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The Jackals are in search of their first ever win over the Seawolves when the two sides collide at Choctaw Stadium on Sunday. Dallas nearly upset Seattle on their home turf earlier in the season and will be looking to go one better against a visiting outfit who saw their five-game winning streak snapped in New Orleans last week.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
4-6-0 (L2) West 4th
8-2-0 (L1) West 2nd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
1 Joaquín Horcada replaces Liam Murray
3 Kyle Steeves replaces Juan Pablo Zeiss (suspension)
5 Lucas Bur replaces Sam Tuifua (No8 vs LA)
9 Pedro Imhoff replaces Juan-Dee Oliver
12 Tomás Cubilla replaces Connor Winchester (injury)
15 Nazareno Valentini replaces Vaughen Isaacs (injury)
3 Sam Matenga replaces Olive Kilifi
13 Tavite Lopeti replaces Tevita Kuridrani
14 Conner Mooneyham replaces Jade Stighling
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(4) – Steeves, Richardson, Murray (Canada), Imhoff (Argentina)
(6) – Hattingh, Lopeti, Wenglewski, Kilifi, Rees (USA), Rossouw (Namibia)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(2) – Kyle Breytenbach, Jarek Szopinski*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Juan Pablo Zeiss (TH), Sam Golla (LO), Vaughen Isaacs (FB)
– Joe Taufete’e (HO), Peter Malcolm (HO), Charles Elton (FL), Kara Pryor (FL), Tevita Kuridrani (CE)
| NOTES |
- Juan Pablo Zeiss misses out due to suspension, handing Kyle Steeves his second career MLR start and first of the season for Dallas at tighthead prop… fellow Canadian international Liam Murray will provide cover after starting at loosehead last week
- club captain Sam Golla remains sidelined but the Jackals have been given a boost at lock with Lucas Bur returning and new signing Kyle Breytenbach joining the bench… it will be the first MLR appearance for Breytenbach since the 2022 season with Austin
- Connor Winchester, Vaughen Isaacs, and Jason Tidwell were all injured against LA… Isaacs looks to be the most serious of the trio with Nazareno Valentini taking his fullback spot… winger Jarek Szopinski is set to make his pro debut as a replacement in place of Tidwell
- Seattle are without star center Tevita Kuridrani this week… though they have a quality replacement in Eagles regular Tavite Lopeti… Conner Mooneyham comes back in on the right wing with Jade Stighling on the bench for the first time
- the only other change to the Seawolves lineup is at No3 where Sam Matenga is recalled… Olive Kilifi drops to the bench allowing Chance Wenglewski to switch back to covering loosehead prop having acted as an emergency tighthead for three weeks
| PREDICTION |
Blazing temperatures and a stiff southerly breeze suggest that the set piece will play a big part on Sunday. The Jackals will be disappointed with their loss to LA last week and are absent three of their most influential players in Zeiss, Golla, and Isaacs. After a mediocre win over Anthem and tough loss to NOLA, the Seawolves will be equally determined to get a result. On form there isn’t much to choose from. Given historical results, Seattle are slight favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
DALLAS JACKALS
1 Joaquín Horcada, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Kyle Steeves, 4 Daemon Torres, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.), 7 Makeen Alikhan, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Pedro Imhoff, 10 Martín Elías, 11 Nic Benn, 12 Tomás Cubilla, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Tomás Malanos, 15 Nazareno Valentini
Replacements: 16 Connor Grindal, 17 Tomás Bekerman, 18 Liam Murray, 19 Kyle Breytenbach, 20 Marques Fuala’au, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Manuel Covella, 23 Jarek Szopinski
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Dewald Donald, 3 Sam Matenga, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Jean Droste, 6 Reid Davis, 7 Huw Taylor, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Mack Mason, 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Divan Rossouw
Replacements: 16 DaQuan Perry, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Olive Kilifi, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Pago Haini, 21 Ryan Rees, 22 Sam Windsor, 23 Jade Stighling
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, May 19
Venue: Choctaw Stadium, Arlington
Kickoff: 18:00 local (16:00 Pacific, 19:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 90°F (32°C), wind S 16-23mph (26-37km/h)
Broadcasts: KTXA, Root Sports, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Andrew Cole (Ireland)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Juan Pablo Parra (Colombia)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (5) – Seattle 5, Dallas 0
2024-04-05 – Seattle Seawolves 34, Dallas Jackals 32 (Starfire Stadium)
2023-04-28 – Seattle Seawolves 61, Dallas Jackals 19 (Starfire Stadium)
2023-03-03 – Dallas Jackals 10, Seattle Seawolves 35 (Choctaw Stadium)
2022-05-08 – Seattle Seawolves 74, Dallas Jackals 7 (Starfire Stadium)
2022-03-19 – Dallas Jackals 12, Seattle Seawolves 34 (Choctaw Stadium)
