New York will take to the pitch on their latest home venue in Mount Vernon on Sunday afternoon. Memorial Field has been rebuilt from the ground up and the Ironworkers will hope the fresh facilities will spur them on to victory against their Eastern Conference rival Toronto Arrows.
The two sides share plenty of history, including six regular season clashes. It’s all tied up in the head-to-head results, with each year an even split. A neutral-venue meeting in Michigan saw the Arrows leading at the intermission but the defending champs came back to seal a result in the second half.
Toronto looked a bit undercooked in Atlanta last weekend. They committed numerous handling errors and never really got going until the final 10 minutes of the game. Pete Smith has made three changes to his starting lineup, one necessitated by a shoulder injury to Nic Benn.
Fabian Goodall gets his first start in place of Benn on the left wing. There is no sign of Sam Malcolm in the squad, with Shane O’Leary taking over at flyhalf. Mitch Eadie is fit to resume duties and Arrows fans will get their first look at the ex-Bristol No8, with Corey Thomas the man to make way.
There are further changes on the bench. Ramón Ayarza becomes the first Chilean international to suit up for Toronto, taking the place of Jack McRogers as reserve hooker. With no import slots remaining Lolani Faleiva drops out with Nik Hildebrand covering loosehead prop. Flanker James O’Neill makes it six forward replacements with Kobe Faust one of two backs.
It was also defeat for New York in the season opener, though they were at least in the fight until Seattle pulled away in the final quarter. The new coaching staff led by James Semple has also responded with three changes to the side, and like Toronto one is injury-enforced.
Conor McManus went off early with a thigh injury against the Seawolves so it’s Connor Buckley who runs out at No9. Fa’asiu Fuatai is a straight swap for Teihorangi Walden in the midfield, and Kara Pryor is handed the No8 shirt with Ben Bonasso moving to the flank and Brad Tucker to the bench.
Tevita Langi has arrived from New Zealand and is set to make his Major League Rugby debut as a loosehead replacement. Eamonn Matthews gets his first shot in a New York shirt after switching from ATL in the off-season, and John Powers covers the outside backs.
The temperature is expected to rise considerably by game-time with sun and a light breeze on the forecast. Neither team was at their best a week ago but New York were clearly the better of the two. Eadie and O’Leary will help Toronto, though the absence of Malcolm hurts. The edge goes to the defending champions, who should be highly motivated by the occasion.
Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, noon Pacific. Canadian viewers can watch on TSN 4 and a local broadcast is available in New York on the MSG Network. Those located elsewhere can access a live stream on The Rugby Network.
NEW YORK IRONWORKERS
1 Chance Wenglewski, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Nic Mayhew, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Hamish Dalzell, 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 8 Kara Pryor, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jason Emery, 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Jack Heighton
Replacements: 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Tevita Langi, 18 Sam Davies, 19 Charlie Hewitt, 20 Brad Tucker, 21 Eamonn Matthews, 22 Teihorangi Walden, 23 John Powers
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Conan O’Donnell, 2 Gene Syminton, 3 Isaac Salmon, 4 Mason Flesch, 5 Micaiah Torrance-Read, 6 Travis Larsen, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Mitch Eadie, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Shane O’Leary, 11 Fabian Goodall, 12 Tautalatasi Tasi, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Cole Davis, 15 Ciaran Breen
Replacements: 16 Ramón Ayarza, 17 Nik Hildebrand, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Adrian Wadden, 20 Mike Sheppard, 21 James O’Neill, 22 Cole Brown, 23 Kobe Faust
Date: Sunday, February 26
Venue: Memorial Field, Mount Vernon
Kickoff: 15:00 local (12:00 Pacific)
Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Miles McIvor (USA) & Marty Steffens (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)
Broadcasts: MSG Network, The Rugby Network, TSN 4
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-05-08 – Toronto Arrows 17, Rugby New York 41 (York Lions Stadium)
2022-03-27 – Rugby New York 10, Toronto Arrows 14 (John F. Kennedy Stadium)
2021-06-26 – Toronto Arrows 24, Rugby United New York 31 (Lupo Family Field)
2021-04-25 – Rugby United New York 12, Toronto Arrows 53 (Cochrane Stadium)
2019-06-02 – Toronto Arrows 22, Rugby United New York 20 (Lamport Stadium)
2019-03-15 – Rugby United New York 24, Toronto Arrows 21 (MCU Park)
MLR 2023 – New York Ironworkers vs Toronto Arrows – ARN Guide .
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