MLR 2024: Chicago Hounds vs Seattle Seawolves – ARN Guide

Two teams looking to rebound from a loss will collide at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Hounds were outplayed in their home opener against New England last weekend, while the Seawolves suffered their first defeat of the 2024 campaign at home against the SaberCats.

1-2-1 (L1) East 3rd

3-1-0 (L1) West 3rd

2 Guillermo Pujadas replaces Dylan Fawsitt
4 Mason Flesch replaces George Merrick
6 Conall Boomer replaces Mason Flesch
8 Luke White replaces Tinashe Muchena
10 Adriaan Carelse replaces Billy Meakes
11 Julián Domínguez replaces Nate Augspurger (HIA)
12 Billy Meakes replaces Bryce Campbell
14 Noah Brown replaces Dave Kearney
15 Luke Carty replaces Adriaan Carelse
16 Dylan Fawsitt replaces Guillermo Pujadas
19 Ben Landry replaces Brad Tucker
22 Michael Baska replaces Noah Brown

6 Huw Taylor replaces Reid Davis
8 Riekert Hattingh replaces Pago Haini
12 Sam Windsor replaces Dan Kriel
20 Pago Haini replaces Andrew Durutalo
22 Toni Pulu replaces Sam Windsor

(11) – Zhvania (Georgia), Pujadas, Péculo (Uruguay), Flesch, Rumball (Canada), White, McCarthy, Carty, Fawsitt, Landry, Baska (USA)

(7) – Taufete’e, Hattingh, Futi, Wenglewski, Kilifi, Rees (USA), Rossouw (Namibia)

(1) – Ben Landry

(0) – n/a

– George Merrick (LO), Bryce Campbell (CE), Nate Augspurger (WI), Dave Kearney (WI/FB)

– Peter Malcolm (HO), Mahonri Ngakuru (LO), Dan Kriel (CE), Tavite Lopeti (CE), Tevita Kuridrani (CE)

• Chicago’s Billy Meakes at flyhalf experiment has been put on ice for now… Meakes returns to his favored No12 shirt with Adriaan Carelse at flyhalf… Luke Carty starts at fullback for the first time in his MLR career… he last played No15 in a pro match in October 2016 for Connacht in the British & Irish Cup
• Hounds winger Noah Brown gets his first start in the XV-a-side pro game… he has previously earned international honors for the USA on the World Sevens Series, debuting at the 2022 Hong Kong tournament
• now recovered from a minor preseason injury, Ben Landry is set to make his Hounds debut against his former team… the Eagles lock spent three seasons in Seattle after brief spells at Glendale and New England… Adriaan Carelse also played with Seattle last year after making a mid-season move from Dallas
• Seattle welcome back Huw Taylor and captain Riekert Hattingh from injury but are now missing their top three centers with Dan Kriel, Tavite Lopeti, and yet-to-play Tevita Kuridrani all absent… Sam Windsor wears the No12 for the first time since the 2022 season with New York
• Michael Baska is named to his first match day squad since starting on the wing in the season opener against Miami… with Nate Augspurger out, Baska covers scrumhalf, wing, and fullback

Both teams will be bitterly disappointed by last week’s result. Chicago were underwhelming against New England and will hope the change at No10 can put them back on track. Seattle scored 40 points and dominated the scrum but still came up short. On paper this should be close but on form the Seawolves are the better side. Seattle are slight favorites on the road.

CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Zura Zhvania, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 Mason Flesch, 5 James Scott, 6 Conall Boomer, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Luke White, 9 Nick McCarthy, 10 Adriaan Carelse, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Billy Meakes (capt.), 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Luke Carty

Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Fred Apulu, 18 Charlie Abel, 19 Ben Landry, 20 Sam Peri, 21 Lucas Rumball, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Cassh Maluia

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Sam Matenga, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Jean Droste, 6 Huw Taylor, 7 Charles Elton, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Mack Mason, 11 Jade Stighling, 12 Sam Windsor, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews

Replacements: 16 DaQuan Perry, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Olive Kilifi, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Pago Haini, 21 Ryan Rees, 22 Toni Pulu, 23 Jeremiah Sio

Date: Saturday, March 30
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Kickoff: 17:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sun and cloud, 57°F (14°C), wind NW 12-19mph (19-31km/h)
Broadcasts: Marquee Sports Plus, Root Sports, The Rugby Network

Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Shawn Bastic (USA)
TMO: Eanna O’Dowd (Ireland)

HEAD-TO-HEAD (2) – Seattle 2, Chicago 0
2023-05-20 – Seattle Seawolves 35, Chicago Hounds 13 (Starfire Stadium)
2023-03-26 – Chicago Hounds 5, Seattle Seawolves 27 (SeatGeek Stadium)