MLR 2025: Seattle Seawolves vs Miami Sharks

The finale of the 2025 Major League Rugby regular season will not be uneventful. San Diego’s blowout win over DC leaves the Seawolves with only one route to the postseason – a bonus point victory at home against the Sharks. A full-strength Miami side would have been real cause for concern, but Seattle will instead face a second-string lineup leaving their playoff dreams very much intact.

CURRENT STANDINGS

7-7-1 (L1) West 5th

8-7-0 (W1) East 4th

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
5	Siaosi Mahoni	Rhyno Herbst
6	Riekert Hattingh	Devin Short
11	Jade Stighling	Toni Pulu
15	Duncan Matthews	Mika Kruse

	IN	OUT
1	Alex Tucci	Ma’ake Muti
2	Sean McNulty	Kirby Myhill
3	Reinaldo Piussi	Alec McDonnell
4	Rick Rose	Tomás Casares
5	Mauro Rebussone	Federico Gutiérrez
6	Chase Schor-Haskin	Manuel Ardao
7	Calvin Ihrig	Benjamín Bonasso
8	Marques Fuala’au	Ronan Foley
9	Damian Morley	Tomás Inciarte
11	Jake Negrete	Josiah Morra
12	Guiseppe du Toit	Martín Elías
13	Tomás Malanos	Matías Orlando
14	Lautaro Soto Ansay	Marcos Young
15	Connor Burns	Shane O’Leary

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(11) – Kotze, Mackail (Canada), Zeiss (Argentina), Noa, Iona (Samoa), Hattingh, Smith, Futi, Wenglewski, Boyer (USA), Rossouw (Namibia)

(6) – McNulty (USA), Piussi, Inciarte (Uruguay), Videla (Chile), du Toit (Canada), Koloamatangi (Tonga)

CLUB DEBUTS

(0) – none

(2) – Negrete*, Bales, Pereda*

* – MLR debut

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Kerron van Vuuren (HO), Rhyno Herbst (LO), Huw Taylor (FL)

– Manuel Ardao (FL), Tomás Cubelli (SH), Matías Orlando (CE)

PREDICTION

Summer-like weather is on the forecast which will be just fine for the Seawolves, who need to score at least four tries to secure the bonus point. Allen Clarke will field a virtually full-strength outfit but Santiago Videla is the only Miami starter retained from last weekend. Three players make their first starts for the club and two reserves are set to make their Sharks debuts. Seattle are clear favorites at home.

LINEUPS

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 5 Siaosi Mahoni, Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 7 Charles Elton, 8 OJ Noa, 9 JP Smith, 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Jade Stighling, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews

Replacements: 16 Jesse Mackail, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Devin Short, 21 Nick Boyer, 22 Eddie Fouché, 23 Malacchi Esdale

MIAMI SHARKS
1 Alex Tucci, 2 Sean McNulty, 3 Reinaldo Piussi, 4 Rick Rose, 5 Mauro Rebussone, 6 Chase Schor-Haskin, 7 Calvin Ihrig, 8 Marques Fuala’au, 9 Damian Morley, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Jake Negrete, 12 Guiseppe du Toit (capt.), 13 Tomás Malanos, 14 Lautaro Soto Ansay, 15 Connor Burns

Replacements: 16 Isaac Bales, 17 Alec McDonnell, 18 Tau Koloamatangi, 19 Federico Gutiérrez, 20 Braemar Murray, 21 Tomás Inciarte, 22 Joshua McAdam, 23 Blake Pereda

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, June 8
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 18:00 local (21:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 82°F (28°C), wind N 8-12mph (13-19km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Fox 13 Seattle, FanDuel Florida, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network