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The two bottom teams in the Western Conference will meet at Starfire Stadium on Friday night. It’s a match that could well determine who makes the postseason, and who gets an early trip to the golf course. Neither are in strong form with the Seawolves coming in off an uninspiring defeat to NOLA and Los Angeles on a three-game losing streak.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
4-6-0 (L1) West 5th
4-6-0 (L3) West 4th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Dewald Kotze | Kerron van Vuuren |
| 3 | Mason Pedersen | Juan Pablo Zeiss |
| 6 | Huw Taylor | Taylor Krumrei |
| 11 | Toni Pulu | Jade Stighling |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Franco van den Berg | Maliu Niuafe |
| 4 | Jason Damm | Semi Kunatani |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(10) – Kotze, Gallagher (Canada), Noa, Iona (Samoa), Hattingh, Smith, Futi, Wenglewski, Mahoni (USA), Rossouw (Namibia)
(6) – Damm (USA), Bertranou (Argentina), Leali’ifano (Samoa), Coe, Heaton (Canada), Kunatani (Fiji)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(1) – Ohlwein
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Malembe Mpofu (LO), Mika Kruse (CE/WI)
– Dane Zander (LH), Maliu Niuafe (TH), Christian Dyer (WI)
| PREDICTION |
Despite playing at home it’s a tough ask for the Seawolves to front up again on a short turn-around, having only just returned from a two-game road trip to the East Coast. Allen Clarke has made a handful of changes to the run-on side in an attempt to keep things fresh but legs will certainly be tired in the second half. LA meanwhile are scraping the barrel for props with Timmy Ohlwein arriving from Chicago this week. Their electric backline is intact, however, which could spell trouble for their hosts. It’s a very tight call and the stakes are high. Seattle are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 OJ Noa, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Huw Taylor, 7 Charles Elton, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Devin Short, 20 Siaosi Mahoni, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Eddie Fouché, 23 Malacchi Esdale
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Ben Sugars, 3 Franco van den Berg, 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 Rory van Vugt, 15 Reece MacDonald
Replacements: 16 Ben Strang, 17 Timmy Ohlwein, 18 Justus Tavai, 19 Semi Kunatani, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Seth Purdey, 23 Matt Anticev
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, May 2
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:30 local (22:30 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: clear, 61°F (16°C), wind SW 8-13mph (13-21km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fan Duel SoCal, Fox 13+ Seattle, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada) & Saro Turner (Canada)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (5) – Seattle 3, LA/ATL 2
2025-03-15 – RFC Los Angeles 35, Seattle Seawolves 29 (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
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)
