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The Toronto Arrows are at last winding down a road trip that has spanned two full seasons and over 1,000 days. New Jersey will be the final stop on the never-ending tour, with Rugby New York their guests at John F. Kennedy Stadium on Sunday for an important Eastern Conference clash.
Though the Arrows are a respectable 3-3 after last week’s win over Utah, they simply cannot bank on their end-of-year home swing to vault them into playoff contention given the pace set by their competition. New York have six home games remaining, including this one, and New England match Toronto with seven. The Arrows played one of their allocated home games in Langford.
With that in mind it’s essential that Toronto takes something away from Sunday’s game. They’ll have to do it without a dozen injured players as Adrian Wadden, Tomás de la Vega, and Conor McCann are added to the to the list of unavailables this week.
McCann’s absence sees Brock Webster sliding to fullback, with Johnny Sheridan set to make his first appearance of the season on the wing in a timely return to action. There is further good news on the bench as midfielder Guiseppe du Toit is also fit for the first time in the campaign.
The starting pack is exactly that which ran out against Utah, with the only change coming in the reserves. Wadden’s place as backup lock goes to Lolani Faleiva, the giant prop having previously played the position at age-grade level. It’s a conventional 5-3 split this week with Ollie Nott covering the loose forwards.
New York had little trouble defeating the Gold in New Orleans and they now boast an impressive 5-1 record, their only blemish the loss to New England earlier in the month. They will be keen to make it three wins on the trot knowing that one of ATL and New England will be taking a step forward on Saturday.
There are just two changes to the team that beat NOLA. Quinn Ngawati starts at inside center with Jason Emery among the reserves. Zak Taulafo will provide loosehead prop backup this week in place of Nic Mayhew. Andy Ellis continues to fill in at flyhalf with Sam Windsor on the bench.
Brisk spring temperatures are on the forecast and wind is certain to be a factor. Toronto will be hoping that Sam Malcolm’s boot is up to the challenge, but New York have tactical kickers to match. Injuries have severely depleted the Arrows lineout which plays into New York’s hands. Historically the two sides are evenly matched but on current form the scales tip in the home side’s direction.
Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, noon Pacific. Canadian viewers can watch on TSN’s digital services, with The Rugby Network streaming to viewers in the USA and abroad.
RUGBY NEW YORK
1 Chance Wenglewski, 2 Kaleb Geiger, 3 Kalolo Tuiloma, 4 Will Tucker, 5 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 8 Kara Pryor, 9 Conor McManus, 10 Andy Ellis, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Quinn Ngawati, 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Troy Lockyear
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Wilton Rebolo, 19 Charlie Hewitt, 20 Joe Basser, 21 Connor Buckley, 22 Sam Windsor, 23 Jason Emery
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 James O’Neill, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Mitch Richardson, 12 Ueta Tufuga, 13 Dennon Robinson-Bartlett, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Brock Webster
Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Lolani Faleiva, 20 Ollie Nott, 21 Chris Bell, 22 Will Kelly, 23 Guiseppe du Toit
Date: Sunday, March 27
Venue: John F. Kennedy Stadium, Hoboken
Kickoff: 15:00 local (12:00 Pacific)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Lex Weiner (USA) & Will Nelson (USA)
TMO: Miles McIvor (USA)
Broadcasts: The Rugby Network, TSN.ca
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2021-06-26 – Toronto Arrows 24, Rugby United New York 31 (Lupo Family Field)
2021-04-25 – Rugby United New York 12, Toronto Arrows 53 (Cochrane Stadium)
2019-06-02 – Toronto Arrows 22, Rugby United New York 20 (Lamport Stadium)
2019-03-15 – Rugby United New York 24, Toronto Arrows 21 (MCU Park)
