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It’s desperation time at Dell Diamond as Austin Elite host the San Diego Legion on Friday evening. The Elite have lost all four matches on their new home pitch and only have two more there this season, with their other two ‘home’ games set to be played in San Antonio and Houston. This is the last of the five-game home stretch and if a win doesn’t come now, Austin can say goodbye to even faint hopes of a post-season appearance.
Doing so with a roster stretched paper-thin is an even bigger ask. Mason Pedersen, Sebastián Kalm, and Rodrigo Silva are on the disabled list while Travis Larsen and Doug Fraser are on Americas Rugby Championship duty. Reinforcements won’t begin to arrive until next week due to visa delays. The cupboard is bare but the game must go on.
If there is hope it’s that the team finally looked to be stringing together some good rugby at the tail end of the loss to Glendale. It was too late for that game, but if Austin can find their attacking rhythm early against San Diego they could catch the Legion by surprise.
There is only one personnel change to the forwards. Dom Bailey fills the back row vacancy left by Larsen with Kyle Breytenbach shifting to the back of the scrum. There isn’t much in behind them, however, with only four forward replacements named though Dylan Pieterse can cover both lock and loose forward.
With Silva out Tim Guillimin is recalled at flyhalf and his French halfback partner Mickaël Romera starts in place of Marcelo Torrealba. The other change in the backs sees Reece Czarnecki dropped to the bench with Sione Fangaiuiha named in the midfield, Zinzan Elan-Puttick moving to fullback, and Soheyl Jaoudat pushing over to the left wing.
It’s a much better situation for San Diego, who have rattled off three straight wins at home since their narrow loss to New York in the season opener. They have improved with each outing and as their Eagles continue to return to full fitness are sure to get stronger in the coming weeks.
International call-ups will deprive them of Kapeli Pifeleti, Nick Boyer, and Mike Te’o against Austin while Chris Turori misses out due to injury. Psalm Wooching will make his first Major League Rugby start on the flank with Alec Barton called up to the bench. Pat Blair’s absence leaves the team with only one specialist hooker so utility forward Sione Tu’ihalamaka wears the No16 shirt though it’s unclear who would fill in should Dean Muir require a replacement.
Boyer’s call-up changes the look of the team as Nate Augspurger moves into scrumhalf. His running style may be tempered somewhat by expected rainy conditions. Jasa Veremalua takes the vacancy on the wing and Kyle Rogers fills in for Te’o at fullback with Nick Lupian joining the bench.
Austin have a chance to win this but the pundits and bookies will unanimously favor San Diego. They have a dramatic advantage in momentum and look the more cohesive side at the moment. For the Elite to win they’ll simply have to bring something extra to the collisions. Ability alone will not be enough.
The Legion have already experienced the rain on their home turf and the only question is how they will hold up in their first road match. Odds are they won’t suffer much.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. Live broadcasts will be available on the MLR Facebook page and the Austin Elite website.
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Simon Courcoul, 2 Tiaan Erasmus, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ben Mitchell (capt.), 5 Josh Larsen, 6 Dom Bailey, 7 Rikus Zwart, 8 Kyle Breytenbach, 9 Mickaël Romera, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Soheyl Jaoudat, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Sione Fangaiuiha, 14 Peni Tagive, 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Chris Schade, 18 LaRome White, 19 Dylan Pieterse, 20 Marcelo Torrealba, 21 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 22 Andrew Suniula, 23 Reece Czarnecki
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Nathan Sylvia, 2 Dean Muir, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Keni Nasoqeqe, 6 Psalm Wooching, 7 Devin Short, 8 Drew Gaffney, 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Ryan Matyas, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Dylan Audsley, 14 Jasa Veremalua, 15 Kyle Rogers
Replacements: 16 Sione Tu’ihalamaka, 17 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 18 Aaron Mitchell, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Alec Barton, 21 Tai Enosa, 22 Savenaca Totovosau, 23 Nick Lupian
Date: Friday, February 22
Venue: Dell Diamond, Round Rock
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Lex Weiner (USAR)
Assistants: Scott Green (USAR) & Kat Roche (USAR)
Broadcasts: Facebook, Live Stream
