Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The two best teams in Major League Rugby will collide at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday afternoon. San Diego are seeking redemption for their only loss of the season at the hands of the SaberCats in early March. Houston meanwhile have a chance to close down the Legion with only four points separating them at the top of the Western Conference table.
A six-game win streak makes the Legion the hottest team in MLR at the moment. Danny Lee opted to run out a mostly reserve lineup against Dallas last weekend, but it’s back to the big guns against the Cats with only a couple exceptions.
Chris Turori is handed his first start of the season at lock with Tom Franklin a late withdrawal. Nate Sylvia covers loosehead prop among the reserves this week, and there is a first appearance of the season for last year’s club Player of the Year Michael Smith. The Canadian flanker rejoins the squad after completing his medical studies for this semester.
Richard Judd is back in at scrumhalf and Josh Henderson gets the start at the contentious flyhalf spot. Will Hooley settles for a spot among the replacements alongside Ryan Matyas and Matías Freyre. With no specialist scrumhalf in reserve the backup role goes to Nate Augspurger.
The SaberCats arrive following back-to-back wins but last Sunday’s result over New York came at a severe cost. Head Coach Pote Human has been suspended for six weeks following an altercation with another coach, and both hookers are out. Captain Dean Muir is injured while Axel Zapata was also suspended after being cited for a dangerous tackle late in the game.
There is a very welcome reinforcement as US Eagles veteran Joe Taufete’e slots straight in at No2 after arriving from England. Will Vakalahi could make his Houston debut as a Big Joe’s replacement. Danny Barrett skippers the side in Muir’s absence with Malon Al-Jiboori dropping to a 6/2 bench.
Injury has also hit dynamic fullback Drew Wild, so it’s a first match day appearance of the season for Kian Meadon in the No15 shirt. Gerrie Labuschagne is back in the squad but the outside back will have to settle for a rare bench assignment.
Discipline was San Diego’s undoing in their first clash with Houston and they will be conscious of staying onside with the referee. Several of the Legion starters had the week off to rest up and they should be relatively fresh as a result. The Cats will prefer a tighter approach where Taufete’e can make a difference, and the extra forward on the bench is useful later in the game.
This is a heavyweight contest that could well be a preview of the Western Conference Final. San Diego’s vaunted lineout might be slightly vulnerable in the absence of both Franklin and Isaac Ross. Houston’s leadership shake-up will be managed but is still a factor. Give the favorites tag to the home side and another brutal encounter can be expected with the visitors fully aware of the stakes.
Kickoff is set for 1pm local time, 3pm Central, 4pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on AT&T SportsNet Southwest in Houston, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide.
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Sama Malolo, 3 Luke Green, 4 Ben Grant, 5 Chris Turori, 6 Tupou Afungia, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.), 8 Tevita Tameilau, 9 Richard Judd, 10 Josh Henderson, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Mikey Te’o
Replacements: 16 Shilo Klein, 17 Nathan Sylvia, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Jale Railala, 20 Michael Smith, 21 Will Hooley, 22 Ryan Matyas, 23 Matías Freyre
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Morgan Mitchell, 4 Siaosi Mahoni, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Danny Barrett (capt.), 8 Wynand Grassmann, 9 Carlo de Nysschen, 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Vereniki Tikoisolomone, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Kian Meadon
Replacements: 16 Will Vakalahi, 17 Alec McDonnell, 18 Pono Davis, 19 Keni Nasoqeqe, 20 Malon Al-Jiboori, 21 Emmanuel Albert, 22 Devereaux Ferris, 23 Gerrie Labuschagne
Date: Sunday, April 30
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 13:00 local (15:00 Central, 16:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, The Rugby Network
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Jacob Gonzalez (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2023-03-05 – Houston SaberCats 31, San Diego Legion 26 (SaberCats Stadium)
2022-05-08 – San Diego Legion 24, Houston SaberCats 34 (SDSU Sports Deck)
2022-02-26 – Houston SaberCats 20, San Diego Legion 31 (SaberCats Stadium)
2021-05-29 – San Diego Legion 39, Houston SaberCats 11 (Elite Athlete Training Center)
2021-04-10 – Houston SaberCats 34, San Diego Legion 32 (SaberCats Stadium)
2019-04-28 – Houston SaberCats 19, San Diego Legion 40 (Dyer Stadium)
2019-02-09 – San Diego Legion 17, Houston SaberCats 13 (Torero Stadium)
2018-05-04 – San Diego Legion 35, Houston SaberCats 32 (Torero Stadium)
