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Sunday’s Major League Rugby offering in Las Vegas begin with a mid-day clash between the Toronto Arrows and the Houston SaberCats. Both teams are coming off wins, the Arrows overpowering the Gilgronis in Austin and the SaberCats stopping the Raptors at home.
Toronto has only a single change to the starting lineup as Johnny Sheridan comes in on the wing. Gastón Mieres and Leandro Leivas are ruled out joining Marcello Wainwright and Spencer Jones on the sidelines though none are expected to be long-term casualties.
There are two further changes on the bench. Josh van Horne tags in for Kolby Francis as lock cover. Will Kelly takes the open spot left by Leivas, the young Canadian international flyhalf now set to make his MLR bow as a replacement.
Houston have made four changes to the run-on side. Two come in the front row where Tim Cadwallader makes his league debut at hooker and gives Diego Fortuny some rest after going 80 minutes against Colorado. Boyd Wiggins starts at tighthead prop as he and Charlie Connolly swap shirts.
Luke Beauchamp tags in for Cecil Garber on the flank, and injury rules out Osea Kolinisau. Matias Freyre switches to fullback with Taylor Howden coming into the midfield. Former Eagles winger Tim Stanfill could make his first MLR appearance from the bench.
The scrum battle will be of particular intrigue with both looking dominant last weekend though Houston’s best set piece front row are waiting in reserve. Toronto won both of their encounters with the SaberCats in 2019 convincingly and on paper look to have the quality to bring a halt to Houston’s five game winning streak that dates back to last season.
Kickoff is set for 11:30am local, 1:30pm Central, 2:30pm Eastern time. ESPN+ will carry the game nationwide with TSN Direct broadcasting in Canada. Those located elsewhere can access the live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Richie Asiata, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Johnny Sheridan, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Dan Moor (capt.), 15 Sam Malcolm
Replacements: 16 Steven Ng, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Josh van Horne, 20 Peter Milazzo, 21 Andrew Ferguson, 22 Will Kelly, 23 Mitch Richardson
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo, 2 Tim Cadwallader, 3 Boyd Wiggins, 4 Kyle Breytenbach, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Diego Magno, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Taylor Howden, 13 Tiaan Loots, 14 Zach Pangelinan, 15 Matías Freyre
Replacements: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Nicolás Solveyra, 18 Charlie Connolly, 19 Robert Meeson, 20 Cecil Garber, 21 Jake Christmann, 22 Tim Stanfill, 23 Kieran Farmer
Date: Sunday, February 16
Venue: Sam Boyd Stadium, Whitney
Kickoff: 11:30 local (13:30 Central, 14:30 Eastern)
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
Assistants: Scott Green (USA) & Greg Varnell (USA)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, TSN Direct
