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Two teams who suffered opening round losses will attempt to swivel their fortunes around in the second match of the Major League Rugby Vegas Weekend. Rugby United New York were completely undone by the Free Jacks at Sam Boyd while the Gilgronis suffered a similar fate opposite the Arrows in Austin.
Sunday’s battle exacted a heavy toll on RUNY. Already struggling for fit bodies up front, both Paddy Ryan and Trevor Cassidy suffered injuries along with inside center Will Leonard. Some creative reassignments have been required by Greg McWilliams.
Jonas Petrakopoulos is a straight swap for Ryan at tighthead prop while Nate Brakeley moves back into the second row. Mathieu Bastareaud moves from the midfield to No8 with Kyle Sumsion swapping to the blindside flank and also providing emergency lock cover with no specialists available on the bench.
The new midfield partnership is Chris Mattina and Troy Lockyear, the latter on debut, with Mark O’Keeffe starting on the wing vacancy left by Mattina’s switch. Alec McDonnell is set for his first cap as a replacement with Quentin Pradère also called up to the bench.
Austin have largely stuck to the same lineup with three changes. LaRome White is dropped to the bench as Juan Echeverria moves across to loosehead prop and Mason Pedersen is handed the start at tighthead. Brendan Rams is called in from the Austin Blacks to provide front row cover.
Rikus Zwart is fit to take his place in the second row after being a late withdrawal against the Arrows. JP Novak returns to the bench with Dominic Akina again preferred to Moe Abdelmonem in the No7 shirt.
There is only one enforced change in the backs as Alex Faison-Donahoe misses out, his left wing spot handed to Rodrick Waters. The latter appeared in the preseason with the Houston SaberCats in 2019 but this will be his first MLR regular season appearance.
New York are a wounded animal at the moment and desperately need to bounce back with a win if they hope to be playoff contenders. The Gilgronis will be looking to build on the positives taken from their home game against Toronto. Both sides are in survival mode as they await reinforcements. Take the more experienced RUNY to win but there are seeds of doubt after their lackluster showing against New England.
Kickoff is set for 3:30pm local time, 5:30 Central, 6:30 Eastern. ESPN+ will broadcast the game nationwide. Those located outside the USA can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Anthony Parry, 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Jonas Petrakopoulos, 4 Matt Wirken, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 Kyle Sumsion, 7 James Denise, 8 Mathieu Bastareaud, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims, 12 Chris Mattina, 13 Troy Lockyear, 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 Ben Foden
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Alec McDonnell, 18 Will Burke, 19 Rob Irimescu, 20 Julio Giraldo, 21 Mike Petri, 22 Harry Bennett, 23 Quentin Pradère
AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Chris Schade, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Rikus Zwart, 5 Maikeli Naromaitoga, 6 Potu Leavasa, 7 Dominic Akina, 8 Lino Saunitoga, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 11 Rodrick Waters, 12 Sione Fangaiuiha, 13 Peni Tagive, 14 Corey Jones, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Erasmus, 17 Brendan Rams, 18 LaRome White, 19 JP Novak, 20 Moe Abdelmonem, 21 Colby Stevens, 22 Alex Rees, 23 Gabe Farley
Date: Saturday, February 15
Venue: Sam Boyd Stadium, Whitney
Kickoff: 15:30 local (17:30 Central, 18:30 Eastern)
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Derek Summers (USA) & Greg Varnell (USA)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook
