Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The weekend wraps up in Los Angeles where the Giltinis roll out the red carpet for metropolitan rivals New York. Both teams are now in the middle of the playoff hunt in their respective conferences, and there is a score to settle for LA with their first ever defeat coming at the hands of their guests last May.
Last year’s champions aren’t quite up to those lofty standards but they are gaining in confidence with three strong wins on the trot. Stephen Hoiles has made five changes to the lineup after resting a few key players against Dallas last weekend.
Djustice Sears-Duru comes in at loosehead prop with Andrew Tuala playing backup to Joe Taufete’e this week. Hanco Germishuys returns to take up the No8 spot, and Corey Thomas is fit to resume duty though the Canadian international settles for a spot among the reserves.
Harrison Goddard is recalled at scrumhalf and Bill Meakes is back in the midfield. Adam Channel makes his first start of the season after impressing as a replacement last week. Tas Smith, Luke Burton, and Tom Mitchell are strong options off the bench.
New York are coming off a couple close encounters at home. A four-point loss to Toronto was followed by a win over DC by the same margin. They are technically in third position in the East but are tied with ATL on points and just three back of overall leaders New England.
Kalolo Tuiloma returns to anchor the scrum with Kaleb Geiger in for Dylan Fawsitt at hooker. The latter is among the reserves this week though he’s asked to provide extra back row cover instead. Brendon O’Connor is out so Ben Bonasso moves to openside flanker and Kara Pryor comes in at No8.
The only change to the backline sees Conor McManus replacing Connor Buckley at scrumhalf. Jack Heighton has recovered from concussion to join the squad though he’s asked to provide cover for Sam Windsor on the bench, with Andy Ellis also drawing reserve duty.
While New York sport a slightly better record to this point, it’s LA who are the hot hand at the moment. The two sides look evenly matched up front and there’s little to pick apart in the backline. Even the replacements look well matched. It’s the travel that is the biggest factor here, and added to the form guide gives the home side the tag of favorites.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 7pm Eastern. Fox Sports 2 will broadcast nationwide with The Rugby Network streaming to viewers located abroad.
LA GILTINIS
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 Luke White, 5 Dave Dennis (capt.), 6 Nathan Den Hoedt, 7 Christian Poidevin, 8 Hanco Germishuys, 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Orene Ai’i, 11 Adam Channel, 12 Bill Meakes, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Andrew Tuala, 17 Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin, 18 Marco Fepulea’i, 19 Corey Thomas, 20 Cyrille Cama, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Tom Mitchell
RUGBY NEW YORK
1 Nic Mayhew, 2 Kaleb Geiger, 3 Kalolo Tuiloma, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Charlie Hewitt, 6 Will Tucker, 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Kara Pryor, 9 Conor McManus, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jason Emery, 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Troy Lockyear
Replacements: 16 Wilton Rebolo, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Zak Taulafo, 19 Dylan Fawsitt, 20 Joe Basser, 21 Andy Ellis, 22 Jack Heighton, 23 Quinn Ngawati
Date: Sunday, April 10
Venue: Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 16:00 local (19:00 Eastern)
Referee: Marcus Playle (New Zealand)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Tim Lew (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 2, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-05-09 – Rugby United New York 18, LA Giltinis 16 (Cochrane Stadium)
