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It’s back to the Windy City for the Hounds, who have waited patiently for their home opener. Chicago are coming off a draw with Old Glory. The defending champion Free Jacks came from behind to earn a win at home against NOLA last week and are back at the top of the Eastern Conference.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
1-1-1 (D1) East 4th
2-1-0 (W1) East 1st
| LINEUP CHANGES |
1 Zura Zhvania replaces Fred Apulu
2 Dylan Fawsitt replaces Guillermo Pujadas
4 George Merrick replaces Conall Boomer (wore 6 vs DC)
8 Tinashe Muchena replaces Luke White
13 Cassh Maluia replaces Mark O’Keeffe
16 Guillermo Pujadas replaces Dylan Fawsitt
17 Fred Apulu replaces Zura Zhvania
18 Charlie Abel replaces Paddy Ryan
19 Sam Peri replaces Tinashe Muchena
21 Lucas Rumball replaces Jason Higgins
23 Cassh Maluia replaces Caolan Dooley
3 Cole Keith replaces John-Roy Jenkinson
5 Conor Keys replaces Kyle Baillie
6 Piers von Dadelszen replaces Seta Baker (injury)
9 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti replaces John Poland (injury)
11 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi replaces Mitch Wilson
16 Sean Ralph replaces Mason Koch (injury)
17 Malakai Hala-Ngatai replaces Foster DeWitt
19 Kyle Baillie replaces Conor Keys
21 Holden Yungert replaces Cam Nordli-Kelemeti
22 Killian Coghlan replaces Isaac Olson
23 Mitch Wilson replaces Piers von Dadelszen
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(10) – Zhvania (Georgia), Fawsitt, McCarthy, Augspurger, Campbell (USA), Péculo, Pujadas (Uruguay), Flesch, Rumball (Canada), Kearney (Ireland)
(11) – Quattrin, Keith, Larsen, Keys, von Dadelszen, LeSage, Baillie (Canada), Sigren (Chile), Conradie (Namibia), Geiger, Wilson (USA)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – n/a
(1) – Malakai Hala-Ngatai*, Killian Coghlan*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Ben Landry (LO/FL), Luke White (N8)
– Mitch Jacobson (FL), John Poland (SH), Le Roux Malan (CE)
| NOTES |
- both teams have made five changes to their starting lineups, and six on the bench
- there are players with test caps for seven different countries taking part in the match… USA, Canada, Uruguay, Chile, Georgia, Namibia, and Ireland… as well as age-grade internationals for England, Australia, Zimbabwe, Samoa, and New Zealand
- Luke White gets a week off to heal the cut on his hand suffered a week ago but Mark O’Keeffe is back in to partner Bryce Campbell in the midfield for the Hounds
- John Poland is ruled out with an arm injury, handing Cam Nordli-Kelemeti his first start in MLR… he was born in Fiji, adopted by Canadian parents, and represented England at u18 level… the 24-year-old has 7 Premiership starts for Newcastle Falcons on his resume
- loosehead prop Malakai Hala-Ngatai is set to debut for the Free Jacks off the bench… he played for New Zealand at the 2023 u20 World Championship and with Manawatu in the NPC
| PREDICTION |
The Hounds will be fired up to finally be at home, and keen to improve on what has been a somewhat underwhelming start to their campaign given the talent at their disposal. New England meanwhile are looking for an 80-minute performance with poor patches against DC and NOLA. If the gusty forecast holds up Chicago could be under pressure from the tactical kicking of Jayson Potroz. It’s another close call but New England are slight favorites.
| LINEUPS |
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Zura Zhvania, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 George Merrick, 5 James Scott, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Tinashe Muchena, 9 Nick McCarthy, 10 Billy Meakes (capt.), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Dave Kearney, 15 Adriaan Carelse
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Fred Apulu, 18 Charlie Abel, 19 Sam Peri, 20 Brad Tucker, 21 Lucas Rumball, 22 Noah Brown, 23 Cassh Maluia
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Piers von Dadelszen, 7 Martín Sigren, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi, 12 Wayne van der Bank, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Paula Balekana, 15 Reece MacDonald
Replacements: 16 Sean Ralph, 17 Malakai Hala-Ngatai, 18 Kaleb Geiger, 19 Kyle Baillie, 20 Cam Davidowicz, 21 Holden Yungert, 22 Killian Coghlan, 23 Mitch Wilson
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, March 24
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Kickoff: 13:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 14:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: cloudy, 45°F (7°C), wind SE 14-22mph (22-35km/h)
Broadcasts: Marquee Sports, NBC Sports Boston, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (Canada) & Andrew Dunn (USA)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (1) – New England 1, Chicago 0
2023-04-08 – New England Free Jacks 31, Chicago Hounds 19 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
