MLR 2024: NOLA Gold vs Houston SaberCats

Two of Major League Rugby’s best teams will collide at The Gold Mine on Saturday evening. NOLA have won four games in a row to move into 2nd in the Eastern Conference, while Houston are at the top of both the Western Conference and overall standings.

CURRENT STANDINGS

7-4-0 (W4) East 2nd

10-1-0 (W5) West 1st

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

1 Matt Harmon replaces Jarred Adams
2 Pat O’Toole replaces Augusto Böhme

3 Rob Cobb replaces Maks van Dyk (injury)
4 Justin Basson replaces Marno Redelinghuys (No6 vs Chicago)
11 Jeremy Misailegalu replaces Line Latu
15 Drew Wild replaces AJ Alatimu (No10 vs Chicago)

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(7) – Harmon, Dolan, Tonga’uiha (USA), Botchar (Canada), Noa, Fidow (Samoa), Fife (Scotland)

(2) – Lindenmuth (Samoa), Dyer (USA)

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Jonah Mau’u (FL), Dorian Jones (FH), Rodney Iona (FH/CE)

– Maks van Dyk (TH), AJ Alatimu (FH/CE)

NOTES

both teams have tied their franchise marks for most consecutive wins… NOLA also won four in a row in June and July of 2021… Houston started 2024 with five straight wins before tasting their first and only defeat of this campaign on the road against New England
Cory Brown has rewarded his NOLA side by selecting a nearly identical lineup to the one that beat Chicago last week… the only changes to the squad are front row rotation
star flanker Jonah Mau’u remains sidelined with a knee injury… while Reece Botha has another chance to claim the No10 shirt ahead of Dorian Jones and Rodney Iona
the SaberCats continue to give players opportunities to make their case for playoff selection… Maks van Dyk is resting a sore neck suffered against Chicago
Houston reserve hooker Seth Smith is unavailable while he plays for the USA in their two-match u20 Trophy qualifier series against Canada in BC
regular SaberCats vice-captain Christian Dyer has returned from injury but settles for a spot on the bench with Seimou Smith instead retaining the starting right wing position

PREDICTION

Conditions will be hot and humid, though that historically hasn’t benefited either side in this match-up. Both sides are close to full strength with Mau’u and van Dyk the most notable absentees. NOLA may fancy their scrum but will be wary of the SaberCats lineout and maul. Out wide the visitors will need to shut down NOLA finishers Fidow and Filimone. Houston are slight favorites on the road.

LINEUPS

NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Callum Botchar, 5 Cam Dolan, 6 Malcolm May, 7 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.), 8 OJ Noa, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Reece Botha, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Taniela Filimone, 15 Dougie Fife

Replacements: 16 Ale Lopeti, 17 Jarred Adams, 18 Sean Paranihi, 19 William Waguespack, 20 Fintan Coleman, 21 Julian Roberts, 23 Harley Wheeler, 23 Ross Depperschmidt

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 3 Rob Cobb, 4 Justin Basson, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Johan Momsen, 7 Keni Nasoqeqe, 8 Ronan Murphy, 9 André Warner, 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu, 12 Sam Hill, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Seimou Smith, 15 Drew Wild

Replacements: 16 Tiaan Erasmus, 17 LaRome White, 18 Pono Davis, 19 Emmanuel Albert, 20 Asa Carter, 21 Carlo de Nysschen, 22 Max Schumacher, 23 Christian Dyer

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, June 1
Venue: The Gold Mine, Metairie
Kickoff: 19:00 local (17:00 Pacific, 20:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 82°F (28°C), humidex 90°F (32°C), wind SW 11-16mph (18-26km/h)
Broadcasts: Space City, YurView Louisiana, The Rugby Network