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The search for Anthem’s first ever franchise victory moves to Los Angeles on Saturday night. With only five games left in the campaign for Carolina side, this contest represents one of their best opportunities to finally break the duck. Their hosts, however, are very much in the thick of a playoff race and can’t afford to let any point-scoring chances go to waste.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
4-6-1 (D1) West 5th
0-11-0 (L11) East 6th
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Ben Strang | Ben Sugars |
| 3 | Justus Tavai | Franco van den Berg |
| 13 | Matias Jensen | Nick Chan |
| 14 | Seth Purdey | Andrew Coe |
| 15 | Vaughen Isaacs | Reece MacDonald |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Dan Hanson | Jake Turnbull |
| 3 | Alex Hernandez | Alex Maughan |
| 5 | Mikey Grandy | Colin Turner |
| 9 | Karl Keane | Ishy Safodien |
| 13 | EJ Freeman | Mitch Wilson |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(6) – Damm, Sosene-Feagai (USA), Bertranou (Argentina), Leali’ifano (Samoa), Kunatani (Fiji), Heaton (Canada)
(7) – Grandy, Golla, Fricker, Mooneyham, Storti, Turnbull (USA), Loubser (Namibia)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(1) – Smith*
* – MLR debut
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Dane Zander (LH), Andrew Coe (WI), Reece MacDonald (FB)
– Alex Maughan (HO/TH), Joe Apikotoa (TH), Mitch Wilson (WI/FB)
| PREDICTION |
Warm and dry weather awaits which should allow both teams to play to their strengths. LA’s backline aren’t quite at full throttle this week with star outside backs Andrew Coe and Reece MacDonald both absent, but it’s still a formidable attacking group. Anthem will field their largest forward pack of the campaign in an effort to win the collisions up front. If the backline can match LA step-for-step, the visitors could be in with a shout. Los Angeles are favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Ben Strang, 3 Justus Tavai, 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 Rory van Vugt, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Matias Jensen, 14 Seth Purdey, 15 Vaughen Isaacs
Replacements: 16 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 17 Timmy Ohlwein, 18 Franco van den Berg, 19 Semi Kunatani, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Ben Sugars, 22 Tas Smith, 23 Sean Nolan
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Dan Hanson, 2 Connor Robinson, 3 Alex Hernandez, 4 Puna Vuli, 5 Mikey Grandy, 6 Sam Golla (capt.), 7 Alejandro Martinez Tapia, 8 Makeen Alikhan, 9 Ishy Safodien, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Toby Fricker, 12 Junior Gafa, 13 EJ Freeman, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Erich Storti
Replacements: 16 Ethan Howard, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Stephan Bernal-Wendt, 19 Alby O’Shannessey, 20 Dylan Fortune, 21 Ishy Safodien, 22 Line Latu, 23 Corbin Smith
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, May 10
Venue: Wallis Annenberg Stadium, Los Angeles
Kickoff: 19:00 local (22:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 82°F (28°C), SW 9-14mph (14-22km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, FanDuel Charlotte/Socal, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Kirk Swanner (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (1) – Los Angeles 1, Carolina 0
2024-05-18 – Anthem Carolina 29, RFC Los Angeles 33 (American Legion Memorial Stadium)
