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It’s the home opener for Utah on Saturday afternoon, with the Warriors playing host to another ‘original’ in NOLA. Despite both sides being part of the league since its inception, an odd quirk in scheduling means the Gold haven’t been to Zions Bank Stadium since 2019. Regardless of where the two teams have played, the Warriors have yet to taste victory against NOLA in six times of asking.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
1-0-0 (W1) West 3rd
1-1-0 (L1) East 1st
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 14 | Nic Benn | Blake Makiri |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Ale Lopeti | Pat O’Toole |
| 4 | Chase Jones | Malcolm May |
| 5 | William Waguespack | Cam Dolan |
| 8 | Tupou Afungia | Moni Tonga’uiha |
| 9 | Ruben de Haas | Luke Campbell |
| 10 | Luke Carty | Dorian Jones |
| 11 | Ed Fidow | Julian Roberts |
| 12 | JP du Plessis | Nikolai Foliaki |
| 14 | Nikolai Foliaki | Xavier Mignot |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(11) – Seiuli, Leuila (Samoa), Coltman (New Zealand), Jensen, Mano, MacLellan, Wilson, Lasike (USA), Jones, Benn (Canada), Vugakoto (Fiji)
(13) – Harmon, Mullen, de Haas, Carty, Tonga’uiha (USA), Galletier (France), Mau’u, Fidow (Samoa), Afungia, Foliaki (Tonga), Coats, Botchar (Canada), Stevens (Namibia)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(1) – Jones*, Carty, Turpen*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– none
– Joe Taufete’e (HO), Cam Dolan (LO), Xavier Mignot (WI)
| PREDICTION |
Greg Cooper has opted for a near-identical lineup after the big win over Chicago last week. The Warriors will take great confidence from that start and will be fired up to finally get one over on NOLA after years of failure. The Gold have made several changes from the team that lost to Miami and look particularly vulnerable at hooker where their top two choices are absent. Utah are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Aki Seiuli, 2 Liam Coltman, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Gavin Thornbury (capt.), 6 Frank Lochore, 7 Kalisi Moli, 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Logan Crowley, 10 D’Angelo Leuila, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Kyle Brown, 14 Nic Benn, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Tuvere Vugakoto, 17 Emerson Prior, 18 Angus MacLellan, 19 Bailey Wilson, 20 Tyler Wong, 21 Zion Going, 22 Paul Lasike, 23 Joel Hodgson
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Ale Lopeti, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Chase Jones, 5 William Waguespack, 6 Kélian Galletier, 7 Jonah Mau’u (capt.), 8 Tupou Afungia, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Nikolai Foliaki, 15 Cooper Coats
Replacements: 16 Abe Turpen, 17 Bart Vermeulen, 18 Isaac Salmon, 19 Malcolm May, 20 Callum Botchar, 21 Moni Tonga’uiha, 22 Damian Stevens, 23 Reece Botha
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 1
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 14:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 15:00 Central, 16:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 54°F (12°C), wind NE 4-6mph (6-10km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Gulf Coast Sports, KJZZ, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Kahlil Harrison (USA)
TMO: Mike Kelly (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (6) – NOLA 6, Utah 0
2024-05-18 – NOLA Gold 21, Utah Warriors 14 (The Gold Mine)
2023-03-18 – NOLA Gold 37, Utah Warriors 14 (The Gold Mine)
2021-05-22 – NOLA Gold 29, Utah Warriors 24 (The Gold Mine)
2019-04-13 – NOLA Gold 28, Utah Warriors 19 (Archbishop Stadium Stadium)
2019-03-02 – Utah Warriors 19, NOLA Gold 21 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2018-06-16 – Utah Warriors, 43, NOLA Gold 46 (Zions Bank Stadium)
