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The weekend wraps up with an Eastern Conference clash between NOLA and New York at The Gold Mine. In six previous meetings the Ironworkers have won four, including both games last season.
It’s been a horror start to the campaign for the Gold, whose playoff hopes are on the ropes thanks to three consecutive wins. A result is badly needed to restore confidence and for a team that have undoubtedly not lived up to the talent at their disposal.
Kane Thompson has kept the faith with an identical starting lineup this week. Devin Short has recovered from a shoulder injury to take up a spot on the bench that shows a 6/2 split. Dino Walden is also back in the match day squad after missing the game in Atlanta.
Meanwhile the defending champs have fired off back-to-back dominant wins after the tough loss in Seattle to start the campaign. They had little trouble with DC in Mount Vernon and will look to a nearly-identical squad to follow suit on the road.
Nic Mayhew is fit to resume at tighthead prop in the only change up front. At flyhalf there is no sign of Jack Heighton, with Sam Windsor instead wearing the No10 shirt. Quinn Ngawati fills the vacancy left among the replacements.
Warm but windy weather is in the forecast at game time. New York look to have their swagger back and despite missing Heighton have plenty of firepower at their disposal. NOLA played well for 30 minutes against ATL, and will need a full 80 to have a chance. The visitors are clear favorites but the Gold will be in desperation mode, knowing this is a pivotal moment in their campaign.
Kickoff is set for 2pm local time, 3pm Eastern, noon Pacific. Local broadcasts will be available on the MSG Network in New York and YurView Louisiana, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
NOLA GOLD
1 Jarred Adams, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Sean Paranihi, 4 Liam Hallam-Eames, 5 Cam Dolan (capt.), 6 Malcolm May, 7 Moni Tonga’uiha, 8 Tom Florence, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Dougie Fife, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Kevin Sullivan, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Billy Stewart, 20 Maciu Koroi, 21 Devin Short, 22 Sebastiano Villani, 23 Ross Depperschmidt
NEW YORK IRONWORKERS
1 Chance Wenglewski, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Nic Mayhew, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Hamish Dalzell, 6 Brad Tucker, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 8 Kara Pryor, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jason Emery, 13 Teihorangi Walden, 14 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 15 Andrew Coe
Replacements: 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Tevita Langi, 18 Sam Davies, 19 Charlie Hewitt, 20 Pago Haini, 21 Eamonn Matthews, 22 Quinn Ngawati, 23 John Powers
Date: Sunday, March 12
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 14:00 local (12:00 Pacific, 15:00 Eastern)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Rob Halcomb (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
Broadcasts: MSG Network, The Rugby Network, YurView Louisiana
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-05-01 – Rugby New York 36, NOLA Gold 28 (JFK Stadium)
2022-03-19 – NOLA Gold 19, Rugby New York 30 (The Gold Mine)
2021-07-17 – Rugby United New York 32, NOLA Gold 35 (Belson Stadium)
2021-03-27 – NOLA Gold 51, Rugby United New York 28 (The Gold Mine)
2019-05-26 – Rugby United New York 24, NOLA Gold 22 (MCU Park)
2019-02-16 – NOLA Gold 24, Rugby United New York 27 (Archbishop Shaw Stadium)
