Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
From one tough matchup to another, NOLA will play host to the Austin Gilgronis on Saturday evening. Last weekend saw the Gold concede 53 points to the Arrows and with the AG’s at the very top of the Major League Rugby scoring charts – by a wide margin – the defense will have to turn around quickly to avoid another hammering.
The loss in Toronto, NOLA’s third in a row, has effectively tossed them out of the playoff race barring a miracle turnaround in form. It’s now pride and potentially contracts for next season that are on the line. A win at home would also be welcome, with all five matches at The Gold Mine this season ending in defeat.
There is some good news in the backline with the return of three players who missed last week’s game. Halfback pair Damian Stevens and Robbie Coleman return along with fullback JP Eloff. Nick Feakes, who stood in for Coleman last week, moves back to the left wing.
In the forwards there are two tactical changes. Brian Nault is preferred to Dino Waldren at tighthead prop, and Ignacio Dotti takes over from Taylor Krumrei at lock. Alex Lopeti will again act as backup hooker after making his professional debut in Toronto.
Austin are back on the front foot with three straight wins, all by convincing margins. They opted to rest several leading players against Dallas last Saturday and have opted for a mixed lineup against NOLA with some regular starters left among the reserves.
Cam Dodson is the only unchanged player in the tight five. Faka’osi Pifeleti, Hugh Roach, and Mason Pedersen are the starting front row trio with Isaac Ross stepping in for Sebastian de Chaves at lock. Michael de Waal returns at No8 with Locky McCaffrey this week wearing the unfamiliar No7 shirt.
Pele Cowley and Will Magie will again orchestrate the backline that shows two changes. Bryce Campbell returns to skipper the side at inside center and Zinzan Elan-Puttick rotates in for Conner Mooneyham on the right wing. Caleb Strum could make his second pro appearance from the bench.
How do NOLA pull off a win against the top team in MLR? It was a close contest when they collided last season, but this Austin side are miles ahead of last year’s version. The Gold arguably have the edge in the back row and home field advantage. Otherwise, however, it’s all AG and the visitors should be expected to win this one comfortably.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on YurView in New Orleans with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
NOLA GOLD
1 Kevin Sullivan, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Brian Nault, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha, 7 Devin Short, 8 Cam Dolan (capt.), 9 Damian Stevens, 10 Robbie Coleman, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 JP Eloff
Replacements: 16 Alex Lopeti, 17 James Irey, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Malcolm May, 20 Maciu Koroi, 21 Devereaux Ferris, 22 Aaron Matthews, 23 Ross Depperschmidt
AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Hugh Roach, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Cam Dodson, 5 Isaac Ross, 6 Ronan Murphy, 7 Locky McCaffrey, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Pele Cowley, 10 Will Magie, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 15 Chris Mattina
Replacements: 16 Mason Koch, 17 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 18 Namatahi Waa, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Christian Ostberg, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Caleb Strum, 23 Conner Mooneyham
Date: Saturday, April 23
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Rob Halcomb (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
Broadcasts: The Rugby Network, YurView
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-04-10 – NOLA Gold 15, Austin Gilgronis 18 (The Gold Mine)
2019-05-04 – NOLA Gold 26, Austin Elite 14 (Archbishop Shaw Stadium)
2019-03-23 – NOLA Gold 35, Austin Elite 31 (Archbishop Shaw Stadium)
2018-05-03 – Austin Elite 30, NOLA Gold 17 (Round Rock Multipurpose Complex)
