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The first match of Major League Rugby‘s regular season Week 4 sees the Utah Warriors hosting Austin Elite at Zions Bank Stadium on Friday evening. Both sides are on an upwards trend but Utah still have to crack the goose egg in their win column, which they will be desperate to do against a tricky Austin side.
After giving the Glendale Raptors a run for their money on Saturday the Warriors have made just two personnel changes in the run-on side. Josh Anderson comes in for AJ Tu’ineau on the wing with Tonata Lauti swapping right for left, and Jared Whippy starts in place of Don Pati at fullback.
Two players are set to make their MLR debuts from the bench. Eagles lock John Cullen has recovered from a knee injury suffered in preseason training and is a welcome addition to the squad. The other is also a USA international, as Mike Palefau joins the team after leaving the Seattle Seawolves just ahead of the season opener.
Austin got their first win of the season with a lively performance over the NOLA Gold at Round Rock last Thursday. They have made just one change with Zinzan Elan-Puttick selected at outside center in place of the absent Roland Suniula.
It’s the first official MLR action for Elan-Puttick and there is another debutante named on the bench. Guam native Joedee Reyes replaces Pat Sullivan as inside back cover with the rest of the replacements otherwise unchanged.
With some wet weather expected in Salt Lake this could turn out to be more tactical than run-and-gun. The scrum battle should be relatively easy and in the kicking department both Kurt Morath and Timothée Guillimin are more than capable of picking the corners. With little to choose between the two, the Warriors get the edge based on home field advantage.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Viewers in the USA or Canada can watch live on CBS Sports Network. All other international viewers will have access to a live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Alex Tucci, 2 Lote Tu’ipulotu, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Saia Uhila, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 David Tameilau, 9 Joseph Nicholls, 10 Kurt Morath, 11 Tonata Lauti, 12 Paul Lasike (capt.), 13 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 14 Josh Anderson, 15 Jared Whippy
Replacements: 16 Ray Forrester, 17 Pani Pahulu, 18 Maika Hafoka, 19 Kory Olsen, 20 John Cullen, 21 Mike Palefau, 22 Paki Afu, 23 Ben Nicholls
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Ross Deacon, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Kyle Breytenbach, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sani Taylor, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.), 13 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 14 Sione Fangaiuiha, 15 Ned Hodson
Replacements: 16 David LeMasters, 17 Siaosi Finau, 18 Robert Drummond, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 21 Knute O’Donnell, 22 Joedee Reyes, 23 Junior Naruma
Date: Friday, May 11
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Adam Leal (RFU) & Kage Green (USAR)
TMO: Dave Ardrey (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Facebook
