Arrows Battle Seawolves
The Arrows will wrap up their first home stand of 2023 by welcoming the Seattle Seawolves to York Lions Stadium. The Arrows are coming off a massive loss to the New England Free Jacks and will need to have a big response this week. The Seawolves were the last remaining undefeated team in MLR until the San Diego Legion ended their run. Then last week, the Utah Warriors handed them their 2nd loss in a row. Seattle will look to get back to their winning ways Sunday afternoon.
Starting XV
Toronto
The Arrows injury list remains 12 players long, but they still get some welcome returns. Conor Grindal and Peter Nelson have been added to the injury list, meanwhile the Arrows will see the return of their two best tighthead props to the lineup as Isaac Salmon and Tyler Rowland have been activated. Salmon will get the start with Rowland coming off the bench. The move sees Lolani Falevia shift back to the loosehead side. With Gene Syminton at hooker, the Arrows may finally get to deploy their preferred front row. Mitch Eadie returns to the number 8 jersey and Shay Kerry shifts into lock for a pretty strong looking Arrows pack.
In the backs, Nelson will be replaced by Kobe Faust. Faust will be joined in the back three by Dawson Fatoric and D’Shawn Bowen, creating a young but fast back field. No other changes to the backs have been made.
On the bench, the Arrows signed Pacific Pride hooker Tyler Wong for the remainder of the season. The UVic Vikes product, has been training with the Arrows squad for a few weeks and is now set to make his professional debut. The Arrows will use a 6-2 split on the bench with Will Grant and Fabian Goodall providing the the only cover for the backs.
Seattle
The Seawolves will be without the league leader in metres gained, as Duncan Matthews has been ruled out of this contest. However, despite the loss, the Seawolves are bringing a powerful lineup across the border. Canadian Nakai Penny highlights a strong back row with Charles Elton and Reikert Hattingh. Penny currently sits 10th in the league in tackles with 97, while Elton’s 125 is 2nd in the league. Hattingh, of course, is once again among the league’s top try scores with 6. In the backs, AJ Alatimu starts at flyhalf with Connor Mooneyham on the wing, and trade deadline acquisition Adrian Carelse at fullback. The bench will also feature the return of former Arrow Ronan Foley to Toronto. Foley has missed all, but the first game of the year and will look to make a big impact off the bench for his former club.
Storylines
The Response
It is no secret that the Arrows found themselves on the receiving end of the most lopsided game in MLR history last week. The players were visibly frustrated following the match and Lucas Rumball had some emotional words following the match and called the Arrows a Jekyll and Hyde team. So, the big question this week is who shows up? Jekyll or Hyde? The Arrows will be looking for a strong performance against one of the Western Conference’s top teams. In my opinion, a good start will be paramount in this match. The Arrows need something positive like a huge defensive stop, a bone crushing tackle, a good phase of attack, or put points on the board to happen early in the game in order to build the confidence back up. This game will need to see a strong performance from the Arrows as it will need to set the tone for the second half of the season and show the rest of the league that a trip to Toronto is not going to be a vacation.
The Back Rows
A huge match up in this game will see a pair of Canadian’s clash in the 7 jersey. The Arrows’ Lucas Rumball and Seawolves’ Nakai Penny will go head to head at the breakdown and in open play. Watching Rumball and Penny at the breakdown will be fun, but the rest of the back rows will just add to the entertainment. Rumball will have Mason Flesch at 6 and Mitch Eadie at 8. Penny will have Elton and Hattingh alongside him. All 6 players in the back rows are great tacklers, great in the breakdown, and strong ball carriers. This will be a great battle and whoever comes out on top will likely see their team victorious by the end of the day.
A Triple Header
The Arrows will be hosting a triple-header for the first time on Sunday. Up first will be the Rugby Ontario Women who have been divided into Ontario East vs Ontario West. The clash will feature many of the best players in the province as Canada begins assemble the national team and U23 team for this year. This match kicks off at 11:30 am at York Lions Stadium.
Up next will be the Arrows Sr. Academy, unofficially known as Top Gun, taking on the Atlantic Selects. The match will be another tune up game as both sides are preparing for the Coast-to-Coast Cup later this year. The Academy is coming off a narrow 29-24 loss to Rugby Quebec last week. Both sides have put in a strong lineup and ultimately, it looks to be a real entertaining matchup. This match kicks off at 1pm at York Alumni Stadium.
Then it will be the Arrows vs Seawolves at 4pm back over at York Lions Stadium. If you can’t make it down, you can catch the game on TSN2. You can follow all the action by following @bressettethejet on twitter.