be another closely fought contest similar to the game in Sugar Land. The SaberCats enter the match as favorites thanks to their momentum, but it’s a tenuous appraisal given home field advantage for the Warriors and the glaring question of whether Houston have any petrol left in the tank.
Kickoff is set for 6pm local time, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on KJZZ in Utah with CBS Sports Network broadcasting nationwide. Those located outside the USA can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
[EDIT: At the time of writing, neither team has seen fit to release their lineup for Saturday’s match. This page will be updated when those rosters are made available.]
UTAH WARRIORS
HOUSTON SABERCATS
Date: Saturday, June 1
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 18:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 19:00 Central, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Lex Weiner (USAR)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (RC) & Kage Green (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Facebook, KJZZ
