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The Cali Cup will be on the line when the LA Giltinis take on the San Diego Legion at Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. It’s the third time they have met in the regular season with the Giltinis winning both games last season. Times have changed, however, and less than a year later the tables have flipped.
In 2021 the Legion endured their most challenging campaign, drifting between venues and only briefly looking like playoff contenders. A third of the way through 2022 they are second in the Western Conference with a 4-2 record. Ironically San Diego’s best performance of the season may have been the last-second defeat against New York last weekend.
Three personnel changes have been made in the starting lineup along with a couple positional dances. Nate Augspurger is restored to the No9 shirt and the captaincy at the expense of Jason Higgins. Ma’a Nonu remains absent but Ryan Matyas is fit to take up a spot among the replacements.
Up front Hencus van Wyk moves to loosehead prop, with Paddy Ryan assuming tighthead duties this week. Nathan Sylvia drops to the bench with no sign of Joe Walsh. Rohan O’Regan gets his first Major League Rugby start on the blindside flank with Dan Pryor shifting to openside. Chris Turori is summoned as lock or loose forward cover on the bench.
The Giltinis are still searching for their championship form and are second from the bottom in the West. They fell away in the second half against Utah on Sunday, a rare loss at home that stings a little more this week with two more key players sustaining injuries.
Angus Cottrell and Adam Ashe are out with Hanco Germishuys and Corey Thomas coming into the starting back row. The only other change in the pack sees Joe Taufete’e handed his run-on debut for the club after making his MLR bow last weekend.
There is better news in the backs as Harrison Goddard and Luke Burton return at scrumhalf and inside center respectively. Orene Ai’i retains the No10 shirt, Billy Meakes slides out one spot to outside center, and Will Chambers shifts to the right wing.
The loss of the talismanic Cottrell is a blow to the Giltinis, though the return of Goddard and Burton helps to shore up the backline. Despite the loss to New York the Legion have looked the better team thus far. The drive to LA can hardly be considered a road game for San Diego. It’s a close call but the visitors are in better form and have earned the favorites tag.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 7pm Eastern. Local broadcasts will be available on Bally Sports SoCal and Fox 5 San Diego, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide
LA GILTINIS
1 Luke White, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 Dave Dennis (capt.), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Christian Poidevin, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Corey Thomas, 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Orene Ai’i, 11 Ryan James, 12 Luke Burton, 13 Billy Meakes, 14 Will Chambers, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Andrew Tuala, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Marco Fepulea’i, 19 Zach Bonte, 20 Cyrille Cama, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Kahanu Koi, 23 Cristian Rodriguez
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Matt Moulds, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Ben Grant, 6 Rohan O’Regan, 7 Dan Pryor, 8 Tevita Tameilau, 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 10 Will Hooley, 11 Matías Freyre, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Joe Pietersen
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Nathan Sylvia, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Chris Robshaw, 20 Chris Turori, 21 Jason Higgins, 22 Josh Thiel, 23 Ryan Matyas
Date: Saturday, March 19
Venue: Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 16:00 local (19:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Tim Lew (USA)
TMO: Jack Gohl (Australia)
Broadcasts: Bally Sports SoCal, Fox 5 San Diego, The Rugby Network
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-04-24 – LA Giltinis 45, San Diego Legion 17 (Memorial Coliseum)
2021-06-20 – San Diego Legion 13, LA Giltinis 19 (Torero Stadium)
