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Two teams looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats will square off in Boston on Saturday afternoon. It’s the home opener for the defending champion New England Free Jacks, who conceded a late try to slip up against Seattle last weekend. NOLA have had a week off to recover from their heavy defeat to Utah and welcome internationals Kaden Duguid and Joe Taufete’e to Gold colors.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
1-2-0 (L2) East 5th
1-2-0 (L2) East 4th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Malakai Hala-Ngatai | Tevita Sole |
| 4 | Jerónimo Gómez Vara | Piers von Dadelszen |
| 6 | Jed Melvin | Jerónimo Gómez Vara |
| 11 | Killian Coghlan | Brock Webster |
| 12 | Le Roux Malan | Faletoi Peni |
| 14 | Isaac Olson | Simon-Peter Toleafoa |
| 15 | Simon-Peter Toleafoa | Harrison Boyle |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Isaac Salmon | Paul Mullen |
| 6 | Malcolm May | Kélian Galletier |
| 12 | Nikolai Foliaki | JP du Plessis |
| 14 | Xavier Mignot | Nikolai Foliaki |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(10) – Quattrin, Olson, DeWitt, Keith, Keys, Baillie (Canada), Koroiduadua (Fiji), Conradie, Malan (Namibia), Geiger (USA)
(12) – Harmon, de Haas, Carty, Taufete’e, Mullen (USA), Mau’u, Fidow (Samoa), Afungia, Foliaki (Tonga), Mignot (France), Coats, Duguid (Canada)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(2) – Taufete’e, Duguid*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Josh Larsen (LO), Ben LeSage (CE), Paula Balekana (WI)
– Pat O’Toole (HO), Cam Dolan (LO), Moni Tonga’uiha (FL)
| PREDICTION |
Mild conditions are on the forecast which won’t affect either team. The Free Jacks have started slowly and still seem to be searching for their ideal configuration, with discipline their biggest obstacle to success thus far. Similarly results so far will not be what Danny Lee had in mind for his new-look Gold, and with a full strength backline he’ll be expecting more but Fort Quincy is never an easy place to win. New England are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Malakai Hala-Ngatai, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Jone Koroiduadua, 4 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Jed Melvin, 7 Joe Johnston (capt.), 8 Wian Conradie, 9 Oscar Lennon, 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Killian Coghlan, 12 Faletoi Peni, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Isaac Olson, 15 Simon-Peter Toleafoa
Replacements: 16 Foster DeWitt, 17 Cole Keith, 18 Kaleb Geiger, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Kyle Baillie, 21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Harrison Boyle, 23 Faletoi Peni
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Ale Lopeti, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Chase Jones, 5 William Waguespack, 6 Malcolm May, 7 Jonah Mau’u (capt.), 8 Tupou Afungia, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Nikolai Foliaki, 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Xavier Mignot, 15 Cooper Coats
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Jarred Adams, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Kaden Duguid, 20 Aidan King, 21 Osaiasi Tonga’uiha, 22 Luke Campbell, 23 Reece Botha
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 15
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 14:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 13:00 Central)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 55°F (13°C), wind S 9-15mph (14-24km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Gulf Coast Sports, NBC Sports Boston, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Jarrod Ford (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (10) – New England 6, NOLA 4
2024-06-22 – NOLA Gold 27, New England Free Jacks 17 (The Gold Mine)
2024-03-16 – New England Free Jacks 27, NOLA Gold 21 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2023-05-21 – New England Free Jacks 50, NOLA Gold 3 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2023-02-17 – NOLA Gold 12, New England Free Jacks 36 (The Gold Mine)
2022-05-29 – New England Free Jacks 57, NOLA Gold 5 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2022-04-02 – New England Free Jacks 33, NOLA Gold 29 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2022-02-05 – NOLA Gold 13, New England Free Jacks 24 (The Gold Mine)
2021-06-26 – New England Free Jacks 9, NOLA Gold 17 (Union Point Stadium)
2021-04-17 – NOLA Gold 30, New England Free Jacks 29 (The Gold Mine)
2020-03-07 – NOLA Gold 31, New England Free Jacks 22 (The Gold Mine)
