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Two of the best teams in Major League Rugby will meet at Fort Quincy on Sunday afternoon as the Free Jacks welcome the SaberCats. Five straight wins have shot New England back to the top of the Eastern Conference, while Houston have earned back-to-back victories and trail only Utah in the West.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
7-3-0 (W5) East 1st
7-3-0 (W2) West 2nd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Andrew Quattrin | Connal McInerney |
| 3 | Jone Koroiduadua | Kyle Steeves |
| 4 | Piers von Dadelszen | Kyle Baillie |
| 5 | Sam Caird | Conor Keys |
| 6 | Jed Melvin | Ethan Fryer |
| 7 | Joe Johnston | Kaipono Kayoshi |
| 9 | Cam Nordli-Kelemeti | John Poland |
| 12 | Le Roux Malan | Isaac Olson |
| 13 | Ben LeSage | Oscar Lennon |
|
IN | OUT |
| 6 | Marno Redelinghuys | Emmanuel Albert |
| 10 | Max Schumacher | AJ Alatimu |
| 12 | Dom Akina | Louritz van der Schyff |
| 15 | Drew Wild | Max Schumacher |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(11) – Quattrin, von Dadelszen, LeSage, Webster, Steeves, Larsen, Fryer (Canada), Koroiduadua (Fiji), Conradie, Malan (Namibia), Geiger (USA)
(5) – Lindenmuth, Alatimu (Samoa), McLean (Scotland), Rebolo (Brazil), Davis (USA)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(1) – Lai*
(0) – none
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Jerónimo Gómez Vara (FL/N8), Oscar Lennon (SH), Jayson Potroz (FH)
– Ronan Murphy (N8), André Warner (SH), Davy Coetzer (FH)
| PREDICTION |
The Free Jacks should be well rested with most of their forward pack rested against LA a week ago. They do look a little short at scrumhalf with Oscar Lennon out with concussion and John Poland suspended. Otherwise it’s a strong lineup to face a Houston side that is largely intact. One significant alteration is another start for Max Schumacher at flyhalf in place of AJ Alatimu. It’s just the second start at No10 for the former Cal Berkeley star. New England are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Malakai Hala-Ngatai, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Jone Koroiduadua, 4 Piers von Dadelszen, 5 Sam Caird, 6 Jed Melvin, 7 Joe Johnston (capt.), 8 Wian Conradie, 9 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 10 Dan Hollinshead, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Jack Reeves, 15 Brock Webster
Replacements: 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Tevita Sole, 18 Kyle Steeves, 19 Josh Larsen, 20 Ethan Fryer, 21 Emanuel Lai, 22 Wayne van der Bank, 23 Simon-Peter Toleafoa
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 3 Michael Scott, 4 Justin Basson, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Johan Momsen, 8 Sam Tuifua, 9 Jay Renton, 10 Max Schumacher, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu, 12 Dom Akina, 13 Tautalatasi Tasi, 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Drew Wild
Replacements: 16 Seth Smith, 17 Wilton Rebolo, 18 Pono Davis, 19 Emmanuel Albert, 20 Keni Nasoqeqe, 21 Juan-Dee Oliver, 22 AJ Alatimu, 23 Drake Davis
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, May 4
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 14:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 13:00 Central)
Weather Forecast: cloudy with showers, 72°F (22°C), SE 11-19mph (18-30km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, CW39, NBC Sports Boston, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Miles McIvor (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (3) – New England 3, Houston 0
2024-04-13 – Houston SaberCats 35, New England Free Jacks 47 (SaberCats Stadium)
2023-06-18 – New England Free Jacks 47, Houston SaberCats 24 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2021-03-27 – Houston SaberCats 0, New England Free Jacks 32 (SaberCats Stadium)
