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It’s another home game for the NOLA Gold as they roll out the welcome mat for Rugby ATL. The two sides collided in a preseason encounter at Marietta that was won by ATL, but this is the first official Major League Rugby clash between the two.
The opening round match against Old Glory was mostly one-way traffic in favor of the Gold. Nate Osborne has made three personnel changes to the starting lineup with more on the bench.
Lindsey Stevens gets his first start in Gold colors at hooker with Eric Howard ruled out. The other change up front sees Kevin O’Connor swap in for Malcolm May at openside flanker. Cam Falcon and John Sullivan join the front row reserves with Kane Thompson adding a second lock option on the bench.
The backs have required a reshuffle with Holden Yungert out after his head knock against DC. Scott Gale starts at scrumhalf with Robbie Coleman at flyhalf. Carl Meyer moves to fullback and Ross Depperschmidt gets his first Major League Rugby start in the midfield. Halfback Trace Bolstad could win his first MLR cap as a replacement.
There are three changes to the ATL lineup, all in the pack. Jamie Ferrante starts at loosehead prop in place of Chance Wenglewski while Stefan Willemse packs down in the second row with Conor Keys dropping to the bench. Vili Helu makes his MLR debut on the blindside flank.
A 6-2 split on the bench sees both Maciu Koroi and Jason Damm included as back row cover. Koroi is one of two players set for their MLR debuts among the reserves, the other tighthead prop Cronan Gleeson.
After last week’s impressive showing it’s hard to pick against the Gold at home. They will also be keen to erase their exhibition defeat. ATL showed a bit of grit to come from behind and beat Utah, but NOLA is a step up in class. Putting a damper on predictions is heavy rain on the forecast that will make running rugby difficult.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local, 3pm Pacific, 6pm Eastern. A local broadcast can be seen on Cox Sports TV, with CBS Sports Network airing the game nationwide. Those located outside the USA can access a live stream on the official MLR Facebook page.
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Lindsey Stevens, 3 Dino Waldren, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Kyle Baillie (capt.), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha, 7 Kevin O’Connor, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Scott Gale, 10 Robbie Coleman, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Con Foley, 13 Ross Depperschmidt, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 Carl Meyer
Replacements: 16 Cam Falcon, 17 John Sullivan, 18 Ben Tarr, 19 Billy Stewart, 20 Kane Thompson, 21 Malcolm May, 22 Trace Bolstad, 23 Shawn Riley
RUGBY ATL
1 Jamie Ferrante, 2 Alex Maughan, 3 Duane Aholelei, 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Stefan Willemse, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Matt Heaton (co-capt.), 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Duncan van Schalkwyk, 10 Kurt Coleman, 11 Harley Wheeler, 12 Ryan Nell (co-capt.), 13 Jeremy Misailegalu, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Rory van Vugt
Replacements: 16 Amro Gouda, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Cronan Gleeson, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Maciu Koroi, 21 Kurtis Werner, 22 Martini Talapusi, 23 Jason Damm
Date: Sunday, February 16
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 17:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Referee: Henrique Platais (Brazil)
Assistants: Steve Gore (USA) & Allen Alongi (USA)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Cox Sports TV, Facebook
