MLR Preview – NOLA Gold vs Utah Warriors

After a week in Canada, it’s back to the bayou for the NOLA Gold as they host the Utah Warriors on Saturday afternoon in the first of four Major League Rugby matches this weekend. When last these two sides met, a little over a month ago, conditions were horrendous in Salt Lake City but there will be no sign of snow in New Orleans.

The Gold needed a last-minute try from Ignacio Dotti to get by the Arrows in Toronto and the Teros lock is back in the starting lineup this week, one of four changes to the run-on side. Cam Falcon gets his first start of the season at tighthead prop and Zack Stryffeler is recalled at openside flank.

Nick Feakes, the hat-trick hero at Zions Bank, returns on the left wing in place of Shawn Riley in an otherwise unchanged backline. Kavika Peniata takes the place of Doc Irey as a reserve prop, and there are returns to the bench for John Sullivan and Taylor Howden.

Utah had a better showing against Seattle last weekend but still watched the game slip away in the second half. Alf Daniels has made five changes to the starting lineup with another three coming on the bench.

Try-scoring prop Franco van den Berg is swapped to the bench as former Eagles loosehead Huluholo Mo’ungaloa is given his first MLR start. Two key players in Jackson Kaka and John Cullen are absent so Ara Elkington is recalled at openside flank, Lance Williams switches to the blindside, and Les Soloai makes his first appearance of the season at No8.

A hamstring injury has ruled out Fetu’u Vainikolo so Josh Anderson steps in on the left wing. At fullback there is no sign of Don Pati but instead of Josh Whippy it’s James Semple who is given the start, with the Eagles cap instead left on the bench.

There are two new names on the bench. Metai Tu’imoala becomes the fifth hooker named by the Warriors this season, the 23-year-old set to make his MLR debut. Another first timer is Tom Kacor, a back row from Chicago who trialed with Glendale in the fall. Kenny Scott fills the vacancy left by Elkington’s promotion as Arthur Bergo is ruled out with injury.

Had Utah arrived with a full strength party there might have been a reasonable argument to consider an upset. Though genuine attacking threats remain in Gannon Moore and Tonata Lauti, it’s impossible to take out the likes of Kaka, Cullen, and Vainikolo and expect to beat the best team in the league, at home no less. This is NOLA’s game to lose and on paper there is little to suggest the Warriors will come away with any more than a potential try bonus.

Kickoff is set for 2pm local time, noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on Cox Sports TV in New Orleans and KMYU in Utah. ESPN+ will air the game nationwide with a Facebook option available for those outside the USA.

NOLA GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Eric Howard (capt.), 3 Cam Falcon, 4 Kane Thompson, 5 Ignacio Dotti, 6 Nikola Bursic, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Scott Gale, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff

Replacements: 16 Matt Harmon, 17 Kevin Sullivan, 18 Kavika Peniata, 19 Billy Stewart, 20 Moni Tonga’uiha, 21 John Sullivan, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Taylor Howden

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 2 Jeremy Leber, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Saia Uhila, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 Les Soloai, 9 Johnny Ika, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Josh Anderson, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Tonata Lauti, 15 James Semple

Replacements: 16 Metai Tu’imoala, 17 Franco van den Berg, 18 Tom Kacor, 19 Kenny Scott, 20 Alex Tucci, 21 Nolan Tuamoheloa, 22 Josh Whippy, 23 Joseph Nicholls

Date: Saturday, April 13
Venue: Gold Stadium, Marrero
Kickoff: 14:00 local (12:00 Pacific, 15:00 Eastern)
Referee: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR)
Assistants: Scott Green (USAR) & Allen Alongi (USAR)
Broadcasts: Cox Sports TV, ESPN+, Facebook, KMYU