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A second expansion side for 2024, but this franchise is unique to Major League Rugby. Anthem Rugby Carolina are a joint agreement between World Rugby, USA Rugby, and MLR owners to help develop Eagles-eligible talent. Their baptism of fire will come against the defending champion New England Free Jacks in Charlotte on Sunday.
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(23) – everyone!
(9) – Jenkinson, Sigren, Morgan-Puterangi, Ralph, Geiger, Baillie, von Dadelszen, Nordli-Kelemeti, Casey
| MLR DEBUTS |
(17) – Manzo, Rivers*, Gramlick*, Murray*, O’Shannessey*, Fortune*, Suznevich*, Koller, Niutupuivaha*, Gafa*, Al-Jiboori*, Hanson*, Pula*, Weidner*, Nai*, Gadsden*, Shetler*
(6) – Sigren, Morgan-Puterangi, Ralph, von Dadelszen*, Nordli-Kelemeti, Casey*
* – pro debut
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(1) – Jake Turnbull (USA)
(11) – DeWitt, Quattrin, Larsen, Keys, LeSage, Baillie, von Dadelszen, Casey, Olson (Canada), Sigren (Chile), Conradie (Namibia)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Declan Moore (HO), Joe Apikotoa (TH), Reagan Leslie (LO), Shneil Singh (LO/FL), Te Rangatira Waitokia (CE), David Still (CE/WI), Cliven Loubser (FB)
– Mitch Jacobson (FL), Le Roux Malan (CE), Paula Balekana (WI), Mitch Wilson (WI)
| NOTES |
- this is the MLR Head Coach debut for Anthem’s Alama Ieremia, who has previously led the Samoan national team and Auckland provincial side… he is a former All Black center and is currently the attack coach for the USA Eagles… Scott Mathie returns for a third year with New England, making the move from South Africa ahead of the 2022 season
- Anthem’s starting lineup averages 23 years old, by contrast New England’s starters average 28 years old… two of Anthem’s loose forwards, Braemar Murray and Dylan Fortune, have not yet seen their 20th birthday and are both USA u20 selects
- there are only three players on Anthem’s roster who are not US-eligible… flyhalf Oscar Koller has arrived from North Harbour in New Zealand’s provincial competition, and reserve scrumhalf Siaosi Nai has previously represented Tonga ‘A’… former Arizona Wildcats captain James Rivers has played for Hong Kong u20 but is just a few months away from qualifying for the Eagles
- Free Jacks flanker Martín Sigren captained Chile to their first ever Rugby World Cup this past year… he has previously played professionally with Selknam in South America and Doncaster Knights in England’s second division
- notably returning to action for New England is Josh Larsen, who has served as club captain since their debut MLR campaign in 2020… he was denied a chance to play most of the title-winning campaign after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4 last season
| PREDICTION |
It seems a little harsh to have the least experienced team in the league open their season against the defending champs, but that’s the challenge that awaits Anthem. Added to that most of their incoming overseas players have yet to arrive. New England meanwhile have named a run-on side with only three newcomers, so they should be mostly on the same page from the start. For Carolina this season is all about opportunity. Who will impress in Week 1? New England are heavy favorites.
| LINEUPS |
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (capt.), 2 Jack Manzo, 3 Mika Felix, 4 James Rivers, 5 Lucas Gramlick, 6 Braemar Murray, 7 Albert O’Shannessey, 8 Dylan Fortune, 9 Chase Suznevich, 10 Oscar Koller, 11 Ulu Niutupuivaha, 12 Junior Gafa, 13 Cael Hodgson, 14 Tyren Al-Jiboori, 15 Shane Barry
Replacements: 16 Connor Robinson, 17 Dan Hanson, 18 Ivan Pula, 19 Logan Weidner, 20 Joe Basser, 21 Siaosi Nai, 22 Mateo Gadsden, 23 Josh Shetler
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Foster DeWitt, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Cam Davidowicz, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland, 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi, 12 Wayne van der Bank, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Zach Bastres, 15 Reece MacDonald
Replacements: 16 Sean Ralph, 17 Kyle Ciquera, 18 Kaleb Geiger, 19 Kyle Baillie, 20 Piers von Dadelszen, 21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Gabe Casey, 23 Isaac Olson
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, March 3
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 57°F (15°C), wind SE 5-7mph (8-12km/h)
Broadcasts: NBC Sports Boston, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Mike Lawrenson (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (0) – first game
