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Round 4 of the 2025 Major League Rugby season kicks off in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night. Miami squares off against Chicago, with the winner securing to spot in the Eastern Conference for at least another week. The Sharks have won two in a row, albeit by narrow margins, while the Hounds enjoyed one of their best results in franchise history last week against the Free Jacks.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
2-1-0 (W2) East 1st
2-1-0 (W1) East 2nd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 4 | Tomás Casares | Federico Gutiérrez |
| 8 | Ronan Foley | Marques Fuala’au |
| 10 | Santiago Videla | Martín Elías |
| 15 | Tomás Malanos | Santiago Videla |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Janus Venter | Dylan Fawsitt |
| 3 | Ignacio Péculo | Paddy Ryan |
| 10 | Christopher Hilsenbeck | Adriaan Carelse |
| 11 | Nate Augspurger | Julián Domínguez |
| 15 | Ben Pollack | Michael Hand |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(10) – Myhill (Wales), Koloamatangi (Tonga), Ardao, Inciarte (Uruguay), Casares, Bonasso, McNulty (USA), Videla (Chile), du Toit (Canada), Orlando (Argentina)
(12) – Pifeleti, Augspurger, Campbell, Brown, White (USA), Péculo (Uruguay), Flesch, Rumball, Oworu, Higgins (Canada), Hilsenbeck (Germany), Devoto (England)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(1) – Foley
(2) – Baker, Oworu*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Reinaldo Piussi (TH), Tomás Cubelli (SH), Martín Elías (FH)
– Dylan Fawsitt (HO), Tim Swiel (FH), Julián Domínguez (WI)
| PREDICTION |
Despite unconvincing form the Sharks currently find themselves at the top of a similarly underwhelming Eastern Conference. The return of Tomás Casares and a club debut for Ronan Foley boosts the pack, but they remain without key starters Reinaldo Piussi and Tomás Cubelli. The Hounds meanwhile have lost a handful of players from last week’s battle – most notably Dylan Fawsitt – but carry huge confidence after thrashing the defending champions. Chicago are slight favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Ma’ake Muti, 2 Kirby Myhill, 3 Tau Koloamatangi, 4 Tomás Casares, 5 Mauro Rebussone, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Tomás Cubilla, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Matías Orlando (capt.), 14 Marcos Young, 15 Tomás Malanos
Replacements: 16 Sean McNulty, 17 Alec McDonnell, 18 Alex Tucci, 19 Marques Fuala’au, 20 Tomás Bekerman, 21 Damian Morley, 22 Connor Burns, 23 Chase Schor-Haskin
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Janus Venter, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 James Scott, 5 Hamish Bain, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Mitch Short, 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Ben Pollack
Replacements: 16 Jackson Zabierek, 17 Liam Fletcher, 18 Koby Baker, 19 Conall Boomer, 20 Luke White, 21 Matthew Oworu, 22 Jason Higgins, 23 Sam Walsh
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, March 7
Venue: Baptist Health Community Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific, 18:00 Central)
Weather Forecast: clear, 73°F (23°C), wind SE 8-12mph (13-19km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fox Chicago+, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Peter Pender (Canada)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Tom Ciampa (USA)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (2) – Chicago 2, Miami 0
2024-06-29 – Chicago Hounds 38, Miami Sharks 26 (SeatGeek Stadium)
2024-03-03 – Miami Sharks 19, Chicago Hounds 23 (AutoNation Field)
