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Two playoff teams with their eyes on ultimate glory in 2025 will square off in Texas on Saturday night. Houston sported Major League Rugby’s best regular season record last season and feature a familiar lineup with all of their starters returning. Chicago meanwhile have made a handful of upgrades from last year. It’s a revamped backline that features former England center Ollie Devoto.
| 2024 RECORD |
14-2-0, West 1st
8-7-1, East 3rd
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(2) – Scott*, Tuifua
(10) – Pifeleti, Bain*, Short*, Swiel*, Devoto*, Pollack*, Zabierek, Fletcher*, Dietenberger, N Flesch*
*MLR debut
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(1) – Davis (USA)
(12) – Pifeleti, Fawsitt, O’Keeffe, Campbell, Brown, White, Baska (USA), M Flesch, Rumball, N Flesch (Canada), Devoto (England), Peculo (Uruguay)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Ezekiel Lindenmuth (LH), Rufus McLean (WI)
– Zura Zhvania (LH), Julián Domínguez (WI), Nate Augspurger (WI)
| PREDICTION |
The Hounds certainly look a stronger outfit this year, with strength in depth across the board and some genuine class added to their backline. They will get better as the season progresses, but the SaberCats should be ready for battle straight out of the gate. The home side will be desperate to make a statement in front of their faithful after crashing out in the first round of the playoffs last season. Houston are favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo, 2 Seth Smith, 3 Pono Davis, 4 Justin Basson, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Emmanuel Albert, 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 8 Ronan Murphy, 9 André Warner, 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Seimou Smith, 12 Sam Hill, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 Drew Wild
Replacements: 16 Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 17 LaRome White, 18 Michael Scott, 19 Johan Momsen, 20 Keni Nasoqeqe, 21 Sam Tuifua, 22 Jay Renton, 23 Max Schumacher
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 James Scott, 5 Hamish Bain, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Mitch Short, 10 Tim Swiel, 11 Mark O’Keeffe, 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Ben Pollack
Replacements: 16 Jackson Zabierek, 17 Liam Fletcher, 18 Ignacio Péculo, 19 Jonah Dietenberger, 20 Luke White, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Adriaan Carelse, 23 Noah Flesch
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, February 15
Venue: SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 70°F (21°C), wind W 16-24mph (26-38km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, CW39 Houston, Fox Chicago+, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Jono Cooper (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (3) – Houston 3, Chicago 0
2024-05-18 – Houston SaberCats 23, Chicago Hounds 22 (SaberCats Stadium)
2023-05-27 – Houston SaberCats 40, Chicago Hounds 33 (SaberCats Stadium)
2023-04-01 – Chicago Hounds 21, Houston SaberCats 38 (SeatGeek Stadium)
