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Seattle will look to build on their first win of the season when they travel to south to Los Angeles on Saturday night. Their hosts are still in search of their first positive result of the campaign and while they had some moments against San Diego, the loss of two more forwards leaves them a bit light for a match that could well have playoff implications come the end of the regular season.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
0-3-0 (L3) West 5th
1-2-0 (W1) West 4th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 5 | Jurie van Vuuren | Reegan O’Gorman |
| 7 | Ed Timpson | Matt Heaton |
|
IN | OUT |
| 11 | Malacchi Esdale | Mika Kruse |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(6) – Sosene-Feagai, Damm, Dyer (USA), Coe (Canada), Bertranou (Argentina), Leali’ifano (Samoa)
(8) – Zeiss (Argentina), Hattingh, Smith, Futi (USA), Iona (Samoa), Rossouw (Namibia), Kotze, Gallagher (Canada)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(1) – van den Berg
(0) – none
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Conor Young (TH), Matt Heaton (FL), Reece MacDonald (FB)
– Charles Elton (FL), Dan Kriel (CE), Mika Kruse (CE/WI)
| PREDICTION |
Allen Clarke has rewarded his team for the win over New England by selecting a nearly identical lineup, with Malacchi Esdale earning his first start on the wing after his try-scoring heroics. The Seawolves scrum matches up favorably against their opposites and will be crucial to wear down a mobile LA back row trio. If the home side are to find success, it will be through their high tempo attacking game. Seattle are slight favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Dane Zander, 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 3 Maliu Niuafe, 4 Jason Damm (capt.), 5 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Ben Houston, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Andrew Coe, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Nick Chan, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Rory van Vugt
Replacements: 16 Ben Sugars, 17 Declan Leaney, 18 Franco van den Berg, 19 Mikaea Wynyard, 20 Ben Strang, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Sean Nolan, 23 Seth Purdey
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Malembe Mpofu, 6 Huw Taylor, 7 Devin Short, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Eddie Fouché, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Rodney Iona, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews
Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Dewald Donald, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Isaia Lotawa, 20 Pago Haini, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 David Busby, 23 Jade Stighling
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 15
Venue: Wallis Annenberg Stadium, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 19:00 local (22:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: clear, 59°F (15°C), wind S 3-5mph (5-8km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fan Duel SoCal, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Peter Pender (Canada)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Austin Reed (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (4) – Seattle 3, LA/ATL 1
2024-06-22 – Seattle Seawolves 29, RFC Los Angeles 12 (Starfire Stadium)
2024-04-14 – RFC Los Angeles 5, Seattle Seawolves 36 (Dignity Health Track Field)
2023-02-24 – Seattle Seawolves 28, Rugby ATL 22 (Starfire Stadium)
2021-05-23 – Seattle Seawolves 6, Rugby ATL 25 (Starfire Stadium)
