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Round 4 of the 2025 Major League Rugby season kicks off in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night. Miami squares off against Chicago, with the winner securing to spot in the Eastern Conference for at least another week. The Sharks have won two in a row, albeit by narrow margins, while the Hounds enjoyed one of their best results in franchise history last week against the Free Jacks.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
2-2-0 (L1) East 2nd
2-1-0 (L1) West 3rd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 5 | Federico Gutiérrez | Mauro Rebussone |
| 8 | Marques Fuala’au | Benjamín Bonasso |
| 9 | Tomás Cubelli | Tomás Inciarte |
| 10 | Martín Elías | Santiago Videla |
| 11 | Connor Burns | Tomás Cubilla |
| 12 | Tomás Cubilla | Guiseppe du Toit |
| 15 | Santiago Videla | Tomás Malanos |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Fred Apulu | Aki Seiuli |
| 2 | Tuvere Vugakoto | Liam Coltman |
| 3 | Remsy Lemisio | Tonga Kofe |
| 4 | Frank Lochore | Matt Jensen |
| 6 | Bailey Wilson | Frank Lochore |
| 10 | Joel Hodgson | D’Angelo Leuila |
| 12 | D’Angelo Leuila | Spencer Jones |
| 13 | Spencer Jones | Kyle Brown |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(10) – Myhill (Wales), Koloamatangi (Tonga), Casares, McNulty (USA), Ardao (Uruguay), Cubelli, Orlando (Argentina), Videla (Chile), O’Leary, du Toit (Canada)
(11) – Vugakoto (Fiji), Wilson, Mano, Jensen, Lasike (USA), Leuila, Seiuli (Samoa), Jones, Benn, Casey (Canada), Coltman (New Zealand)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(2) – Lemisio*, Casey
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Reinaldo Piussi (TH), Mauro Rebussone (LO), Ben Bonasso (FL/N8)
– none
| PREDICTION |
Ideal conditions are on the forecast but it’s a significant change for the Warriors trading the mountains for the humid ocean air. They fared poorly on their last trip to Fort Lauderdale. Greg Cooper will nonetheless be demanding a return to form after the disappointing loss to Houston. The Sharks welcome back inspirational captan Tomás Cubelli. They tend to start well but fade later in the game and the visitors have superior firepower in reserve. Utah are favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Ma’ake Muti, 2 Kirby Myhill, 3 Tau Koloamatangi, 4 Tomás Casares, 5 Federico Gutiérrez, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Ronan Foley, 8 Marques Fuala’au, 9 Tomás Cubelli (capt.), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Connor Burns, 12 Tomás Cubilla, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Marcos Young, 15 Santiago Videla
Replacements: 16 Sean McNulty, 17 Alec McDonnell, 18 Alex Tucci, 19 Chase Schor-Haskin, 20 Tomás Bekerman, 21 Damian Morley, 22 Shane O’Leary, 23 Guiseppe du Toit
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Fred Apulu, 2 Tuvere Vugakoto, 3 Remsy Lemisio, 4 Frank Lochore, 5 Gavin Thornbury (capt.), 6 Bailey Wilson, 7 Kalisi Moli, 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Zion Going, 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Joe Mano, 12 D’Angelo Leuila, 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Nic Benn, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Tonga Kofe, 19 Matt Jensen, 20 Reid Davis, 21 Logan Crowley, 22 Paul Lasike, 23 Gabe Casey
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 15
Venue: Baptist Health Community Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 18:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 16:00 Mountain)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 79°F (26°C), wind SE 12-19mph (19-30km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, KJZZ, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
Assistants: Federico Anselmi (Argentina) & Dave Edwards (USA)
TMO: Mike Kelly (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (1) – Miami 1, Utah 0
2024-05-11 – Miami Sharks 20, Utah Warriors 19 (AutoNation Field)
