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Major League Rugby fans will have to wait until Saturday evening before the first of six games this weekend finally kicks off. Veterans Memorial Stadium will provide the backdrop as the New England Free Jacks look to extend their record-setting winning streak against Old Glory DC.
The Free Jacks haven’t tasted defeat since late February and now sport the best record in the league at 10-1. Rugby ATL are now 7 competitions point behind and two more wins would clinch New England’s spot in the postseason for the first time.
All three changes to the run-on side that defeated Utah are in the pack. Mills Sanerivi comes in at hooker for Pieter Jansen, and Stan van den Hoven returns at lock with Reegan O’Gorman on reserve duty. Slade McDowall is back at openside flanker, swapping jerseys with Joe Johnston.
Midfielder Jack Reeves has recovered from an ankle injury to take up a spot among the reserves. The Free Jacks field an additional import player, 12 in the starting lineup and Jansen on the bench, after acquiring an extra spot in trade from Dallas during the week.
Old Glory arrive from a bye week having won their two previous matches – their only wins of the season to date. They have been stricken by the season-ending suspension to Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and injuries to Thretton Palamo and Renata Roberts-Te Nana. Palamo will also play no further part this campaign after breaking his thumb.
Owen Sheehy moves into the fullback vacancy left by Roberts-Te Nana, and Junior Sa’u switches back to the midfield from wing. Doug Fraser is in on the left wing and academy outside back John Rizzo is set to make his MLR debut as a replacement.
Luke Campbell moves to No8 in the absence of Fa’anana-Schultz with Felix Kalapu moving from lock to the blindside flank. Stan South is back in the second row, and there is a 6/2 split on the bench with Dom Bailey joining Fintan Coleman as back row substitutes.
Nate Osborne’s arrival has been a positive for Old Glory but the Interim Head Coach now faces a greater challenge without three of his best players, having already lost Facundo Gattas and Mike Dabulas to injury. New England are the form team in the league and bring a mountain of momentum into the match. Expect that to roll on into next week. Take the home side in convincing fashion.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 4pm Pacific. Fox Sports 2 will broadcast nationwide with The Rugby Network streaming to viewers located abroad.
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera, 2 Mills Sanerivi, 3 Erich de Jager, 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Stan van den Hoven, 6 Jesse Parete, 7 Slade McDowall, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland, 10 Beaudein Waaka, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Dougie Fife
Replacements: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Alex Johnston, 18 Spencer Krueger, 19 Reegan O’Gorman, 20 Joe Johnston, 21 Zachary Short, 22 Jack Reeves, 23 Harrison Boyle
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Rob Irimescu, 3 Kyle Stewart, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Stan South, 6 Felix Kalapu, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Luke Campbell, 9 Danny Tusitala (capt.), 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Doug Fraser, 12 Junior Sa’u, 13 William Talataina, 14 Peni Lasaqa, 15 Owen Sheehy
Replacements: 16 Mo Katz, 17 Jack Carroll, 18 Dante Lopresti, 19 Api Naikatini, 20 Fintan Coleman, 21 Dom Bailey, 22 Danny Thomas, 23 John Rizzo
Date: Saturday, May 7
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Jarrod Ford (USA)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (TMO)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 2, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-02-18 – Old Glory DC 25, New England Free Jacks 41 (Segra Field)
2021-06-06 – New England Free Jacks 38, Old Glory DC 34 (Union Point Stadium)
2021-04-25 – Old Glory DC 35, New England Free Jacks 22 (Segra Field)
