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Two teams looking for a quick turnaround of fortunes will collide at AVEVA Stadium on Saturday night. Both the Houston SaberCats and Seattle Seawolves have dropped two straight and will be desperate to avoid a third and risk falling off the pace in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The two ‘originals’ have met on five previous occasions dating back to 2018. It’s the Seawolves who hold a convincing 4-1 lead in the series, including a one-sided hammering dealt at Starfire Stadium in the final week of the 2021 campaign.
After a very promising start to the 2022 season the Seawolves have slipped up in their past two outings. They were decidedly second best against the undefeated Gilgronis but only have themselves to blame for failing to overcome a struggling NOLA side last weekend.
Allen Clarke has nonetheless opted for continuity with only one change to the starting lineup. James Malcolm returns at hooker at the expense of Augusto Böhme. On the bench there is no place for Jared Whippy, with second row Victor Comptat adding an extra forward presence instead.
The SaberCats got off to a cracking start against ATL but then conceded four tries before salvaging a losing bonus point late in the game. Pote Human will expect better from his charges at home, and welcomes the return of three key forwards to his match day squad.
Juan Pablo Zeiss is fit to resume duty at tighthead prop with Siaosi Mahoni packing down behind in the second row. Keni Nasoqeqe moves back to the engine room with Malon Al-Jiboori handed his first start in Houston colors. Diego Fortuny is back earlier than expected from injury to provide experienced hooker cover behind skipper Dean Muir.
There is a reshuffle in the outside backs as Robbie Povey makes his first start of the season at fullback. Marcos Moroni moves to the left wing with Jax Hidalgo switching to the right. Kisi Unufe is the odd man out, with ultra-versatile Zach Pangelinan called up to the bench in his first appearance of the year.
Neither side can claim an edge in form coming in and with benign weather on the forecast this will come down to execution. The returns of Zeiss, Mahoni, and Fortuny adds steel to Houston’s pack against a Seawolves scrum that was second-best last weekend. Home field advantage goes to Houston but history says Seattle should be favorites. Take the visitors by a nose.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and Fox 13 Seattle, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Dean Muir (capt.), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Keni Nasoqeqe, 5 Siaosi Mahoni, 6 Danny Barrett, 7 Malon Al-Jiboori, 8 Jaco Bezuidenhout, 9 Dillon Smit, 10 David Coetzer, 11 Marcos Moroni, 12 Matai Leuta, 13 Christian Dyer, 14 Jax Hidalgo, 15 Robbie Povey
Replacements: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Frikkie de Beer, 18 Pono Davis, 19 Gideon van Wyk, 20 Will Crawford, 21 Zach Pangelinan, 22 Nick Boyer, 23 Emmanuel Albert
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Mzamo Majola, 2 James Malcolm, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Brad Tucker, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Martin Iosefo, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Ross Neal, 15 Duncan Matthews
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Dewald Donald, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Victor Comptat, 21 Reid Watkins, 22 Travis Larsen, 23 Lauina Futi
Date: Saturday, March 12
Venue: AVEVA Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Cole Jones (USA) & Brian Dusablon (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
Broadcasts: Fox 13 Seattle, AT&T SportsNet Southwest, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-07-15 – Seattle Seawolves 40, Houston SaberCats 21 (Starfire Stadium)
2021-03-20 – Houston SaberCats 30, Seattle Seawolves 24 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-04-13 – Houston SaberCats 10, Seattle Seawolves 52 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-03-10 – Seattle Seawolves 27, Houston SaberCats 14 (Starfire Stadium)
2018-06-02 – Houston SaberCats 7, Seattle Seawolves 20 (Dyer Stadium)
