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The top two teams in Major League Rugby will lock horns at Starfire Stadium on Saturday. It’s the 12th edition of the Seattle Seawolves versus the San Diego Legion, a West Coast rivalry that dates back to the inaugural 2018 season and took place on three occasions last year.
San Diego have won three in a row after their only defeat of the season against the SaberCats in early March. That one slip-up aside they have looked frighteningly powerful with top talent up and down the lineup and impressive depth.
A new name arrives this week on loan from London Irish in England under-20 prop Luke Green. He jumps straight into the No3 shirt at the expense of Chris Baumann. Tevita Tameilau replaces Tupou Afungia at the back of the scrum, with Chris Turori and Malakai Latu added to a bench that shows a 6/2 split.
The starting backline welcomes back vice-captain Marcel Brache at outside center. Tomas Aoake pushes back out to the wing, with Mikey Te’o starting at fullback. Alex Horan is primed to make his Major League Rugby debut as a replacement, with Matías Freyre also named for the first time this season.
Seattle are the only unbeaten side remaining after their come-from-behind win over the Gold in New Orleans last Sunday. It came at a steep price, however, with Rhyno Herbst, Taylor Krumrei, David Busby, and Tavite Lopeti all absent from this week’s lineup.
Ben Mitchell makes just his second start of the season as Herbst’s replacement in the second row. The starting pack is otherwise unchanged, but the backline sees AJ Alatimu joining Dan Kriel in the midfield with Jordan Chait summoned to wear the No10 shirt for the first time since February.
It’s a blast from the past on the bench. Samu Manoa makes his first appearance of the season having rejoined the squad at training in recent weeks. Andrew Durutalo and Mat Turner are complete surprises, with both thought to have retired. Martin Iosefo also back in after missing the trip to New Orleans.
Rain is on the forecast which is par for the course in Seattle. Chait and Alatimu gives the Seawolves two tactical kickers, and Mitchell adds a little lineout height. San Diego’s attacking game is as good as it gets though they will have slightly less width to work with on the Starfire pitch. Until they are defeated the Seawolves remain favorites, but this is is arguably their toughest test of the season.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, 8pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on Fox 13+ in Seattle, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Mzamo Majola, 2 Peter Malcolm, 3 Sam Matenga, 4 Ben Landry, 5 Ben Mitchell, 6 Charles Elton, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Jordan Chait, 11 Lauina Futi, 12 AJ Alatimu, 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Duncan Matthews
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Karl Keane, 22 Martin Iosefo, 23 Mat Turner
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Sama Malolo, 3 Luke Green, 4 Ben Grant, 5 Isaac Ross, 6 Christian Poidevin, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.), 8 Tevita Tameilau, 9 Richard Judd, 10 Will Hooley, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Mikey Te’o
Replacements: 16 Shilo Klein, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Nathan Sylvia, 19 Tom Franklin, 20 Chris Turori, 21 Malakai Latu, 22 Alex Horan, 23 Matías Freyre
Date: Saturday, April 8
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 17:00 local (20:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Fox 13+, The Rugby Network
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Brad Schwalger (Canada) & Saro Turner (Canada)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-06-12 – Seattle Seawolves 43, San Diego Legion 19 (Starfire Stadium)
2022-04-16 – Seattle Seawolves 34, San Diego Legion 32 (Starfire Stadium)
2022-02-20 – San Diego Legion 28, Seattle Seawolves 31 (SDSU Sports Deck)
2021-07-03 – San Diego Legion 34, Seattle Seawolves 21 (Elite Athlete Training Center)
2021-05-09 – Seattle Seawolves 21, San Diego Legion 15 (Starfire Stadium)
2020-02-09 – San Diego Legion 33, Seattle Seawolves 24 (Torero Stadium)
2019-06-16 – San Diego Legion 23, Seattle Seawolves 26 (Torero Stadium)
2019-03-31 – Seattle Seawolves 22, San Diego Legion 28 (Starfire Stadium)
2019-02-02 – San Diego Legion 17, Seattle Seawolves 13 (Torero Stadium)
2018-06-30 – Seattle Seawolves 38, San Diego Legion 24 (Infinity Park)
2018-04-22 – Seattle Seawolves 39, San Diego Legion 23 (Starfire Stadium)
