USRN

Week 13 sees plenty of action with a top of the table clash between Seattle Seawolves and NOLA Gold, RUNY are hosting an inclusivity event ahead of their game to Utah Warriors, Toronto host the SaberCats and an in form San Diego Legion side take on the exciting Glendale Raptors.

San Diego Legion Vs Glendale Raptors

San Diego Legion host Glendale Raptors in a rich vein of form having beaten RUNY last week in New York. San Diego Legion have peaked in the last few weeks after a hard fought win against the Seattle Seawolves in week 10 started a great run for them.
The Legion have also welcomed back scrum half Nate Augspurger who has been in fantastic form, whilst Joe Pietersen continues to perform at the very highest level at outhalf for the Legion.

Glendale are also performing very well in the past couple of weeks, having beaten the Houston SaberCats last week and the week before that they NOLA Gold in a thriller which saw them beat the league leaders by a single point for NOLA Gold’s only second defeat of the season.
In recent games Glendale Raptors have shown they have signifiant strength in depth with their bench making impacts when called upon. The Raptors are however all about their back three with Harley Davidson, Dylan Taikato-Simpson and John Ryberg all showing not only how electric they are with ball in hand but also how well they have gelled together as a back three.

Prediction: San Diego Legion.

RUNY Vs Utah Warriors

RUNY host the Utah Warriors fresh from their defeat to the San Diego Legion last week at MCU Park in Brooklyn in what was RUNY’s just second loss all season. RUNY will be targeting this game for not just the win but a bonus point win. This has been an area for concern for RUNY this season. While RUNY have only lost 2 games (on par with league leaders NOLA Gold) and they have won 7 games, they find themselves languishing in fifth position. To put the bonus point situation into context – only the Houston SaberCats have less bonus points than RUNY.
RUNY have however been solid with their forward pack being their stars of the season so far.

Utah Warriors will be hoping to take some positives from their loss to NOLA Gold last weekend. Whilst NOLA dominated the first half, the Warriors did have an improved second half at least. However, with just one win all season against AER back in February in week 2 the Warriors are struggling on confidence. There’s a significant gap between the bottom three of AER, Warriors and the SaberCats but a bonus point for the Warriors could at least see them move ahead of the SaberCats this weekend if the SaberCats fail to get anything from their game.

Prediction: RUNY

Toronto Arrows Vs Houston SaberCats

The Toronto Arrows host the Houston SaberCats for another home game in Canada. The Arrows were meant to play Austin Elite Rugby last weekend but had to be postponed due to weather conditions in Texas. The Arrows will be itching to get back on the field, having only narrowly lost to NOLA Gold in week 11. They were pipped at the line by a 79th minute try by the Gold to clinch the game.
Canadian international Lucas Rumball once again led by example in this game with 26 tackles to his name against the Gold.

The SaberCats suffered a heavy defeat to the Seattle Seawolves last week. The SaberCats conceded 5 tries in the second half whilst only scoring one themselves, which led to the defeat of 55-12 to the Seawolves. The SaberCats have only 3 bonus points in the league, making them the lowest accumulators of bonus points so scoring points is an issue for the SaberCats.

Prediction: Toronto Arrows

Seattle Seawolves Vs NOLA Gold

The game of the week sees a top of the table clash between Seattle Seawolves and NOLA Gold in Seattle. The Seawolves secured a handsome bonus point win last weekend with a 55-12 win over the SaberCats. Brock Staller was once again in top form, scoring a personal tally of 22 points and gaining 127 metres in ball carries against the SaberCats. Mat Turner has also returned to top form getting on the score sheet last week also.

NOLA Gold beat the Utah Warriors last weekend where a convincing performance in the first half laid the ground work for the win. Once again
Tristan Blewett and JP Eloff were instrumental in the win. However, it hasn’t been all plain sailing for NOLA Gold in recent weeks. Last minute tries have been a plenty for the Gold in recent times. The Gold scored tries in the 79th minute to win games against Toronto and Austin Elite Rugby. It could be argued that is the sign of a good team who can grind out a victory but it is also something to be wary of against a good Seattle team with a decent defence.

Prediction: NOLA Gold.