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Major League Rugby arrives at George Mason Stadium for the first time when DC hosts the Gold in a rare Tuesday-night contest. NOLA faces a must-win scenario as they trail their hosts by a single point for the last playoff spot in the East, but Old Glory has a game at hand and a more forgiving schedule in the final weeks of the regular season.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
5-6-0 (W1) East 4th
4-8-0 (L2) East 5th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 13 | Steff Hughes | John Powers |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Bart Vermeulen | Matt Harmon |
| 4 | Chase Jones | Cam Dolan |
| 5 | William Waguespack | Jay Tuivaiti |
| 6 | Moni Tonga’uiha | Aidan King |
| 9 | Luke Campbell | Ruben de Haas |
| 10 | Luke Carty | Dorian Jones |
| 14 | Nikolai Foliaki | Xavier Mignot |
| 15 | Cooper Coats | Harley Wheeler |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(8) – Iscaro, Fa’anana-Schultz, Daniel (USA), Gattas (Uruguay), Harley, Grigg, Hoyland (Scotland), Martinez (Canada)
(12) – Mullen, Tonga’uiha, Carty, Taufete’e, Harmon, Dolan, de Haas (USA), Mau’u (Samoa), Afungia, Foliaki (Tonga), Coats, Matchem (Canada)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Jason Robertson (FH), Tommaso Boni (CE), Axel Müller (WI)
– Kélian Galletier (FL/N8), Ed Fidow (WI), Xavier Mignot (WI)
| PREDICTION |
Wet weather is on the forecast, which didn’t excite the Gold in the loss to Miami on Friday. The short turnaround is also detrimental to NOLA’s chances, but they do have a strong bench to count on with Eagles stalwarts Joe Taufete’e, Cam Dolan, and Ruben de Haas in reserve. Old Glory welcome back Steff Hughes to the midfield and could have an advantage out wide, but they’ll need points early and often before the Gold calls in the cavalry. DC are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Joe Rees, 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Tevita Naqali, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Jason Emery, 11 John Rizzo, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Steff Hughes, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland
Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Cali Martinez, 18 Sam Davies, 19 Bill Whiteside, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 John LeFevre, 22 John Powers, 23 Owen Sheehy
NOLA GOLD
1 Bart Vermeulen, 2 Ale Lopeti, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Chase Jones, 5 William Waguespack, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.), 7 Jonah Mau’u, 8 Tupou Afungia, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Dorian Jones, 11 Julian Roberts, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Nikolai Foliaki, 15 Cooper Coats
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Matt Harmon, 18 Tyler Matchem, 19 Jay Tuivaiti, 20 Cam Dolan, 21 Aidan King, 22 Ruben de Haas, 23 Reece Botha
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Tuesday, May 13
Venue: George Mason Stadium, Fairfax
Kickoff: 18:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 17:00 Central)
Weather Forecast: cloudy with showers, 64°F (18°C), wind E 15-23mph (24-37km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Gulf Coast Sports, Monumental Sports, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (10) – NOLA 7, DC 2, Draw 1
2025-04-12 – NOLA Gold 51, Old Glory DC 29 (The Gold Mine)
2024-06-28 – Old Glory DC 27, NOLA Gold 24 (Maryland SoccerPlex)
2024-03-02 – NOLA Gold 18, Old Glory DC 6 (The Gold Mine)
2023-06-03 – NOLA Gold 15, Old Glory DC 28 (The Gold Mine)
2023-03-25 – Old Glory DC 17, NOLA Gold 20 (Segra Field)
2022-05-14 – NOLA Gold 50, Old Glory DC 21 (The Gold Mine)
2022-03-26 – Old Glory DC 22, NOLA Gold 31 (Segra Field)
2021-02-12 – Old Glory DC 21, NOLA Gold 25 (Segra Field)
2021-03-21 – NOLA Gold 26, Old Glory DC 26 (The Gold Mine)
2020-02-08 – NOLA Gold 46, Old Glory DC 13 (The Gold Mine)
