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The second match of Saturday’s double header pits the LA Giltinis up against Old Glory DC at the Memorial Coliseum. It’s the first ever meeting between the two with the visitors looking to become the first team to topple their unbeaten hosts.
LA have proved near unstoppable to date with a maximum 25 points taken from their five victories. No team has been able to hold their overwhelming offense to under 40 points, though their defense has shown some fallibility.
There is a notable return of Matt Giteau at No10 after being rested last week against San Diego. The only other changes are in the back row where Corey Thomas and Langilangi Haupeakui start at blindside flanker and No8 in place of Angus Cottrell and Adam Ashe respectively.
Old Glory arrive confident on the back of a bonus-point win over East Conference rivals New England. Their scrum set the platform for the backs to go to work with Danny Tusitala and Jason Robertson deftly marshalling the attack.
DC coach Andrew Douglas had intended to retain an identical lineup but has made one enforced change. Api Naikatini fills in for Stan South to partner Tevita Naqali at lock. The rest of the match day squad stays the same with a 6-2 split again on the bench.
The Giltinis are clear favorites but can Old Glory make a game of this? Douglas has pointed to strength at the set piece and defensive commitment as areas his team can find an edge. Expect his charges to front up but the depth in the LA reserves combined with a lengthy trip west are too much to overcome.
Kickoff is set for 6pm local time, 9pm Eastern. Fox Sports 2 will broadcast nationwide with The Rugby Network streaming abroad.
LA GILTINIS
1 Jean-Pierre Smith, 2 Mahe Vailanu, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 Dave Dennis (capt.), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Corey Thomas, 7 Christian Poidevin, 8 Langilangi Haupeakui, 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Matt Giteau, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Luke Burton, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Glenn Bryce
Replacements: 16 Lindsey Stevens, 17 Frikkie de Beer, 18 Blake Rogers, 19 Angus Cottrell, 20 Adam Ashe, 21 Cristian Rodriguez, 22 Luke Carty, 23 Ryan James
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 3 Steven Longwell, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Api Naikatini, 6 Callum Gibbins, 7 Mungo Mason (co-capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 12 Thretton Palamo (co-capt.), 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Osea Kolinisau, 15 Mike Dabulas
Replacements: 16 Max Lum, 17 Jack Iscaro, 18 Dante Lopresti, 19 Casey Renaud, 20 Josh Brown, 21 Danny Thomas, 22 D’Montae Noble, 23 Cory Daniel
Date: Saturday, May 1
Venue: Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 18:00 local (21:00 Eastern)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Andrew Stockton (USA)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 2, The Rugby Network
Historical Results
n/a
