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Monday night rugby is headed to the Windy City as the Hounds play host to RFC Los Angeles. The visitors need points to keep the pace in what is a very congested Western Conference playoff race. Chicago meanwhile are virtually certain of a spot in the postseason, but their Eastern Conference seeding has slipped somewhat and a home game in the opening playoff round is not written in stone.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
8-4-0 (L1) East 3rd
5-6-1 (W1) West 5th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 8 | Lucas Rumball | Luke White |
| 9 | Jason Higgins | Mitch Short |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Ben Sugars | Ben Strang |
| 3 | Maliu Niuafe | Justus Tavai |
| 7 | Matt Heaton | Ben Houston |
| 13 | Nick Chan | Matias Jensen |
| 14 | Andrew Coe | Seth Purdey |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(15) – Pifeleti, Fawsitt, Campbell, Brown, White, Baska, O’Keeffe (USA), Flesch, Rumball, Higgins, Oworu (Canada), Hilsenbeck (Germany), Devoto (England), Zhvania (Georgia), Péculo (Uruguay)
(7) – Damm, Sosene-Feagai (USA), Heaton, Coe (Canada), Bertranou (Argentina), Leali’ifano (Samoa), Kunatani (Fiji)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Hamish Bain (LO), Mitch Short (SH), Julián Domínguez (WI)
– Dane Zander (LH), Ben Houston (N8), Reece MacDonald (FB)
| PREDICTION |
The return of captain Lucas Rumball is a big boost to the Hounds, who badly missed the Canadian’s presence at the breakdown in last week’s loss to New England. There is strength in depth on the match day roster with six fully capped internationals in reserve. LA had no trouble against Anthem and welcome back a couple key men of their own, but have lost first choice No8 Ben Houston to suspension and remain compromised in the front row. Chicago are favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 James Scott, 5 Mason Flesch, 6 Conall Boomer, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck, 11 Peyton Wall, 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Tim Swiel
Replacements: 16 Janus Venter, 17 Zura Zhvania, 18 Ignacio Péculo, 19 Luke White, 20 Matthew Oworu, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Adriaan Carelse, 23 Mark O’Keeffe
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Ben Sugars, 3 Maliu Niuafe, 4 Jason Damm (capt.), 5 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Ed Timpson, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Rory van Vugt, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Nick Chan, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Vaughen Isaacs
Replacements: 16 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 17 Timmy Ohlwein, 18 Franco van den Berg, 19 Lucas Bur, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Seth Purdey, 23 Matt Anticev
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Monday, May 19
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 54°F (12°C), wind NE 12-18mph (19-29km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fox 13+ Chicago, FanDuel SoCal, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Miles McIvor (USA) & Matt Lake (USA)
TMO: Chris O’Malley (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (2) – Chicago 1, LA/ATL 1
2024-04-21 – Chicago Hounds 54, RFC Los Angeles 31 (SeatGeek Stadium)
2023-05-06 – Rugby ATL 27, Chicago Hounds 12 (Silverbacks Park)
