Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The second match and headliner of the double-header at The Gold Mine on Saturday afternoon sees the NOLA Gold playing host to the Austin Gilgronis. It’s a collision that has been nearly two years in the waiting after their scheduled mid-season meeting was cancelled in 2020.
When last they met Austin were still the Elite, and in both matches during the 2019 season the Gold came out on top at Archbishop Shaw Stadium. In fact home field advantage has proved decisive in all previous clashes as it was the Texans who were winners in Round Rock during the inaugural 2018 campaign.
NOLA are coming off a bye week after recording an opening round draw against DC followed by a strong win over New York. Their early season form suggests they will be near the top of the East Conference table when the regular season concludes in July but there’s a long way to go yet.
The week’s break was evidently not enough for Robbie Coleman to recover from the knock suffered against New York. Timothée Guillimin steps in at flyhalf with the versatile Kyle Rogers set to make his first Major League Rugby appearance since 2019. Guillimin is experienced but a more traditional kicking flyhalf than the run-first Coleman.
Up front the only change to the pack that beat New York sees Nikola Bursic handed his first start of the season at lock. Ignacio Dotti drops to the bench where Malcolm May joins Devin Short as loose forward cover. Billy Stewart is left out to make room.
Austin were frustrated by narrow defeats to Utah and then San Diego, both at home, but redeemed themselves with a shutout win over Houston last weekend. This will be their first road match of the season though thankfully it’s on the short end in terms of travel distance.
It’s all change in the midfield this week as captain Bryce Campbell returns at outside center and Kurt Morath takes over from the injured Ned Hodson in the No12 shirt. It’s a surprise choice given that Mack Mason had lined up at the position in the preseason and Morath is generally regarded as a specialist flyhalf given his kicking talents. Lui Sitama could make his regular season debut as a replacement.
In the forwards there are two changes to the starting side, both in the front row. Hugh Roach returns at hooker with Mason Koch resigned to a reserve role, and Jake Turnbull gets a chance in the No1 shirt with Jamie Mackintosh swapped to the bench. Dominic Akina is back after two weeks out to provide loose forward cover.
The Gold certainly impressed in their last outing and will have worked on a few loose ends on the defensive side during their week off. Austin’s defense, meanwhile, has looked very solid apart from a couple 10-minute spells against Utah, and it may take longer for NOLA to break through. This is a big game for two sides with playoff ambitions. Give the edge to the rested and resident Gold though the loss of Coleman gives pause for thought.
Kickoff is set for 3:30pm local time, 1:30pm Pacific, 4:30pm Eastern. Live broadcasts will be available on Cox Sports TV in New Orleans, KBVO in Austin, and The Rugby Network worldwide.
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Dino Waldren, 4 Nikola Bursic, 5 Kyle Baillie (capt.), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha, 7 Andrew Guerra, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Joeli Tikoisuva, 15 Carl Meyer
Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Kevin Sullivan, 18 Brian Nault, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Malcolm May, 21 Devin Short, 22 Damian Stevens, 23 Kyle Rogers
AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 Hugh Roach, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 5 Christian Ostberg, 6 Dom Bailey, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Pele Cowley, 10 Mack Mason, 11 Conner Mooneyham, 12 Kurt Morath, 13 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 14 Rodrick Waters, 15 Will Magie
Replacements: 16 Mason Koch, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Reegan O’Gorman, 20 Dominic Akina, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Lui Sitama, 23 Cole Davis
Date: Saturday, April 10
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 15:30 local (13:30 Pacific, 16:30pm Eastern)
Referee: Jack Gohl (Australia)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Saade Bou-Mikael (USA)
Broadcasts: Cox Sports TV, KBVO, The Rugby Network
Historical Results:
2019-05-04 – NOLA Gold 26, Austin Elite 14 (Archbishop Shaw Stadium)
2019-03-23 – NOLA Gold 35, Austin Elite 31 (Archbishop Shaw Stadium)
2018-05-03 – Austin Elite 30, NOLA Gold 17 (Round Rock Multipurpose Complex)
