Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
It’s largely pride that will be on the line as the Toronto Arrows take on Old Glory DC at Lupo Family Field on Sunday. Both teams are comfortably out of the playoff race though there is also the ignominy of finishing last in the Eastern Conference at stake, a fate almost certain to befall the lower.
The Arrows are coming to the end of a miserable campaign played entirely on the road. Last weekend’s loss to New York was their fifth defeat in succession and with three more players now on tour with Canada in the UK it will be up to some less experienced names to break the slide.
Pat Lynott and Gastón Cortes come into the front row with Cole Keith and Tyler Rowland now away. Rob Brouwer swaps to the bench with Marc-Antoine Ouellet covering tighthead. Paul Ciulini is back in at lock and Ollie Nott is handed his first professional start on the flank.
Andrew Ferguson and Tayler Adams are the new halfback pairing with Jason Higgins on the bench and Will Kelly on international duty. Sam Malcolm makes his first start since returning from Japan last week, and Manuel Montero returns to the match day squad albeit as a replacement.
Old Glory are also on a losing skid with four straight games on the wrong side of the scoreboard. They were decidedly second best to Rugby ATL last weekend even with their internationals on the pitch. Three have headed across the pond with the Eagles with another three players ruled out by injury.
James King takes the place of Mike Sosene-Feagai at hooker with Josh Brown filling the shoes of Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz at the back of the scrum. Mo Katz and Dacoda Worth could make their pro debuts off the bench with both Casey Renaud and Callum Gibbins unable to suit up.
Mike Dabulas is also away on Eagles duty while Thretton Palamo is another injury absentee. DC’s young American speedsters D’Montae Noble and Sam Cusano start on the wing with Renata Roberts-Te Nana shifting into the midfield. Owen Sheehy makes it three uncapped players among the replacements.
It was a dominant win for the Arrows in their first and only previous meeting in April. Of the two sides Old Glory are perhaps closer to full strength but both are dramatically different. There’s little to choose from on form, but Toronto do feature a strong bench and with a hot day on the forecast that should prove influential. Add in home field advantage and the Arrows take the favorites tag.
Kickoff is set for 6pm local time, 3pm Pacific. TSN 2 will broadcast in Canada with Fox Sports 1 airing the game in the USA. Viewers located abroad can watch the live stream on The Rugby Network.
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Pat Lynott, 2 Jack McRogers, 3 Gastón Cortes, 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Ollie Nott, 7 Tomás de la Vega, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Joaquín Tuculet, 12 Guiseppe du Toit (capt.), 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Sam Malcolm
Replacements: 16 Joe Tomlinson, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Marc-Antoine Ouellet, 19 Adrian Wadden, 20 Mason Flesch, 21 Jason Higgins, 22 Manuel Montero, 23 Kobe Faust
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jamie Dever, 2 James King, 3 Steven Longwell, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Api Naikatini, 6 Cory Daniel, 7 Mungo Mason (capt.), 8 Josh Brown, 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 D’Montae Noble, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 14 Sam Cusano, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson
Replacements: 16 Max Lum, 17 Jack Iscaro, 18 Dante Lopresti, 19 Mo Katz, 20 Dacoda Worth, 21 Danny Thomas, 22 Owen Sheehy, 23 Simi Moala
Date: Sunday, July 4
Venue: Lupo Family Field, Marietta
Kickoff: 18:00 local (15:00 Pacific)
Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Cisco Lopez (USA) & Pete Chamberlain (USA)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 1, The Rugby Network, TSN 2
Historical Results
2021-04-03 – Old Glory DC 19, Toronto Arrows 40 (Segra Field)
