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Toronto fans have sunshine to look forward to on Sunday afternoon, and they will be hoping for some signs of life from the Arrows after last weekend’s humiliating loss to the Free Jacks. Seattle meanwhile are keen to get that winning feeling again with back-to-back losses following their six-game unbeaten run to start the campaign.
New England laid a merciless beating on the hapless Arrows last Saturday and much soul-searching will have been done during the week. The playoffs are a pipe dream at this point but Toronto can still restore some credibility and play a spoiler role down the stretch.
There is good news up front with the return of tighthead prop duo Isaac Salmon and Tyler Rowland. Salmon gets the start with Lolani Faleiva moving back to his preferred loosehead side. Shay Kerry moves from the back row to lock, with Mitch Eadie restored at No8. New hooker Tyler Wong could make his pro debut as a replacement on a 6/2 bench.
Kobe Faust will play fullback for the first time in an Arrows shirt, the only change to the starting backline in place of injured Peter Nelson. Noel Reid has miraculously gone from crutches to being passed fit in the span of a few days. Will Grant and Fabian Goodall are the only backs in reserve.
Both of Seattle defeats were by less than 7 points so the Seawolves haven’t exactly fallen off dramatically from their early season form. They now sit third in the Western Conference, two points behind Houston and six adrift of overall leaders San Diego.
Duncan Matthews misses out with a pulled hamstring this week, so Martin Iosefo starts at outside center. Lauina Futi moves to the left wing with Conner Mooneyham coming in on the right. Cole Zarcone is set to make his first appearance of the regular season after suiting up for the USA Hawks last weekend.
Rotation in the front row sees Jake Turnbull and James Malcolm starting at loosehead prop and hooker respectively. Otherwise the pack is identical. On the bench there is a welcome return for ex-Arrows No8 Ronan Foley, who has been out since the opening week of the season with a shoulder injury.
No sane person who witnessed the carnage last week would pick the Arrows to rebound with a victory against a legitimate playoff contender. Toronto will be fielding an improved lineup this week but their confidence will be heavily shaken. Seattle arrive on a mission and a bonus point victory is the only acceptable outcome. Take the visitors in convincing fashion.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 1pm Pacific. Canadian viewers can watch on TSN 2 with a local broadcast on Root Sports Plus in Seattle. Those located elsewhere can watch a live stream on The Rugby Network.
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Lolani Faleiva, 2 Gene Syminton, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Adrian Wadden, 5 Shay Kerry, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Mitch Eadie, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Shane O’Leary, 11 Dawson Fatoric, 12 Noel Reid, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 D’Shawn Bowen, 15 Kobe Faust
Replacements: 16 Tyler Wong, 17 Ramón Ayarza, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Mike Sheppard, 20 Owain Ruttan, 21 James O’Neill, 22 Will Grant, 23 Fabian Goodall
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 James Malcolm, 3 Sam Matenga, 4 Ben Landry, 5 Ben Mitchell, 6 Charles Elton, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Lauina Futi, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Martin Iosefo, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Adriaan Carelse
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Isaia Lotawa, 20 Ronan Foley, 21 Karl Keane, 22 Mat Turner, 23 Cole Zarcone
Date: Sunday, April 23
Venue: York Lions Stadium, Toronto
Kickoff: 16:00 local (13:00 Pacific)
Broadcasts: Root Sports Plus, The Rugby Network, TSN 2
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Clint Lemkus (Canada)
TMO: Andrew Hosie (Canada)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-02-06 – Seattle Seawolves 21, Toronto Arrows 8 (Starfire Stadium)
2021-04-17 – Toronto Arrows 52, Seattle Seawolves 7 (Lupo Family Field)
2020-02-22 – Seattle Seawolves 17, Toronto Arrows 39 (Starfire Stadium)
2019-06-09 – Seattle Seawolves 30, Toronto Arrows 17 (Starfire Stadium)
2019-04-28 – Toronto Arrows 29, Seattle Seawolves 7 (York Alumni Field)
2019-02-17 – Seattle Seawolves 35, Toronto Arrows 30 (Starfire Stadium)
