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Saturday’s late match sees two teams with title aspirations clashing at Zions Bank Stadium. The Utah Warriors host Rugby ATL for the first time, with their only previous meeting coming 17 months ago when the Ratlers celebrated their Major League Rugby arrival with a victory in Marietta.
ATL are in command of the Eastern Conference with a five-point gap ahead of both NOLA and New York and victory would clinch their spot in the Semi Final. After witnessing surprise results during their bye week they will be wary of letting their guard down with home field advantage at the very least in the East final at stake.
There is a significant boost to the side with co-captain Ryan Nell fit to play for the first time this season after recovering from a long-term knee injury. He comes straight into the side at outside center with Mark O’Keeffe rested. The only other change from the team that beat Old Glory sees Vili Helu rotated in on the flank in place of Ross Deacon.
Utah are now just five points behind LA but at the same time must fend off the challenge of Austin, whom they lead by the same margin. They are also coming off a bye week following their win over Houston and show four changes largely related to international call-ups.
Franco van den Berg is restored at loosehead prop with Alex Tucci coming into the match day 23 to replace Paul Mullen. The forwards are otherwise unchanged with the bench showing a 6-2 split as both Thomas Tu’avao and Mike Gieselman cover the back row.
Michael Baska, Calvin Whiting, Mika Kruse, and Mike Te’o are all on Eagles duly alongside Mullen. Danny Christensen makes his first start at scrumhalf with James Vaifale and Tonata Lauti coming in on the wing. Josh Whippy shifts into the midfield with Hagen Schulte filling in at fullback. John Powers could make his professional debut as a replacement.
The evening kickoff should help alleviate some of the searing heat on the forecast but the bench for both teams should be expected to play a significant role. In that regard Utah’s decision to name six forwards may pay dividends. The two sides are otherwise evenly matched and this should be a close result either way, with the Ratlers conceding the favorites tag to their guests based on home field advantage.
Kickoff is set for 8pm local time, 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on the KSL Sports App in Utah, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg, 2 Veremalua Vugakoto, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Aston Fortuin, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Jurie van Vuuren, 9 Danny Christensen, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 James Vaifale, 12 Tyler Fisher, 13 Josh Whippy, 14 Tonata Lauti, 15 Hagen Schulte
Replacements: 16 Sama Malolo, 17 Alex Tucci, 18 Olive Kilifi, 19 Saia Uhila, 20 Thomas Tu’avao, 21 Mike Gieselman, 22 Logan Tago, 23 John Powers
RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 3 Wikus Groenewald, 4 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Johan Momsen, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Connor Cook, 8 Jason Damm, 9 Rowan Gouws, 10 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 12 Robbie Petzer, 13 Ryan Nell (capt.), 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 Austin White
Replacements: 16 Neethling Gericke, 17 Jonas Petrakopoulos, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Daemon Torres, 20 Ross Deacon, 21 Sean Coughlan, 22 Duncan van Schalkwyk, 23 Kurt Coleman
Date: Saturday, July 10
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 20:00 local (19:00 Pacific, 22:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Niku Kruger (USA)
Broadcasts: KSL Sports App, The Rugby Network
Historical Results
2020-02-09 – Rugby ATL 28, Utah Warriors 19 (Lupo Family Field, Marietta)
