Rugby United New York and the Toronto Arrows will play a preseason match in Buffalo, New York on Saturday, January 12. The first served will be played at the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse, an enclosed practice facility in Orchard Park. Kickoff is at 4 pm ET and the match will be broadcast on SNY.
There will be no admission fee to attend the friendly, though space is limited for spectators and standing room will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Team sponsors for this event include the Niagara Wasps Rugby Club and Hodgson Custom Rolling.
Western New York is a region that RUNY services with coaching clinics, and with trying to help players develop and clubs improve their level of play. For Toronto, the trip in 2 hours from their home base and perhaps some of the fans in the area may travel to support the Arrows as well.
Both teams have played two exhibition season matches. The Toronto Arrows beat the Glendale Raptors and the New England Freejacks in the Fall, while Rugby United New York defeated the New England Freejacks and the Capital Rugby Union Selects.
The Toronto Arrows open their 2019 regular season on January 26 away against NOLA Gold Rugby. Kickoff for the match will be at 3 pm ET and will be televised on ESPN+.
Rugby United New York will travel to San Diego to face the Legion on January 27 at 5 pm ET. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+, SNY, and YourView.
The match between the RUNY and the Arrows represents the last preseason match for both sides. The regular season is 16 games with the top 4 MLR teams in Standings advancing to the playoffs.
Both teams are missing key players. The match provides the opportunity to test different players combinations and to see some players who may not be regular starters, but will help the team contest for the MLR Championship.
Squads
Get to know the players. Links to player profile articles are available for the Toronto Arrows and for the 23 players that have been announced by Rugby United New York. Other RUNY players listed have played in previous matches. More RUNY signings will be announced soon with releases to follow. Not all players below will be traveling.
Rugby United New York: 1 Anthony Parry 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Paddy Ryan 4 Nate Brakeley 5 Myles McQuone 6 Alex MacDonald 7 Matt Hughston 8 Ross Deacon 9 Marcus Walsh 10 Cathal Marsh 11 Connor Wallace-Sims 12 Will Leonard13 Chris Mattina 14 Derek Lipscomb 15 Luke Hume 16 Mike Brown 17 James Rochford 18 Callum Mackintosh 19 Trevor Cassidy 20 Matt Wirken 21 Kyle Sumsion 22 James Denise 23 Gavan D’Amore Morrison 24Mike
Not Traveling – Kirk Hamilton, Chris Sullivan, John Quill, Harry Bennett, Seamus Kelly, Ben Foden
Toronto Arrows: 1 Rob Brouwer 2 Andrew Quattrin 3 Morgan Mitchell 4 Mike Sheppard 5 Paul Ciulini 6 Peter Milazzo 7 Marcello Wainwright 8 Kolby Francis 9 Jamie Mackenzie 10 Sam Malcolm 11 Kainoa Lloyd 12 Guiseppe du Toit 13 Spencer Jones 14 Dan Moor 15 Theo Sauder 16 Steven Ng 17 Mike Smith 18 Cole Keith 19 Tom Van Horne 20 Josh Van Horne 21 Riley DiNardo 22 Johnny Sheridan 23 Jamie Leveridge 24 Mitch Richarson 25 Shawn Windsor 26 Jack Evans
Scratch – Andrew Ferguson
Not-Traveling – Tom Dolezel, John Moonlight, Lucas Rumball, Jack Nay, Leandro Leivas, Gastón Mieres, Aaron McLelland
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