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Rugby New York will begin their 2022 Major League Rugby campaign with a road game in Houston on Saturday evening. The SaberCats produced an impressive upset win over the defending champion LA Giltinis on opening weekend and will be looking to prove it was not a one-off performance.
Houston have yet to taste success against New York in four previous meetings, their closest result an 8-point loss at AVEVA Stadium during the 2020 campaign. There will be renewed confidence in the Cats camp, however, it’s another strong lineup that shows four changes from last week’s success.
It’s a new second row pairing as Will Crawford is handed his first professional start alongside Keni Nasoqeqe. Danny Barrett replaces the Fijian at openside flanker with South Africa Schools back row Gideon van Wyk called up to the bench. Blindside flanker Willie Britz offers second row cover in the absence of Siaosi Mahoni and Wynand Grassmann.
Starting on the right wing is Kisi Unufe, formerly known as Maka, who makes his MLR debut after recovering from a long-term Achilles injury. Gerrie Labuschagne moves to fullback with Kian Meadon ruled out with injury. World Sevens Series standout Marcos Moroni, an outside back, has arrived from Argentina and is set to make his first appearance from the bench.
New York were Eastern Conference finalists last season and only narrowly missed out on the big game in LA. Nate Brakeley has been nominated as captain this season, the big lock taking the role from fellow USA international Dylan Fawsitt. Brakeley leads a strong lineup that includes some surprises.
Nic Mayhew debuts at tighthead prop having been primarily a loosehead in his professional career. It’s Chance Wenglewski who takes the No1 spot in his return to New York after playing with ATL for the past two seasons. Brendon O’Connor makes his MLR debut at openside flanker and Pago Haini suits up with New York for the first time after joining from the Giltinis.
In the backline there are three new faces including Canadian international Andrew Coe and Samoa’s Ed Fidow, both of whom took part at the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Former Junior World Championship star Jason Emery partners fellow New Zealander Fa’asiu Fuatai in a dynamic midfield pairing.
Much of the narrative in the build-up will be focused on the halfbacks. Connor Buckley is handed his first start as a professional at No9, with Andy Ellis left on the bench. Sam Windsor is the flyhalf, who will appropriately begin his New York career against the team he set MLR scoring records with across his four seasons in Houston.
Ellis is the biggest name on a bench that will make an impact in the second half. Zak Taulafo and Wilton Rebolo cover the props with Kaleb Geiger deemed ready to make his league debut at hooker. New Zealand imports Will Tucker and Jack Heighton will play their first MLR games as replacements, with John Powers covering the outside backs after making the move from Utah.
On paper this is a formidable New York outfit but with several new faces and a sub-optimal preseason there are likely to be a few hiccups early on. Meanwhile the SaberCats used a limited game plan to good effect against LA and it’s a style well-suited to causing frustration. New York carry the favorites tag based on past results but all eyes will be on Buckley and Windsor to deliver against a SaberCats side that have been sharpening their claws.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on AT&T SportsNet Southwest in Houston, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Dean Muir (capt.), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Keni Nasoqeqe, 5 Will Crawford, 6 Danny Barrett, 7 Willie Britz, 8 Jaco Bezuidenhout, 9 Dillon Smit, 10 David Coetzer, 11 Nick Boyer, 12 Matai Leuta, 13 Christian Dyer, 14 Kisi Unufe, 15 Gerrie Labuschagne
Replacements: 16 Patrick Donovan, 17 Frikkie de Beer, 18 Aaron Mitchell, 19 Gideon van Wyk, 20 Malon Al-Jiboori, 21 Robbie Povey, 22 Jax Hidalgo, 23 Marcos Moroni
RUGBY NEW YORK
1 Chance Wenglewski, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Nic Mayhew, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Charlie Hewitt, 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 8 Pago Haini, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jason Emery, 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Troy Lockyear
Replacements: 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Wilton Rebolo, 19 Will Tucker, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Andy Ellis, 22 Jack Heighton, 23 John Powers
Date: Saturday, February 12
Venue: AVEVA Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & De Wet Roos (USA)
TMO: Luke Rogan (USA)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-07-10 – Rugby United New York 54, Houston SaberCats 19 (Belson Stadium)
2020-03-01 – Houston SaberCats 23, Rugby United New York 31 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-05-05 – Rugby United New York 21, Houston SaberCats 0 (MCU Park)
2019-03-02 – Houston SaberCats 8, Rugby United New York 35 (Constellation Field)
