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The Utah Warriors can take one step closer to securing their spot in the Western Conference Final if they defeat the SaberCats in Houston on Saturday evening. A loss, however, would leave the door open for the Austin Gilgronis who are just five points behind.
There was electricity in the air when last the two sides met as they combined for a Major League Rugby record 93 points in April, with the Warriors finishing on the right side of the 50-43 result. It gave Utah an overall 3-2 lead in head-to-head battles since their first meeting in 2018.
A tremendous road win over New York last weekend gave Utah three in a row of the come-from-behind variety. In fact the results put them only four points back of league leaders LA though the Giltinis have a game at hand.
All of Utah’s internationals are available for this match with the exception of Canadian scrumhalf Fraser Hurst. Michael Baska returns to start at No9 with Cliven Loubser preferred to Hagen Schulte at flyhalf. The first choice backline is restored to its full complement with Calvin Whiting, Mika Kruse, and Mike Te’o all back in the run-on side.
It’s a similar story up front as captain Bailey Wilson is back from a week’s vacation. He is joined in the back row by Jurie van Vuuren, with Aston Fortuin taking up his usual position at lock. Angus MacLellan and Veremalua Vugakoto rotate into the front row with Sama Malolo and Paul Mullen swapping to the bench.
Houston have lost that winning feeling and have been without for nine weeks in a row. They put up a fight for 40 minutes against Rugby ATL last weekend but ultimately fell away in the second half. Liam Murray, Lucas Albornoz, and Robbie Povey have already joined Hurst in the Canadian squad.
Sam Windsor moves back to his preferred flyhalf position in Povey’s absence with Nick Boyer recalled at scrumhalf. Joe Thomas comes into the midfield pushing Veramu Dikidikilati out to the wing. Zach Pangelinan fills the gap at fullback left by Windsor’s move.
There are two changes in the forwards. Jérémy Lenaerts fills the lock vacancy and Diego Magno tags in for Cecil Garber at flanker. With Nikoloz Khatiashvili and Charlie Connolly both out again it’s down to academy members CJ Burke and Patrick Donovan, usually a hooker, tasked with emergency prop cover.
One team is gunning for a playoff spot while the other is counting the days until next season. A warm and slightly damp night is on the forecast which may affect ball handling slightly but is unlikely to prevent the Warriors from doing the business on the road. Take Utah to secure a bonus point win.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 8pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on AT&T SportsNet Southwest in Houston and the KSL Sports App in Utah, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Nik Hildebrand, 4 Apisai Tauyavuca, 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Luke Beauchamp (capt.), 7 Diego Magno, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Max Tacket, 13 Joe Thomas, 14 Veramu Dikidikilati, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Patrick Donovan, 18 CJ Burke, 19 Bronson Teles, 20 Cecil Garber, 21 Zachary Short, 22 Taylor Howden, 23 Zack Godfrey
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi, 2 Veremalua Vugakoto, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Aston Fortuin, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Jurie van Vuuren, 9 Michael Baska, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Josh Whippy, 12 Calvin Whiting, 13 Tyler Fisher, 14 Mika Kruse, 15 Mike Te’o
Replacements: 16 Sama Malolo, 17 Franco van den Berg, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Saia Uhila, 20 Thomas Tu’avao, 21 Danny Christensen, 22 Hagen Schulte, 23 James Vaifale
Date; Saturday, June 26
Venue: AVEVA Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 18:00 Mountain, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Jarrod Ford (USA) & Mitch Damm (USA)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, KSL Sports App, The Rugby Network
Historical Results
2021-04-24 – Utah Warriors 50, Houston SaberCats 43 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2019-06-01 – Utah Warriors 27, Houston SaberCats 31 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2019-03-21 – Houston SaberCats 29, Utah Warriors 27 (Constellation Field)
2018-06-23 – Utah Warriors 31, Houston SaberCats 27 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2018-05-26 – Houston SaberCats 30, Utah Warriors 36 (Dyer Stadium)
