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Game number three for Old Glory DC will be against the USA South Panthers on Saturday. It comes just four days following the heavy defeat to Scotland u20 on Memorial Day, but the Washington side will fancy their chances for a first ever victory against the invitational Panthers.
Three players have been handed first starts for the side. Sam Morris runs out at tighthead prop with Oisin O’Neill restored at hooker. Fred Wintermantel is also back in with the Lopresti brothers – Dante and Guy – both absent from the match day roster.
There is a new-look midfield in Darien Pickett and Pita Moala. The former was a high school All-American, albeit as a front rower, while the latter also earned age-grade honors for the USA and was a replacement for the USA Selects against the Argentina XV in the 2013 Americas Rugby Championship.
The Panthers have yet to confirm their match day 23 but the squad includes several newcomers to the team, with experience up front coming from the likes of New Haven prop Stephen Cappello and Raleigh Vipers lock Calvin Storey. At the other end of the spectrum are a pair of MTSU standouts in Colby Pearl and Alex Turner.
NOLA Gold lock Will Waguespack is one of three players with Major League Rugby connections. Recent NOLA signing Ross Depperschmidt is in the running for a midfield spot along with West Houston’s Irving Carcamo, who was named on the bench for the first two SaberCats matches this season.
Kickoff at Cardinal Stadium is set for 5pm local time, 2pm Pacific. A live broadcast will be available on the Next Level Rugby YouTube page.
OLD GLORY DC
1 Khalid Williams, 2 Oisin O’Neill, 3 Sam Morris, 4 Ayemere Oiyemhonlan, 5 Tyler Barberi, 6 Dacoda Worth, 7 Fred Wintermantel, 8 Josh Brown (capt.), 9 Sean Hartig, 10 Selby Niu, 11 Vetekina Malafu, 12 Darien Pickett, 13 Pita Moala, 14 Ryan Burroughs, 15 Nick Kuhl
Replacements: 16 Chase Jollie, 17 Cullen Barelka, 18 Jack Iscaro, 19 Ryan Smith, 20 Mike Fletcher, 21 Michael Reid, 22 Chris Kunkel, 23 Tevita Maitavuki
USA SOUTH PANTHERS
Forwards: Stephen Cappello (New Haven Old Black), German Jalil (Miami Tridents), Zach Jessell (Pittsburgh Harlequins), James Sheridan (Old Blue), Matt Fontana (Atlanta Renegades), Calvin Storey (Raleigh Vipers), Tom Harty (Long Island), William Waguespack (NOLA Gold), Steven Mendez (Pensacola Aviators), Colby Pearl (MTSU), Cameron Tompkins (Nashville), Alex Turner (MTSU), Scott Weber (Pittsburgh Harlequins)
Backs: Zach Miller (Southern Pines), Blessing Motaung (Pirates, SA), Reid Watkins (Birmingham Vulcans), Patrick Audino (NOVA), Anton Moore (Savannah Shamrocks), Zach Blalock (Birmingham Vulcans), Irving Carcamo (West Houston Lions), David Caswell (Little Rock), Ross Depperschmidt (NOLA Gold), Jeffrey Herron (Tampa Krewe), Michael Martinez (Nashville), Ernesto Silva (Augusta Maddogs), Sam Trammel (Atlanta Renegades)
Date: Saturday, June 1
Venue: Cardinal Stadium, Washington
Kickoff: 17:00 local (14:00 Pacific)
Broadcasts: Next Level Rugby
