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The seventh Major League Rugby season officially kicks off when the NOLA Gold host Eastern Conference rivals Old Glory DC on Saturday afternoon. Old Glory enjoyed their best-ever campaign in 2023, reaching the Conference Final, while NOLA are still searching for a first-ever playoff appearance.
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(6) – Böhme, Mau’u, Noa, Filimone, Vermeulen, Botchar
(12) – Vaca, Rowland, Harley, Dotti, Buckley, Humphreys, Boni, Powers, Whiteside, McVeigh, Roberts, Shabazz
| MLR DEBUTS |
(4) – Mau’u, Noa, Vermeulen*, Botchar*
(6) – Vaca, Harley, Humphreys, Boni, Whiteside*, Roberts*
* – pro debut
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(7) – Harmon, Tonga’uiha (USA), Böhme (Chile), Noa, Iona (Samoa), Fife (Scotland), Botchar (Canada)
(9) – Iscaro, Fa’anana-Schultz, Daniel, Boni (USA), Rowland, Bowd (Canada), Harley (Scotland), Dotti, Gattas (Uruguay)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Jarred Adams (LH), Cam Dolan (LO), JP du Plessis (CE), Ed Fidow (WI)
– Kevin Brou (TH), Niko Jones (FL/N8), Danny Tusitala (SH), William Talataina (CE), Axel Müller (WI), Damien Hoyland (WI), Mike Dabulas (FB)
| NOTES |
- this will be the first game in charge for both head coaches, NOLA’s Cory Brown and DC’s Simon Cross… both newcomers to MLR
- Moni Tonga’uiha captains NOLA for the second time… the first time was in he assumes the on-field leadership role from Cam Dolan
- Jason Robertson returns to DC after two years in France… he started 19 games across the 2020 and 2021 seasons… 18 of those were at flyhalf, the other at inside center
- Danny Tusitala’s streak of 55 consecutive appearances for DC comes to an end… all but one were starts… this is the first MLR game in club history without his presence
- only 3 starters from DC’s Conference Final clash against New England last July do so again on Saturday… Jack Iscaro, Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, and Lautaro Bavaro… Cali Martinez, Facundo Gattas, Collin Grosse, and John Rizzo were replacements that day
| PREDICTION |
Stakes are higher for the Gold, who are desperate to win in their home opener after a poor start in 2023. Both teams are missing key players. NOLA will miss Cam Dolan’s lineout presence, and DC are without inspirational Danny Tusitala among others. The Gold have more returning players and seemed to have a more productive preseason, with DC not playing any full-on warm-up games. NOLA slight favorites.
| LINEUPS |
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Augusto Böhme, 3 Sean Paranihi, 4 Malcolm May, 5 William Waguespack, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.), 7 Jonah Mau’u, 8 OJ Noa, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 Ross Depperschmidt, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 Dougie Fife
Replacements: 16 Pat O’Toole, 17 Bart Vermeulen, 18 James Irey, 19 Callum Botchar, 20 Ale Lopeti, 21 Sebastiano Villani, 22 Reece Botha, 23 Jack Webster
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Rob Harley, 5 Ignacio Dotti, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Perry Humphreys, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 John Powers, 14 John Rizzo, 15 Jason Robertson
Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Facundo Gattas, 18 Cali Martinez, 19 Bill Whiteside, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Palema Roberts, 23 Ishmail Shabazz
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 2
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 15:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: cloudy, 71°F (21°C), wind E 5mph (8km/h)
Broadcasts: Monumental Sports, YurView Louisiana, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Ian Seaton (USA) & Allen Alongi (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (7) – NOLA 5, DC 1, DRAW 1, STREAK DC +1
2023-06-03 – NOLA Gold 15, Old Glory DC 28 (The Gold Mine)
2023-03-25 – Old Glory DC 17, NOLA Gold 20 (Segra Field)
2022-05-14 – NOLA Gold 50, Old Glory DC 21 (The Gold Mine)
2022-03-26 – Old Glory DC 22, NOLA Gold 31 (Segra Field)
2021-02-12 – Old Glory DC 21, NOLA Gold 25 (Segra Field)
2021-03-21 – NOLA Gold 26, Old Glory DC 26 (The Gold Mine)
2020-02-08 – NOLA Gold 46, Old Glory DC 13 (The Gold Mine)
