Rugby ATL hosts the Toronto Arrows at Lupo Field at Life University on Sunday, March 1. The undefeated Arrows top the Eastern Conference standings. Kickoff is at 3 pm ET and the match will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast in Canada on TSN. For non-Canadian international viewers, the match may be seen on Major League Rugby Facebook Live.
Rugby ATL has a 2-1 record with 10 points and is in third place in the Eastern Conference. They opened the season with wins against the Utah Warriors and NOLA Gold, before last week’s loss to Rugby United New York.
The Toronto Arrows lead the Eastern Conference with a 3-0 record after wins over the Austin Gilgronis, the Houston SaberCats, and the Seattle Seawolves.
Rugby ATL
Rugby ATL head coach Scott Lawrence has made eight changes in the starters from last week’s loss to Rugby United New York. The team faces the Eastern Conference leaders, the Toronto Arrows, who are undefeated.
Five of the changes are in the forwards with Jamie Ferrante at loosehead prop, the high energy Johan Momsen at lock, with a total back row change in Marno Redelinghuys, Canadian international and captain, Matt Heaton the flankers and Ross Deacon at No.8.
Backs changes include the return of the Harleys at wing in Harley Wheeler and Harley Davidson. Jeremy Misailegalu returns to the outside center after being rested last week.
There are also two changes in the reserves with Neethling Gericke likely making his MLR debut in the reserves at hooker and Vili Helu returning to the matchday 23 as a back row.
Rugby ATL sits in third place in the Eastern Conference and will be looking to snap the Arrows undefeated streak. ATL tries to play expansive rugby and has excellent speed in coverage defense.
Toronto Arrows
Director of Rugby Chris Silverthorn team is undefeated and top the Eastern Conference standings to begin the season. Two changes were made in starting XV with Steve Ng and Peter Milazzo making their first start of the season at hooker and at flanker, respectively. Rob Brouwer, Mitch Richardson, and Gaston Mieres are on the matchday roster.
The Toronto Arrows are to be complimented for introducing a match week injury report to keep the rugby community informed. They are also among the best teams in reporting their matchday rosters 2 days prior to the match, which is something that is needed from all teams to generate as much publicity for the teams and the league.
The Arrows have among the best scrums in the league, as well as last week’s MLR player of the week in Sam Malcolm. He can slot the ball from anywhere from midfield in, so Rugby ATL will need to minimize penalties.
Rugby ATL & Toronto Arrows Squads
Rugby ATL: 1 Jamie Ferrante 2 Alex Maughan 3 Cronan Gleeson 4 Johan Momsen 5 Stefan Willemse 6 Marno Redelinghuys 7 Matt Heaton (C) 8 Ross Deacon 9 Duncan Van Schalkwyk 10 Kurt Coleman 11 Harley Wheeler 12 Ryan Nell (VC) 13 Jeremy Misailegalu14 Zander Van Schalkwyk 15 Rory Van Vugt 16 Neethling Gericke 17Chance Wenglewski18 Julian Montes 19 Conor Keys 20 Vili Helu 21 Kurtis Werner 22 Martini Talapusi 23 Sean Coughlan
Toronto Arrows: 1 Richie Asiata 2 Steven Ng 3 Cole Keith 4 Kolby Francis 5 Paul Ciulini 6 Tomas de la Vega 7 Peter Milazzo 8 Manuel Diana 9 Andrew Ferguson 10 Taylor Adams 11 Leandro Leivas 12 Guiseppe du Toit 13 Ben LaSage14 Dan Moor (C) 15 Sam Malcolm 16 Andrew Quattrin17 Rob Brouwer18 Pat Lynott 19 Tom Van Horne 20 Lucas Rumball 21 Riley DiNardo 22 Mitch Richardson 23 Gaston Mieres
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