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Old Glory DC continues their search for a first victory of the 2022 Major League Rugby season when they host the Toronto Arrows at Segra Field on Saturday. It’s a contest they haven’t won before, dropping both matches between the two sides during the 2021 campaign.
It’s been a challenging start to the season for DC fans. Old Glory have conceded an average of 51 points a game across three defeats, by far the worst mark in MLR. Offensively they looked more potent against the Free Jacks but until this team shows some resolution in defense it’s difficult to consider them a serious threat to anyone.
Andrew Douglas has made just two changes to the run-on side. Jake Ilnicki drops to the bench with Kyle Stewart coming in at tighthead prop. Luke Campbell starts in the blindside flank with Dom Bailey among the reserves. Junior Sa’u returns from injury to find a spot in the match day roster.
The Arrows staved off a third consecutive defeat by the slimmest of margins in New Orleans. Though the score was not one that could be described as convincing, they will take confidence from the result and will view the struggling DC side as another winnable road game.
Ueta Tufuga wears the No13 shirt in the only alteration to the starting lineup. Mitch Richardson joins Chris Bell as the only backline reserves on the bench, where James O’Neill and Ronan Foley each offer loose forward cover. Marc-Antoine Ouellet makes his first appearance of the season as backup tighthead prop.
On paper the Arrows looks to have a stronger forward pack. They also get the edge on form and historical results. Old Glory feature a dynamic backline and have home field advantage. DC should be able to at least keep this game close, but the visitors should be considered favorites to win.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 1pm Pacific. A local broadcast will be available on NBC Sports Washington, with TSN airing the game on its digital channels to Canadian viewers. The Rugby Network will stream to those located across the USA or abroad.
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Rob Irimescu, 3 Kyle Stewart, 4 Api Naikatini, 5 Stan South, 6 Luke Campbell, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala (capt.), 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Doug Fraser, 12 William Talataina, 13 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 14 Peni Lasaqa, 15 Owen Sheehy
Replacements: 16 Mo Katz, 17 Jake Ilnicki, 18 Jack Carroll, 19 Fintan Coleman, 20 Dom Bailey, 21 Danny Thomas, 22 Junior Sa’u, 23 LJ Koi-Larbi
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 Tomás de la Vega, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Brock Webster, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ueta Tufuga, 14 Matthew Hood, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Lolani Faleiva, 18 Marc-Antoine Ouellet, 19 Adrian Wadden, 20 James O’Neill, 21 Ronan Foley, 22 Chris Bell, 23 Mitch Richardson
Date: Saturday, February 26
Venue: Segra Field, Leesburg
Kickoff: 16:00 local (13:00 Pacific)
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistants: Gavin McCandless (USA) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Amelia Luciano (USA)
Broadcasts: NBC Sports Washington, The Rugby Network, TSN.ca
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-07-04 – Toronto Arrows 34, Old Glory DC 28 (Lupo Family Field)
2021-04-03 – Old Glory DC 19, Toronto Arrows 40 (Segra Field)
