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Two more teams close out their 2021 Major League Rugby campaigns on a rare Thursday night encounter at Starfire Stadium. It features the two lowest-ranked teams on the table as the Seattle Seawolves play host to the Houston SaberCats.
The Seawolves produced their best performance since their title-winning days last weekend against NOLA. They are now aiming for back-to-back wins, a feat they haven’t accomplished since lifting the MLR Shield for a second time in 2019. There is also a chance to redeem their loss to the Cats at AVEVA Stadium during the opening week of the season.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s the mantra Allen Clarke has this week with the match day 23 showing no changes. Club captain Riekert Hattingh will serve a suspension after being sent off in the USA’s test against Ireland on the weekend, while Canadian prop duo Djustice Sears-Duru and Jake Ilnicki will start their off-season recovery cycle a week early.
For the SaberCats it’s one last kick at the can to try and put an end to a dreadful run that has now reached 11 straight defeats. They were soundly beaten by New York on Saturday though they did show some signs of life in the second half.
Two Canucks return from test duty to bolster the pack. Liam Murray is handed his first start in the No1 shirt with Nik Hildebrand moving back across to the tighthead prop position. Lucas Albornoz is in at lock in place of Jérémy Lenaerts, and Adriaan Booysen is recalled at No8 with captain Luke Beauchamp shifting to the side of the scrum.
Nick Boyer is restored as the starting scrumhalf after coming off the bench last weekend. The only other change in the backs sees Veramu Dikidikilati come into the midfield with Joe Thomas pushing to the wing. Another Canadian international is on the bench as Robbie Povey covers flyhalf and fullback.
Mild weather is on the forecast which should make for ideal playing conditions. Notably Kat Roche will become the first woman to act as lead Referee in an MLR match, having served a lengthy apprenticeship as an Assistant. Both teams have struggled this season but Seattle seem to be turning a corner in recent weeks. Look for the home side to leave their fans with a positive impression.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 9pm Central, 10pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on AT&T SportsNet Southwest in Texas and Root Sports in Seattle, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 2 James Malcolm, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Victor Comptat, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry, 7 Naulia Dawai, 8 Samu Manoa, 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ Alatimu (capt.), 11 Akihito Yamada, 12 Aaron Matthews, 13 Lauina Futi, 14 Sitiveni Tamaivena, 15 Kieran Joyce
Replacements: 16 Obert Nortjé, 17 Mike Shepherd, 18 Gavin Prentice, 19 Conor McGill, 20 Tommy Clark, 21 Devereaux Ferris, 22 Moses Lalasava, 23 Karsten Leitner
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Liam Murray, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Nik Hildebrand, 4 Apisai Tauyavuca, 5 Lucas Albornoz, 6 Luke Beauchamp (capt.), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Taylor Howden, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Sam Windsor, 13 Veramu Dikidikilati, 14 Joe Thomas, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Jeffery Steele, 18 Patrick Donovan, 19 Jérémy Lenaerts, 20 Bronson Teles, 21 Zachary Short, 22 Robbie Povey, 23 Max Tacket
Date: Thursday, July 15
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:00 local (21:00 Central, 22:00 Eastern)
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Mike Lash (New Zealand) & Denny Russell (USA)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, Root Sports, The Rugby Network
Historical Results
2021-03-20 – Houston SaberCats 30, Seattle Seawolves 24 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-04-13 – Houston SaberCats 10, Seattle Seawolves 52 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-03-10 – Seattle Seawolves 27, Houston SaberCats 14 (Starfire Stadium)
2018-06-02 – Houston SaberCats 7, Seattle Seawolves 20 (Dyer Stadium)
