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Two of the best teams in Major League Rugby collide at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Utah Warriors have started their campaign in red-hot form with back-to-back wins, while the Houston SaberCats bounced back from a disappointing season opener with two victories of their own. Whoever emerges as the winner will take the lead in their head-to-head series that began back in 2018.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
2-0-0 (W2) West 2nd
2-1-0 (W2) West 3rd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 9 | Zion Going | Logan Crowley |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Seth Smith | Pita Anae-Ah Sue |
| 9 | Jay Renton | André Warner |
| 10 | Davy Coetzer | AJ Alatimu |
| 12 | Louritz van der Schyff | Dom Akina |
| 15 | Drew Wild | Davy Coetzer |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(11) – Seiuli, Leuila (Samoa), Coltman (New Zealand), Jensen, Mano, MacLellan, Wilson, Lasike (USA), Jones, Benn (Canada), Vugakoto (Fiji)
(4) – Davis (USA), McLean (Scotland), Lindenmuth, Alatimu (Samoa)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(1) – Davis
(0) – none
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– none
– Pita Anae-Ah Sue (HO), André Warner (SH)
| PREDICTION |
Brisk temperatures are on the forecast and the visitors will also have to contend with the altitude. NOLA couldn’t handle the pace last week but the SaberCats have a strong bench, with the exception of hooker where they are lacking cover. Greg Cooper has kept his Warriors lineup intact with the exception of scrumhalf where Zion Going gets a chance to impress. Utah are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Aki Seiuli, 2 Liam Coltman, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Gavin Thornbury (capt.), 6 Frank Lochore, 7 Kalisi Moli, 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Zion Going, 10 D’Angelo Leuila, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Kyle Brown, 14 Nic Benn, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Tuvere Vugakoto, 17 Emerson Prior, 18 Angus MacLellan, 19 Reid Davis, 20 Bailey Wilson, 21 Logan Crowley, 22 Paul Lasike, 23 Joel Hodgson
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo, 2 Seth Smith, 3 Pono Davis, 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Emmanuel Albert, 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 8 Sam Tuifua, 9 Jay Renton, 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Max Schumacher, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Tautalatasi Tasi, 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Drew Wild
Replacements: 16 LaRome White, 17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 18 Michael Scott, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Ronan Murphy, 21 Juan-Dee Oliver, 22 AJ Alatimu, 23 Dom Akina
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 8
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 14:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 15:00 Central, 16:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 39°F (4°C), wind NE 6-9mph (10-14km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, CW39 Houston, KJZZ Utah, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Kage Green (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (12) – Utah 6, Houston 6
2024-05-04 – Utah Warriors 24, Houston SaberCats 29 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2024-03-02 – Houston SaberCats 22, Utah Warriors 15 (SaberCats Stadium)
2023-05-20 – Utah Warriors 34, Houston SaberCats 28 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2023-04-08 – Houston SaberCats 24, Utah Warriors 30 (SaberCats Stadium)
2022-05-14 – Houston SaberCats 31, Utah Warriors 27 (SaberCats Stadium)
2022-03-26 – Utah Warriors 12, Houston SaberCats 28 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2021-06-26 – Houston SaberCats 5, Utah Warriors 24 (SaberCats Stadium)
2021-04-24 – Utah Warriors 50, Houston SaberCats 43 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2019-06-01 – Utah Warriors 27, Houston SaberCats 31 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2019-03-21 – Houston SaberCats 29, Utah Warriors 27 (Constellation Field)
2018-06-23 – Utah Warriors 31, Houston SaberCats 27 (Zions Bank Stadium)
2018-05-26 – Houston SaberCats 30, Utah Warriors 36 (Dyer Stadium)
