Glendale Raptors & Seattle Seawolves First Place Battle

The Glendale Raptors play their final regular season match against the second place Seattle Seawolves at Infinity Park on Saturday, June 16 at 7 pm MT. The teams met during the second week of the season in Seattle with theRaptors winning19-15. That was the only loss of the season for the Seawolves. The first-place Raptors (6-0) and the Seawolves (6-1) may serve as a preview of Major League Rugby Championship that will be held in San Diego on July 7.

The gates will open to the public at 5 PM. Single game tickets are still available and can be purchased online or at the gate. Ticket’s for the first round of the MLR Playoffs at Infinity Park on June 30 can also be purchased online.

The match on Saturday, June 16 will air live at 7:00 PM Mountain Time on AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain. ESPN+ will be airing the Raptors – Seawolves match live, as well online or via their app. Internationally, the match may be viewed on the Major League Rugby Facebook page.

Glendale Raptors

Head Coach David Williams has made five changes in his starters from last week’s 37-24 win over the Houston SaberCats. Four of the changes are in the forwards with Blake Rogers and Zach Fenoglio at loosehead prop and at hooker, respectively. Brian Wanless is at flanker and Peter Dahl is at No. 8. John Ryberg gets the start at wing with Mika Kruse shifting to inside center.

The Raptors are one of the leading offensive teams in the League, averaging over 35 points per match. That is nearly four points over the Seawolves.

Despite the absence of six key contributors the Raptors lost to the United States Men’s National team, the team has continued to be an offensive threat. Last week Harley Davidson had three tries and Maximo De Achaval also scored in the win over the SaberCats.

The Raptors have outscored their opponents 84-34 in the last two weeks, however, the Seawolves boast one of the top defenses in the MLR and have allowed just 26 points in June. The Raptors match against the Seawolves was the only time the team has not scored over 30 points this season.

Seattle Seawolves

The Seattle Seawolves have made two changes to their starters from last week’s 20-19 win over Austin Elite Rugby. Mozac Samson will be the inside center with Sequoyah Burke-Combs switching to the wing. Jeremy Misailegalu also returns to start at wing.

Phil Mack returns from playing for Canada against Scotland and will captain the team. Aladdin Schirmer will continue in his role as vice-captain.

The Seawolves would like to enter the playoffs on a high note, know that they can defeat the Glendale Raptors. Both teams have been the best teams in the League and both will be favored to meet again for the Major League Rugby Championship.

The Glendale Raptors can secure the regular season title with a win this week, but they also have a game in hand as they face the San Diego Legion next week. The Seattle Seawolves complete the regular season this week and hope to win to reclaim first place.

Glendale Raptors & Seattle Seawolves Squads

Glendale Raptors: 1Blake Rogers, 2 Zach Fenoglio (c), 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Casey Rock, 5 Kody O’Neil, 6 Connor Cook, 7 Brian Wanless, 8 Peter Dahl, 9 Jake Christmann, 10 Maximo de Achaval, 11John Ryberg, 12 Mika Kruse, 13 Chad London, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Seth Halliman16 Luke White, 17 Nick Kwasniewski, 18 James Del Bozque, 19 Devin Vaughter, 20 Logan Collins, 21 Mickey Bateman, 22 Nick Johnson 23 Siale Maka+ Head Coach David Williams

Seattle Seawolves: 1 Kellen Gordon, 2 Dan Trierweiler, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Cam Polson, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Aladdin Schirmer, 9 Phil Mack (C), 10 Will Holder, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs, 12 Mozac Samson, 13 William Rasileka, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu 15 Mat Turner 16 Louie Henson, 17 John Hayden, 18 LaRome White, 19 Jérémy Lenaerts, 20 Andre Coquillard, 21 Cole van Harn, 22 Pte Smith 23 Dion Crowder

Glendale Raptors Exhibition Season

March 10 vs. New Orleans Gold (W 38-14) Preview
March 30 at Utah Warriors (W 42-15) Preview
April 7 at New York Athletic Club (W 35-22) Preview with March 30 recap against Utah Warriors

Glendale Raptors 2018 Major League Rugby Season

April 21 vs. Austin Elite (W 41-26) Preview CBSSN (GAME OF THE WEEK)
April 28 at Seattle Seawolves (W 19-15) Preview CBSSN (GAME OF THE WEEK)
May 5 at Utah Warriors (W 36-29) Preview AT&T SportsNet
May 13 vs. San Diego Legion (W 31-27) Preview Cox/AT&T SportsNet
June 3 at New Orleans Gold (W 47-10) Preview 2 pm MDT Network: Cox/AT&T SportsNet
June 8 vs. Houston SaberCats (37-24) Preview AT&T SportsNet
June 16 vs. Seattle Seawolves Preview 7 pm MST Network: AT&T SportsNet
June 23 at San Diego Legion Preview 8 pm MT CBSSN