New Orleans Gold & Houston SaberCats

The New Orleans Gold Rugby Club will host the Houston SaberCats at their new field at Archbishop Shaw Sports Complex on Saturday, March 24 at 4 pm CDT. The field is located at 1000 Salesian Lane, Marrero, LA.

Gates will open at 2 pm and admission for adults is $20, while children 12 and under are $10.

The teams met in a pre-season match in Sugarland, Texas on February 24 with the SaberCats winning 30-12.

New Orleans Gold Rugby Club has a 1-2 pre-season record, after a loss on March 10 to the Glendale Raptors. The Houston SaberCats are 11-2-1 after a draw against the Ontario Arrows on March 3.

Both teams have made adjustments in their starters for the second meeting between the teams, as they prepare for the Major League Rugby season to begin. The teams will face each other at Houston’s Dyer Stadium on April 21 at 7 pm CDT in the MLR opener.

New Orleans Gold Rugby Club

New Orleans Gold Head Coach Nate Osborne has made six changes from the March 10 match against the Glendale Raptors. Pre-season is the time to assess different player combinations.

Two changes have been made in the forwards. Cam Falcon gets his second start of the season at tighthead prop, with Ben Tarr moving to the reserves. Myles McQuone will start at lock as Nikola Bursic has the week off.

In the backs, Tim Maupin joins the team and is at outside center. He has 7 caps for the Eagles and has played for Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. JP Eloff will return as a starter but will be the inside center, instead of at his normal fullback position. Bobby Johns and Michael Baska will get their first starts with Johns wing, instead of his usual position at center. Baska will be at fullback, which he played at Lindenwood University, instead of at scrumhalf. Tesimoni Tongauiha also shifts from center to wing.

In the reserves, Will Crawford at the back row is in the lineup for the first time.

Houston SaberCats

justin Fitzpatrick has made four changes from the March 3 draw against the Ontario Arrows. He continues his rotation plan as Diego Maquierira moves to hooker with Lindsey Stevens, a reserve. Cecil Garber and Pago Haini also replace Chris Coyle and Matt Trouville and Flanker and No. 8, respectively.

In the back, Osea Kolinisau will be at outside center with Malacchi Esdale moving back to wing.

New Orleans Gold & Houston SaberCats Squads

New Orleans Gold: 1 Hubert Buydens 2 Eric Howard (VC) 3 Cameron Falcon 4 Myles McQuone 5 John Sullivan 6 Vince Jobo 7 Matt Hughston 8 Sebastian Kalm 9 Holden Yungert 10 Taylor Howden (C) 11 Tesimoni Tongauiha 12 Zack Stryffler 13 Tim Maupin 14 Bobby Johns 15 Michael Baska 16 Ben Tarr 17 Derrek Van Klein 18 Matt Wirken 19 Todd Dupre 20 John Stapleton 21 Ratu Rinakama 22 Joey Sok 23 Alec Janotka 24 Will Crawford 25 Joeli Tikoisuva+ Head Coach Nate Osborne

Houston SaberCats: 1 Adam Macklin 2 Diego Maquierira 3 Paul Mullen 4 Charlie Hewitt 5 Robert Meeson 6 Kyle Sumsion (C) 7 Cecil Garber 8 Pago Haini 9 Connor Murphy 10 Sam Windsor 11 Josua Vici 12 Conor Mills 13 Osea Kolinisau 14 Malacchi Esdale 15 Zach Pangelinan 16 Lindsey Stevens 17 Jake Turnbull 18 Kenneth Hepburn 19 Justin Allen 20 Chris Coyle 21 Chris Slater 22 Kieran Farmer 23 Alex Elkins 24 Chris Parker 25 Matt Trouville + Head Coach Justin Fitzpatrick