Arrows Look to Keep Jackals Winless
The Toronto Arrows will make their first ever trip to Dallas for a matchup with the Jackals. Both clubs currently find themselves at the bottom of the table in their respective conferences and will be looking for a win to swing the momentum of their season. The Arrows are coming off a 47-19 loss to Utah. It was a relatively even match for the first 65 minutes, but the injury ravaged Arrows could not keep up in the final 15. The Jackals are still searching for their first win in MLR as they are 0-22-0 through their first two seasons so far. They took New England to the brink last week with a narrow 10-9 defeat in what may have been the best game they played all year.
Starting XV
Toronto
The Arrows injury struggles continued last week. Following the match with Utah, Mason Flesch, Adrain Wadden, Will Grant, and Conan O’Donnell were all officially added to the injury/recovery list. In addition, Micaiah Torrance-Read is now listed on long-term injured reserve and will be flying back to New Zealand to have surgery to repair a torn ACL. Fortunately, the Arrows received a bit of good news as Noel Reid returns to the lineup.
The Arrows had a big week for transactions as Tim Matthews and Peter Smith continue to navigate the injury list. First, Kyle Baillie’s contract was shipped out to DC in exchange for salary cap considerations in 2024. Then the Arrows signed a pair of players from the Canadian Sevens team, winger D’Shawn Bowen and centre Dawson Fatoric. Both new signings factor immediately into the lineup and will be on the bench in Dallas.
Changes to the Arrows lineup are minimal. Hank Stevenson will replace Flesch at lock. This will mark Stevenson’s first MLR start against one of the two other teams he technically played for, but has never made an appearance. The return of Reid means that Mitch Eadie is able to head back to the pack and will wear the number 8 jersey once again. This move shifts Owain Ruttan back to the bench. Reid is the only change in the backs.
On the bench, Nik Hildebrand replaces O’Donnell and he will be one of 4 front row players in the reserves. Cole Brown joins the new recruits as the Arrows use a 5-3 split on the bench.
Dallas
The Jackals trio of Canadian front rowers has been split up this week. Liam Murray will start alongside Tomas Baravalle and Juan Pablo Zeiss. Both Dewald Kotze and Kyle Steeves will be looking to make a big impact off the bench.
The 1st overall pick in 2022, Sam Golla, has been playing out of his mind as the Jackals have come close to earning their first win over the past two weeks. Golla has earned his place in the MLR Team of the week in back-to-back weeks. He’s currently second in the league with 90 tackles, which trails his teammate Adrian Booysen’s, who has 100. Conrado Roura has 72 giving the Jackals three players in the Top 5. On the offensive side of the ball, Jeronimo Gomez Vera has 3 tries which just squeaks him into the top 10 in the league.
Storylines
0-22-0
The Dallas Jackals had a difficult inaugural season. They struggled on the pitch and had a freak accident that led to many of their players being injured midway through the year. Ultimately, they ended their first season in MLR 0-16-0, becoming the 2nd winless team in league history. The Jackals have started 2023 0-6-0, but are playing much better rugby. Each week they seem to be getting closer and closer to that elusive first MLR win. They lost to Chicago 24-22 and then to New England 10-9. The confidence seems to be building and you know they have this match with the Arrows circled on the calendar. The Arrows are currently dealing with a nightmare of an injury situation and have a brutal point differential. The Jackals will be chomping at the bit as they feel that first win getting closer and closer. From the Arrows’ point of view, don’t let it happen. After nearly a year and a half, no one wants to be on the other end of Dallas’ first W.
Make the Territory Count
The Arrows have been doing a solid job of controlling the territory throughout the season. According to the MLR app, the Arrows have had the bulk of the territory in 3 of the 5 games this year. Ross Braude and Sam Malcolm have been instrumental in winning kicking battles and using their boots to give the Arrows a territorial advantage. However, they need to make the territory count. Far too often, trips inside the 22 have gone unrewarded. Last week the Arrows finally seemed to break through with 3 tries built off great forward work within the 22. It will need to be a trend to that continues into Dallas and hopefully builds for the rest of 2023.
Score First and Often
I would love to see the Arrows get on the board first in this match and build a lead. Dallas will already have more confidence going into this match than they ever had and they’ll have a home crowd behind them. The Arrows would do well to shatter the confidence early. A couple of early scores could plant the seeds of doubt into Jackals and take the crowd out of the game.
The Toronto Arrows and Dallas Jackals will meet in an epic week 7 clash at 8pm ET on Saturday night! You can catch the game across all of TSN’s platforms or the Rugby Network.