Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Toronto Arrows aren’t quite home yet, but they’re getting closer. For the first time since June 2, 2019, the team will play a Major League Rugby game on Canadian soil, albeit at the unique venue of Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia. The defending champion LA Giltinis will be their guests for what will be also be the first ever regular season match for the Arrows outside of Toronto.
It’s the second match between the two sides, with the Giltinis taking a convincing win on neutral ground in New Orleans last April. LA would go on to claim the title as the exiled Arrows slipped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but their fates were similar this past weekend with both coming up short by similar scores to Houston and Seattle respectively.
The Giltinis were stunned by the SaberCats in Houston and will be determined to right the ship in double-quick fashion. Injury continues to rule out Matt Giteau and DTH van der Merwe among others, with Charlie Abel ruled out after damaging a bicep in Texas.
Replacing Abel at tighthead prop is Marco Fepulea’i, with Andrew Tuala tagging in for Sean McNulty at hooker. A chance in the back row sees Christian Poidevin dropped to the bench with Canadian international Corey Thomas handed the start at No8 and Hanco Germishuys moving to openside flanker.
There is only one change to the backs with Will Chambers taking the place of Ryan James on the wing. Former Scotland eightman Adam Ashe returns from to take up a spot on the bench, where Luke White as asked to provide cover at prop in the absence of Abel.
Toronto’s own injury list has now grown to double digits with Tomás de la Vega, Andrew Ferguson, and Conor McCann all sidelined after the bruising match in Seattle. Sam Malcolm will also miss another match as both teams are deprived their first choice at No10.
Kyle Baillie moves from lock to blindside flanker in place of de la Vega, with Paul Ciulini adding ballast to the engine room. Fellow lock Adrian Wadden is summoned to the reserves to make up the gap. Again the team has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench between forwards and backs.
There is a reshuffle in the outside backs with Gastón Mieres moving to fullback and Mitch Richardson swapping to the left wing. On the right there is an MLR debut for Australia Sevens international Matthew Hood, and a potential first appearance for new scrumhalf Chris Bell who has arrived from England.
Conditions in Langford will be similar to those seen in Seattle on the weekend with single digit temperatures expected. The Giltinis looked flat against Houston with their discipline costing them dearly, while Toronto’s offense stuttered against the Seawolves.
The Arrows will be desperate to celebrate the historic occasion with victory, but enter the game on only four days rest. Meanwhile LA will be more than intent on playing the spoiler role and preventing back-to-back losses for the first time. Take the defending champions as favorites but not by much.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 10pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on Bally Sports West and SoCal in Los Angeles, with TSN’s digital offerings as well as TSN 5 on television broadcasting across Canada. Those in the USA or abroad can stream the match on The Rugby Network.
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Kyle Baillie, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Mitch Richardson, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ueta Tufuga, 14 Matthew Hood, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Lolani Faleiva, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Adrian Wadden, 20 Mason Flesch, 21 James O’Neill, 22 Chris Bell, 23 Mitch Voralek
LA GILTINIS
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Andrew Tuala, 3 Marco Fepulea’i, 4 Dave Dennis (capt.), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Angus Cottrell, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Corey Thomas, 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Luke Burton, 11 John Ryberg, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Will Chambers, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Sean McNulty, 17 Luke White, 18 Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin, 19 Adam Ashe, 20 Christian Poidevin, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Ryan James, 23 Cristian Rodriguez
Date: Friday, February 11
Venue: Starlight Stadium, Langford
Kickoff: 19:00 local (22:00 Eastern)
Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Damián Schneider (Argentina) & Julianne Zussman (Canada)
TMO: Shanda Assmus (Canada)
Broadcasts: Bally Sports West/SoCal, The Rugby Network, TSN 5
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-04-10 – Toronto Arrows 16, LA Giltinis 43 (The Gold Mine)
