The Seattle Seawolves conclude their MLR regular season against Austin Elite Rugby at 5 pm (8 pm ET) on Sunday, June 2 at Starfire Stadium. Standing room tickets are available, but for those who can’t attend, the match may be viewed on ESPN+, Facebook Watch, and on Root Sports.
The Seattle Seawolves are currently in 4th place in the MLR Standings with 53 points but need a win against Austin Elite to guarantee a playoff spot. A bonus point win could potentially secure a home playoff match that is contingent on the results on Sunday between the Toronto Arrows and Rugby United New York which will be known prior to the match beginning. The match between San Diego Legion and NOLA Gold starts an hour prior to the Seattle vs Austin one and will know later in their match, a more accurate playoff picture.
Should there be a tie in standings points, the team with the most wins and then point differential are tiebreakers. For a complete picture of tiebreakers see MLR Standings.
Toronto, New York, Seattle, and New Orleans can solve the playoff picture with wins. Either the Toronto Arrows or Rugby United New York can advance with a win, but a tie or obtaining a bonus point could also advance both teams based on the results between San Diego and New Orleans and between Seattle and Austin Elite Rugby. Bryan Ray explained the playoff scenarios in American Rugby News.
Austin Elite Rugby is winless on the season and has made a change with Todd Clever becoming Director of Rugby. He was the captain of the USA Rugby National Team for many years and his leadership will become more evident next year. This game, his presence, and hope for the future may be the inspiration that Austin Elite needs. The team has contended early in matches but has not been able to sustain that for a full 80 minutes. There is talent on the team and in any given day, any MLR team can win.
Look for Austin Elite Rugby to leave it all on the pitch and look to be a spoiler. The Seawolves need to score early and score four tries. After that, they just need a win.
Austin Elite Rugby has shown that changes are in the works with Todd Clever announcement. There is an important history of rugby in Texas and the team will need to return to its roots in working with the community and rugby clubs as partners. Any past issues will need to be addressed and create an environment to collaborate in the interests of the game.
At the time of the publication of the match preview, team rosters when unknown, so the previous weekend’s match roster is included below.
Seattle Seawolves vs Utah Warriors: 1 Djustice Sears-Duru 2 Stephan Coetzee 3 Tim Metcher 4 Apisai Naikatini 5 Jérémy Lenaerts 6 Brad Tucker 7 Nakai Penny 8 Samu Manoa 9 JP Smith10 Ben Cima 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs 12 Shalom Suniula (C) 13 George Barton 14 Brock Staller 15 Mat Turner 16 Dan Trierweiler17 Kellen Gordon 18 Jake Ilnicki 19 Taylor Krumrei 20 Eric Duechle 21 Phil Mack 22 Roland Suniula 23 Jeff Hassler + Head Coach Richie Walker
Austin Elite Rugby vs Houston SAberCats: 1 Sunao Takizawa 2 Peter Malcolm 3 Mason Pedersen 4 Ben Mitchell (C) 5 Josh Larsen 6 Travis Larsen 7 Dominique Bailey 8 Rikus Zwart 9 Soheyl Jaoudat 10 Rodrigo Sliva 11 Sione Fangaiuiha 12 Andrew Suniula 13 Juan Pablo “JP’ Aguirre 14 Reece Czarnecki 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick (VC) 16 Tiaan Strauss Erasmus 17 Juan Echeverria18 LaRome White 19 Dylan Pieterse 20 Kyle Breytenbach21 Moe Abdelmonem 22 Alex Faison Donahoe 23 Aidan McMullan + Head Coach Alain Hyardet
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