Two teams riding win streaks are set to collide in the nation’s capital on Saturday evening. Old Glory DC have booked their spot in the postseason and are now looking to secure a home game in the Eastern Conference Semi Final. For RFC Los Angeles a win of any kind is good enough to clinch a spot in the wild West, and a second place finish in the standings isn’t out of the question.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
8-6-0 (W4) East 3rd
7-6-1 (W3) West 3rd
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Sam Davies | Joe Rees |
| 5 | Ignacio Dotti | Tevita Naqali |
| 14 | John Rizzo | Perry Humphreys |
|
IN | OUT |
| 7 | Ed Timpson | Matt Heaton |
| 8 | Ben Houston | Semi Kunatani |
| 9 | Gonzalo Bertranou | Tas Smith |
| 15 | Reece MacDonald | Vaughen Isaacs |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(11) – Iscaro, Fa’anana-Schultz, Daniel, McVeigh, Boni (USA), Gattas, Dotti (Uruguay), Harley, Grigg, Hoyland (Scotland), Martinez (Canada)
(7) – Damm, Sosene-Feagai, Dyer (USA), Bertranou (Argentina), Leali’ifano (Samoa), Coe, O’Gorman (Canada)
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Joe Rees (TH), Jason Robertson (FH), Perry Humphreys (WI)
– Dane Zander (LH), Matt Heaton (FL), Semi Kunatani (N8)
| PREDICTION |
LA were the better side when they clashed earlier this season in California, but they will face very windy conditions and a much more confident Old Glory outfit on Saturday. The visitors do arrive with a strong selection, effectively their preferred lineup – front row injuries aside. Old Glory however also field close to their best and despite the loss of scrum anchor Joe Rees should have an advantage at the set piece. DC are slight favorites at home.
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Sam Davies, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Rob Harley (capt.), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Jason Emery, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Steff Hughes, 14 John Rizzo, 15 Damien Hoyland
Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Cali Martinez, 18 Quentin Newcomer, 19 Tevita Naqali, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Tommasi Boni, 23 Owen Sheehy
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Ben Sugars, 3 Maliu Niuafe, 4 Jason Damm (capt.), 5 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Ben Houston, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Rory van Vugt, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Nick Chan, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Reece MacDonald
Replacements: 16 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 17 Timmy Ohlwein, 18 Franco van den Berg, 19 Reegan O’Gorman, 20 Ben Strang, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Vaughen Isaacs, 23 Christian Dyer
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, May 31
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 18:00 local (15:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 63°F (17°C), wind NW 16-24mph (26-38km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, FanDuel SoCal, Monumental Sports, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (9) – ATL/LA 5, DC 3, Draw 1
2025-03-29 – RFC Los Angeles 54, Old Glory DC 44 (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
2024-04-06 – Old Glory DC 22, RFC Los Angeles 22 (Maryland SoccerPlex)
2023-06-17 – Old Glory DC 36, Rugby ATL 28 (Segra Field)
2023-04-08 – Rugby ATL 35, Old Glory DC 27 (Silverbacks Park)
2022-03-20 – Old Glory DC 13, Rugby ATL 27 (Segra Field)
2022-02-05 – Rugby ATL 55, Old Glory DC 22 (Silverbacks Park)
2021-06-26 – Rugby ATL 32, Old Glory DC 12 (Lupo Family Field)
2021-03-27 – Old Glory DC 30, Rugby ATL 23 (Segra Field)
2020-03-08 – Old Glory DC 31, Rugby ATL 29 (Cardinal Stadium)
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