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Two teams travelling west from the mountains will meet at Starfire Stadium on Sunday evening. Of course for the Seattle Seawolves it’s a return to home base after a win over Glendale, while the Utah Warriors depart Salt Lake following a frustrating defeat against San Diego.
Seattle can clinch their spot in the Semi Finals with a win and field a settled roster with only one change from the side that overwhelmed the Raptors. Riekert Hattingh sits out with Samu Manoa handed his first Major League Rugby start at No8.
Taking up a bench spot is second row Taylor Krumrei, and there is a return to the match day squad for Roland Suniula at the expense of Dion Crowder. Ben Cima has recovered from his early knock at Glendale to continue at flyhalf, leaving Phil Mack again among the reserves.
Utah have won just twice all season and are now three games removed from the home victory over Austin. Their lineup has been mostly predictable in the second half of the season with injuries largely responsible for any changes.
The only alteration in the forward pack sees their own heavyweight installed at the back of the scrum as Les Soloai starts in place of Arthur Bergo. Gannon Moore’s injury means that Josh Whippy gets a run at outside center, and both wings change as Fetu’u Vainikolo is recalled on the left and Nolan Tuamoheloa given his first start on the right.
Betting against the defending champions at home is a fool’s errand, and the strength of their lineup from 1 to 23 simply cannot be matched by the Warriors. After a bit of a scare in their meeting at Herriman, the Seawolves pulled away and they should end up comfortable winners again on Sunday.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, 6pm Mountain, 8pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on KMYU in Utah and Root Sports in Seattle. ESPN+ will carry the game nationwide, with a Facebook stream available to those located outside the USA.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Api Naikatini, 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Brad Tucker, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Samu Manoa, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Kellen Gordon, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Eric Duechle, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Roland Suniula, 23 Jeff Hassler
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg, 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 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Josh Whippy, 14 Nolan Tuamoheloa, 15 James Semple
Replacements: 16 Alex Tucci, 17 Metai Tu’imoala, 18 Arthur Bergo, 19 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 20 John Cullen, 21 Jeremy Misailegalu, 22 Josh Anderson, 23 Joseph Nicholls
Date: Sunday, May 26
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Seattle
Kickoff: 17:00 local (18:00 Mountain, 20:00 Eastern)
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (RC) & Marquise Goodwin (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, KMYU, Root Sports
