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Two teams at the bottom of their respective conferences will meet in Charlotte on Saturday evening. Anthem remain winless after ten attempts but outscored league leaders Houston in the second half a week ago. Los Angeles came from behind to score a road win over Dallas and are looking to make it back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
0-10-0 (L10) East 6th
2-6-1 (W1) West 6th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
1 Jake Turnbull replaces Dan Hanson
4 Reagan Leslie replaces James Rivers
6 Shneil Singh replaces Graeme Pedegana
10 Cliven Loubser replaces Te Rangatira Waitokia
11 Te Rangatira Waitokia replaces Josh Shetler
13 Mateo Gadsden replaces Dom Iacovino
14 Cael Hodgson replaces Tyren Al-Jiboori
4 Reegan O’Gorman replaces Ben Mitchell
10 Jordan Chait replaces Dan Hollinshead (injury)
13 Seth Purdey replaces Jason Emery (suspension)
14 Brooklyn Hardaker replaces Austin White
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(4) – Turnbull (USA), Apikotoa (Tonga), Loubser (Namibia), Alosio (Samoa)
(9) – Maughan, Damm (USA), O’Gorman, Heaton, Coe, Young (Canada), Rebolo (Brazil), Katjijeko (Namibia), Kunatani (Fiji)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(1) – Sebastien Zaridze*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Declan Moore (HO), Conor McManus (SH), Oscar Koller (FH), David Still (WI)
– Dan Hollinshead (FH), Jason Emery (CE), Will Leonard (CE), Rory van Vugt (FB)
| NOTES |
- Te Rangatira Waitokia returns to a more familiar wing spot after filling in as an emergency flyhalf for Anthem against the SaberCats… Cliven Loubser is back to wear the No10 shirt with Shane Barry acting as cover off the bench
- Mateo Gadsden earns another start after impressing as a replacement against Houston… he and midfield partner Junior Gafa were both High School All-Americans
- Anthem will hand an MLR debut to new signing Sebastien Zaridze… the 24-year-old center is US-eligible having been born in New York… he was raised in Italy and played for their national u18 side before turning out for pro sides Viadana and most recently Piacenza… Zaridze also has Georgian ancestry
- LA will hand a first club start to former Seawolves flyhalf Jordan Chait… he landed a match-winning penalty against Dallas last week after returning from a long-term injury… Chait replaces Dan Hollinshead, who was injured against the Jackals
- Jason Emery will sit out the first of a three-game suspension after being sent off last week… former Canada u20 select Seth Purdey takes his place in LA’s midfield
| PREDICTION |
Warm but damp conditions are expected at kickoff which shouldn’t affect tactics too much, though LA do boast a more effective set piece. Anthem field one of their strongest lineups of the season and will have targeted this match as a potential victory. Despite their relatively poor record, the visitors are a solid outfit with four test-capped forwards in reserve. Los Angeles are favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (capt.), 2 Connor Robinson, 3 Joe Apikotoa, 4 Reagan Leslie, 5 Lucas Gramlick, 6 Shneil Singh, 7 Alby O’Shannessey, 8 Michael Ma’afu, 9 Siaosi Nai, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 12 Junior Gafa, 13 Mateo Gadsden, 14 Cael Hodgson, 15 Tomasi Alosio
Replacements: 16 Jack Manzo, 17 Ivan Pula, 18 Mika Felix, 19 Logan Weidner, 20 Sione Latu, 21 Sean Yacoubian, 22 Sebastien Zaridze, 23 Shane Barry
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Dane Zander, 2 Ben Strang, 3 Alex Maughan, 4 Reegan O’Gorman, 5 Theo Vukasinovic, 6 Michael Amiras, 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Jason Damm, 9 Niall Saunders (capt.), 10 Jordan Chait, 11 Jack Shaw, 12 James Stokes, 13 Seth Purdey, 14 Brooklyn Hardaker, 15 Andrew Coe
Replacements: 16 Bruce Kauika-Petersen, 17 Wilton Rebolo, 18 Conor Young, 19 Max Katjijeko, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Matt Anticev, 23 Austin White
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, May 18
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: cloudy with showers, 70°F (21°C), wind W 6-9mph (10-14km/h)
Broadcasts: Fox Sports 2, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
Assistants: Dave Edwards (USA) & Alex Hedquist (USA)
TMO: Eanna O’Dowd (Ireland)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (0) – first match
