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Originally slated to open the season on Saturday, a COVID scare forced the match to be postponed but thankfully only by one day to Sunday. Old Glory DC will be wondering when the curse will wear off after having all three of their preseason games cancelled entirely. NOLA Gold fans will be hoping for a repeat of last year’s result.
It was a humiliating debut for DC at The Gold Mine last February. NOLA pulverised their scrum and the back row of Moni Tonga’uiha, Malcolm May, and Cam Dolan ran rampant with six tries spread between them. Thankfully for Old Glory it was not a sign of things to come as they upset Seattle in Week 2 and would win all of their remaining matches to finish just ahead of NOLA in the East Conference standings.
The off-season priority for the OGs was to shore up the set piece, and to that end they have recruited experienced props Jamie Dever and Steven Longwell along with incoming ex-Harlequins lock Stan South. Glasgow Warriors flanker Callum Gibbons joins incumbent starters Mungo Mason and Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz in an outstanding loose forward trio.
It’s not all smiles and sunshine for DC. Springboks legend Tendai Mtawarira hung up the boots while back three speedsters Declan O’Donnell and Dylan Taikato-Simpson are also gone. Only Renata Roberts-Te Nana returns of the counter-attacking Kiwi trio, though their high-tempo halfback duo of Danny Tusitala and Jason Robertson are back for a second season.
Old Glory will be absent Eagles center Thretton Palamo for the opener with Doug Fraser sliding into the midfield to form an all-Canadian partnership with Ciaran Hearn. Sam Cusano makes his professional debut on the wing, with Mike Dabulas handed his first MLR at fullback.
The bench sees a 6-2 split with a third Canadian international, Luke Campbell, joining Josh Brown as loose forward options. In fact Campbell and Brown are the only players on the bench with any previous MLR experience at all though Jack Iscaro and Sean Hartig appeared in preseason games last season.
NOLA have been around since the beginning and have built methodically but are yet to play in a playoff match. This year’s intake includes San Diego standouts Devin Short and JP du Plessis, Argentine international center Juan Cappiello, and Namibia scrumhalf Damian Stevens.
The newcomers complement what was already a strong roster whose outgoing list is comparatively small though the influential Australian pair Scott Gale and Con Foley have opted to return home. Canadian captain Kyle Baillie has grown in stature since arriving two years ago and in fullback Carl Meyer they have one of the league’s most potent long-range kickers.
Collegiate draft pick Andrew Guerra has been given the nod at openside flanker, something of a surprise given the excellent form of Tonga’uiha last season. The latter settles for a spot in the reserves. Meanwhile Joeli Tikoisuva has won a starting spot on the right wing, his first since the 2019 campaign.
All signs point to NOLA starting their campaign on the front foot. They have home field advantage, plenty of depth, more star power, and impressed in their preseason run-out against Houston. A convincing win is on the cards for the men in Gold.
Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern. Live broadcasts will be available on Fox Sports 2 domestically, and The Rugby Network for viewers located abroad.
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Dino Waldren, 4 Kyle Baillie (capt.), 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Devin Short, 7 Andrew Guerra, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Robbie Coleman, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Joeli Tikoisuva, 15 Carl Meyer
Replacements: 16 Pat O’Toole, 17 Kevin Sullivan, 18 James Irey, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Moni Tonga’uiha, 21 Damian Stevens, 22 Ross Depperschmidt, 23 Timothée Guillimin
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 3 Steven Longwell, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Apisai Naikatini, 6 Callum Gibbins, 7 Mungo Mason (capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Sam Cusano, 15 Mike Dabulas
Replacements: 16 James King, 17 Jack Iscaro, 18 Jack Carroll, 19 Casey Renaud, 20 Luke Campbell, 21 Sean Hartig, 22 D’Montae Noble, 23 Josh Brown
Date: Sunday, March 21
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 15:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Broadcast: Fox Sports 2, The Rugby Network
Historical Results:
2020-02-08 – NOLA 46, DC 13 (The Gold Mine)
