Rugby New York vs Old Glory DC Match Preview

Rugby New York Ironworkers host Old Glory DC on Sunday, March 5 at Memorial Stadium in Mount Vernon, New York. The kickoff for the MLR Eastern Conference match between the top two teams entering the weekend is at 3 pm ET.

For those who can’t attend, the match will be streamed domestically and internationally on The Rugby Network. It will also be broadcast in the New York area on MSG and the Washington DC area on MASN.

Match-time weather conditions should be excellent for rugby averaging 50 degrees, while winds gusts of 14 mph may impact kicking.

Old Glory DC was the MLR week one team of the week, while Rugby New York was the week two one.

There will also be a collegiate rugby sevens curtain raiser inside the stadium and a rugby XVs outside.

Another huge Sunday of rugby awaits 🤤@ionauniversity, @ColumbiaRugby, @brownrugby, @FordhamNYC are facing off in Sevens for our curtain raiser.@YaleRugby and Fordham will be playing each other in 15s across the road.

Get your tickets now at https://t.co/La9GUFAU0F 🎟️ pic.twitter.com/qOaHDWTRkv

— Rugby New York (@rugbynewyork) March 3, 2023

Rugby New York Ironworkers

Head Coach James Semple has made three changes in the starters and a few positional changes. He also has made two changes in the reserves. Sam Davies, Brad Tucker, and Tei Walden move to tighthead prop, blindside flanker, and outside center, respectively, with Jack Heighton moving from fullback to flyhalf, Fasi Fuatai from outside center to right wing, and Andrew Coe from right-wing to fullback.

In the reserves, Enrique Quinteros will be the first player from Paraguay to play in MLR once he enters the match. Pago Haini returns to action after a hamstring injury sustained early in the 2022 season. He relinquishes his commentary duties from last week.

The Ironworkers played Old Glory DC during the preseason with New York exiting with a 33-28 win, however, the regular season poses different challenges. Both teams will try to sustain a fast-paced match, and who wins the battle at the breakdown, could go a long way to winning.

New York must minimize penalties due to their aggressiveness. They will try to hold their own in their set pieces and seek a territorial advantage during the match. The team unleashed its attack during the second half of last week’s match and will seek to maintain that momentum this week.

Look for the Ironworkers to score from the wide channels, as well as from lineouts from close range. New York is undefeated in four regular-season matches against Old Glory.

Several Ironworkers players achieved honors this week. Both Chance Wenglewski, Dylan Fawsitt, and Andrew Coe were All-MLR week 2 selections after Ed Fidow made the list on week 1.

Sam Windsor, the all-time MLR points-scoring leader, broke 500 points. The Ironworkers’ back three were in the top 10 for carrying meters for the first two weeks with Ed Fidow first with 258, Andrew Coe in second place with 231, and Jack Heighton in seventh with 200 points.

In other Rugby New York news, both APC players Doyle Hedgepeth and Bill Whiteside have been included in the USA Hawks South American/ Charlotte, NC tour to play Super Rugby Americas Development sides, as well as some international ones. This should help develop young U.S. talent.

Old Glory DC

Old Glory DC Head Coach Josh Syms has made five changes in the starters from their week one match against the Chicago Hounds with one new addition to the matchday 23 in the reserves. Argentina international tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera arrived before the week one match and joins the starters, along with Api Naikatini at lock, Cory Daniel at openside flanker, and wings Peni Lasaqa and Marcos Young. John Lefevre will be the reserve scrumhalf.

Ramiro Herrera is a key addition and should make it a challenging day for New York’s loosehead prop Chance Weglewski. He is a large man, whose physical presence and scrummaging technique will make Old Glory better in the scrums.

Old Glory’s Collin Grosse made his MLR debut two weeks ago with a splash, scoring a try in the first minute of the match against the Chicago Hounds. He went on to make 19 tackles, had 16 ruck arrivals, and was a week 1 All-MLR selection. Despite his performance, USA international Cory Daniel returns to the squad with Grosse shifting to the reserves.

Old Glory can play a physical style of rugby and will contest the breakdowns. They have last year’s leading tackler in Cory Daniel and other leading tacklers as well. The team will need to shift quickly to cover New York’s expansive style of play, yet match New York in the set pieces, as well as minimize penalties.

Click here to view interviews on February 18 with owner Chris Dunleavy, GM Marcelo Blanco, Head Coach Josh Syms, Young Glory Director Tim Brown, and tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera.