Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Old Glory welcomes the Seattle Seawolves to the nation’s capital on Saturday evening to kick off the 8th round of the Major League Rugby campaign. Neither team has really hit their stride this season but DC remain in second spot in an underperforming Eastern Conference, while their guests are stuck at the bottom of the surging West.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
3-3-0 (L1) East 2nd
2-4-0 (W1) West 5th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Cali Martinez | Jack Iscaro |
| 2 | Facundo Gattas | KoiKoi Nelligan |
| 4 | Rob Harley | Ignacio Dotti |
| 5 | Bill Whiteside | Tevita Naqali |
| 10 | Jason Emery | Jason Robertson |
| 11 | Axel Müller | Perry Humphreys |
| 15 | Jason Robertson | Damien Hoyland |
|
IN | OUT |
| 4 | Malembe Mpofu | Isaia Lotawa |
| 12 | Eddie Fouché | Mika Kruse |
| 14 | Jade Stighling | Lauina Futi |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(8) – Martinez (Canada), Gattas (Uruguay), Harley, Grigg (Scotland), Daniel, Iscaro, McVeigh, Boni (USA)
(11) – Zeiss (Argentina), Noa, Iona (Samoa), Hattingh, Smith, Wenglewski, Mahoni, Futi (USA), Rossouw (Namibia), Kotze, Gallagher (Canada)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (FL/N8), Perry Humphreys (WI), Damien Hoyland (FB)
– Huw Taylor (FL), Mika Kruse (CE/WI)
| PREDICTION |
The loss of Damien Hoyland to injury is a blow to Old Glory’s counterattack, with Jason Robertson this week shifted to the back and Jason Emery starting at No10 for the first time this season. On the plus side regular skipper Rob Harley is back in and Tommaso Boni is available to make an impact from the bench. The Seawolves have a similar lineup to last week but are perhaps short on pace in their midfield with Eddie Fouché starting in place of Mika Kruse. DC are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Cali Martinez, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Joe Rees, 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Bill Whiteside, 6 Collin Grosse, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Jason Emery, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Steff Hughes, 14 John Rizzo, 15 Jason Robertson
Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Jack Iscaro, 18 Sam Davies, 19 Tevita Naqali, 20 Logan Weidner, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Owen Sheehy, 23 Tommaso Boni
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 OJ Noa, 7 Charles Elton, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Eddie Fouché, 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Jade Stighling, 15 Divan Rossouw
Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Devin Short, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Lauina Futi, 23 Malacchi Esdale
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, April 5
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 17:00 local (14:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: cloudy, 73°F (23°C), wind E 6-9mph (10-14km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fox 13+ Seattle, Monumental Sports, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Aaron Davis (USA) & Matt Lake (USA)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (4) – DC 2, Seattle 2
2024-05-24 – Seattle Seawolves 26, Old Glory DC 24 (Starfire Stadium)
2023-05-27 – Old Glory DC 19, Seattle Seawolves 41 (Segra Field)
2021-05-16 – Old Glory DC 22, Seattle Seawolves 18 (Segra Field)
2020-02-16 – Old Glory DC 28, Seattle Seawolves 22 (Cardinal Stadium)
