San Diego Legion vs Glendale Raptors

The San Diego Legion hosts the Glendale Raptors on April 20 at 2 pm PT (5 pm ET) at Torero Stadium. Tickets are still available and the match is being broadcast on ESPN+ and Fox 5 San Diego.

Match Comments

San Diego Legion Head Coach Rob Hoadley has made three changes in the starting XV with Aaron Mitchell at tighthead prop, Conor Kearns at wing, and Nick Boyer, who is normally at scrumhalf, at wing. Ryan Matyas shifts from wing to an outside center. Pat Blair returns from the Singapore Sevens and is in the reserves.

The Glendale Raptors have made four changes in the starters with Noah Barker at loosehead prop, Marco Fepulea’u at tighthead, Peter Dahl at flanker, and Dylan Takato-Simpson at fullback. Reserves include Carlo de Nysschen at scrumhalf, Dakota O’Neil at lock, Connor Cook at back row, and Mika Kruse at center.

Both teams met on March 16 with the match ending in a 28 all draw. Expect another close match this week. Both teams need a win with the top 6 teams contending for the four playoff spots.

The Glendale Raptors are a team that controls possession (56%) when attacking and spend 44.5 minutes of the match in the attack. This results in linebreaks and ultimately in scoring tries. The team averages 28.2 points per match versus 25.9 for the Legion. When the team is penalized, it is usually during tackling or in the scrum.

The San Diego Legion has the number one defense in the league and makes it difficult on their opponents to score tries. Look for both teams to take penalty goals early in the match and to attack from lineouts within their opponents’ 22 -meters in an effort to score tries.

Both teams average almost 10 penalties per match. For the Legion, these penalties have been distributed among tackling, the ruck, scrum, and being offsides. The Legion, as well as the Raptors, will need to minimize errors as the match is expected to be a close one.