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With no Sunday games on offer it’s Austin who host the last game of Week 2. The Gilgronis are flying high after a one-sided win over expansion side Dallas and now welcome Old Glory to Bold Stadium. DC have notably been victorious in each of the two previous meetings between the two teams.
The AG’s impressed against the Jackals and Sam Harris has rewarded his team with a nearly identical starting lineup. The only change sees Conner Mooneyham returning on the right wing after missing the opening week, with Zinzan Elan-Puttick missing out.
There are two further changes on the bench. Hugh Roach takes over from Mason Koch as reserve hooker having spent the off-season playing for Perpignan in the French Top 14. Set to make his professional debut is Collegiate Draft pick Asa Carter, a USA u20 flanker out of Arkansas State.
Old Glory were overrun by the Ratlers in Atlanta and have now added three key starters to their absentee list. Second row pair Stan South and Tevita Naqali are out with injury along with outstanding flyhalf Mike Dabulas, the latter compounding the delayed arrival of off-season signing Rohan Saifoloi.
William Talataina fills in at No10 as a result with Doug Fraser switching from wing to the midfield. Simi Moala fills the vacancy out wide, with uncapped winger Jack Russell added to the bench. Versatile halfback Danny Thomas makes his first appearance of the season as a reserve.
Matt Gordon is handed his first MLR start at lock with David Beach queued up to make his pro debut as backup. Fintan Coleman switches from openside to blindside flanker with Dom Bailey wearing the No7 shirt. Cory Daniel is called up the bench along with Dante Lopresti, who covers loosehead prop in place of injured Will Vakalahi.
After just one game Old Glory are looking a bit ragged which is a bad omen given their opposition. Despite scoring 43 points against Dallas, the AG’s weren’t quite firing on all cylinders and will be aiming to be more precise against DC. Take Austin to put another big score up on the visitors.
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm local time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the match nationwide with The Rugby Network streaming to viewers abroad.
AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 3 Namatahi Waa, 4 Christian Ostberg, 5 Isaac Ross, 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Luke Beauchamp, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 10 Mack Mason, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Marcel Brache
Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Campbell Robinson, 20 Asa Carter, 21 Pele Cowley, 22 Will Magie, 23 Dom Akina
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Mo Katz, 3 Kyle Stewart, 4 Api Naikatini, 5 Matt Gordon, 6 Fintan Coleman, 7 Dom Bailey, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala (capt.), 10 William Talataina, 11 Simi Moala, 12 Junior Sa’u, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 15 Owen Sheehy
Replacements: 16 Rob Irimescu, 17 Dante Lopresti, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 David Beach, 20 Cory Daniel, 21 Danny Thomas, 22 John LeFevre, 23 Jack Russell
Date: Saturday, February 12
Venue: Bold Stadium, Austin
Kickoff: 19:30 local (17:30 Pacific, 20:30 Eastern)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistants: Scott Green (USA) & Andrew Low (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 1, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-07-17 – Old Glory DC 29, Austin Gilgronis 25 (Segra Field)
2020-02-09 – Austin Gilgronis 19, Old Glory DC 28 (Toyota Field)
