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New England and Houston will meet for just the second time in regular season action on Sunday at a sold-out Veterans Memorial Stadium. Their only previous encounter was a blowout win for the Free Jacks at SaberCats Stadium during the 2021 campaign, though the Cats were winners when they met during this year’s preseason also in Houston.
The Free Jacks enter the game on a nine-game winning streak and knowing they have a bye week before hosting the winner of New York and DC. Scott Mathie has opted to run out a virtually full strength lineup with 11 changes to the team that win in Seattle last weekend.
Notably rested is flyhalf Jayson Potroz, with Beaudein Waaka given his first run in the No10 shirt since returning from Japan. Le Roux Malan and Ben LeSage are back in the midfield, and Mitch Wilson starts on the right wing. Reece MacDonald is given another chance to impress at fullback.
Up front it’s all change in the front row with Kyle Ciquera, Mills Sanerivi, and Cole Keith getting the start. Conor Keys replaces countryman Reegan O’Gorman at lock, and the first choice back row trio of Mitch Jacobson, Slade McDowall, and Wian Conradie are restored en masse.
Houston have taken a different approach, choosing to rest some key players ahead of next week’s playoff against Seattle. They eased past DC last week to make it three wins in a row, and watched as Chicago upset Utah to clinch another postseason spot for the Cats. It’s almost a completely different lineup this week with only captain Dean Muir and second row Siaosi Mahoni retained.
Alec McDonnell and Val Lee-Lo are the new props, the latter making his first start in two years. Emmanuel Albert comes in at lock and the back row trio is Keni Nasoqeqe, Danny Barrett, and Hanco Germishuys. Barrett has escaped further punishment after his send-off a week ago, with the judiciary determining the clearout was not a red card offense.
Carlo de Nysschan and Kian Meadon get the nod at scrumhalf and flyhalf respectively. Canadian international Kainoa Lloyd is a surprise addition to the backline having not played any games previously this season. He partners Robbie Poveyin a makeshift midfield, with Zach Pangelinan and Nick Boyer on the wings and Gerrie Labuschagne at fullback.
Cloudy but calm weather is on the forecast, which set the stage for a high-flying Free Jacks side to show off their attacking ability. The selection of Waaka in the playmaking role should provide no shortage of thrills for the audience. Houston have a solid enough pack to avoid a steamrolling, but New England are clear favorites and should win by a decent margin.
Kickoff is set for 1:30pm local time, 12:30pm Central, 10:30am Pacific. Fox Sports 1 will broadcast nationwide with The Rugby Network streaming to viewers located in Canada and abroad.
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera, 2 Mills Sanerivi, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Semisi Paea, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Mitch Jacobson (capt.), 7 Slade McDowall, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland, 10 Beaudein Waaka, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Reece MacDonald
Replacements: 16 Andrew Quattrin, 17 Foster DeWitt, 18 Joel Hintz, 19 Sam Fischli, 20 Joe Johnston, 21 Holden Yungert, 22 Spencer Jones, 23 Cam Davidowicz
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Alec McDonnell, 2 Dean Muir (capt.), 3 Valdemar Lee-Lo, 4 Siaosi Mahoni, 5 Emmanuel Albert, 6 Danny Barrett, 7 Keni Nasoqeqe, 8 Hanco Germishuys, 9 Carlo de Nysschen, 10 Kian Meadon, 11 Zach Pangelinan, 12 Robbie Povey, 13 Kainoa Lloyd, 14 Nick Boyer, 15 Gerrie Labuschagne
Replacements: 16 Axel Zapata, 17 Frikkie de Beer, 18 Will Vakalahi, 19 Wynand Grassmann, 20 Asa Carter, 21 Gideon van Wyk, 22 Davy Coetzer, 23 Jax Hidalgo
Date: Sunday, June 18
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 13:30 local (10:30 Pacific, 12:30 Central)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 1, The Rugby Network
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Mike Rudzinsky (USA)
TMO: Luke Rogan (USA)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-03-27 – Houston SaberCats 0, New England Free Jacks 32 (SaberCats Stadium)
