Brown, Faleiva Earn First Club Starts in Crucial New York Clash

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ON – Toronto Arrows Head Coach Peter Smith has named his starting lineup for Sunday’s home match against Rugby New York.

Now fully recovered from a lower-body injury sustained during the preseason, 22-year-old scrum-half Cole Brown will make his professional debut on Sunday when he starts in the #9 shirt.

Matt Hood has also been activated off the injured reserve and will start for the first time since Week 4’s win in DC, while South Americans Tomas de le Vega and Gaston Mieres are back to full health and will make their first starts since Week 6 in Boston.

Following his two-try performance against Houston in Week 12, Lolani Faleiva joins Brown in making his first start for the club after nine appearances as a reliable substitute this season.

With Riley Di Nardo and Gord McRorie having completed their short-term spells with the team and Ross Braude not quite fully recovered from his lower-body injury, the newly-signed Sam Reimer has been immediately called into action and will look to make an impact off the bench.

Ten players are currently listed on the injured reserve and are unavailable for selection.

Squad Notes:

• Brown will make his club debut as a starter
• Reimer is in contention to make his club debut off the bench, and if he enters the match, he’ll become the third teenager to play for the club, following Avery Oitomen (2019) and Kobe Faust (2021)
• Faleiva will make his first start of the season
• Ciulini is fourth in the league in attacking breakdown arrivals (248)
• Quattrin is fourth in the league in carries (123)
• Malcolm is fifth in the league in goals (25); sixth in the league in points scored (63)
• Rumball is fifth in the league in defending breakdown arrivals (92)
• Sheppard is fifth in the league in attacking breakdown arrivals (238); ninth in the league in carries (106)
• Nine squad members are full Canadian internationals: Ciulini (8 caps), du Toit (14 caps), Keith (24 caps), Kelly (1 cap), Quattrin (13 caps), Rowland (6 caps), Rumball (43 caps), Sheppard (11 caps), Vikilani (7 caps)
• Two additional squad members are full internationals: de la Vega (12 caps; Argentina), Mieres (78 caps; Uruguay)
• Ten players are on the injured reserve and are unavailable for selection: Baillie, Bell, Braude, Faust, A. Ferguson, B. Ferguson, Flesch, Jones, Robinson-Bartlett, Wainwright

The Arrows (6-5; 30 points) hold a 3-2 all-time record against New York (7-4; 37 points), with Toronto earning a victory on the road in Hoboken earlier this season after the two sides claimed a win apiece in both 2019 and 2021.

With both sides firmly in the running for a postseason berth, Sunday’s match — the final time Toronto and New York will square off in the 2022 regular season — will undoubtedly be crucial in determining the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Sunday’s game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET at York Lions Stadium, with tickets starting at $15.

The Eastern Conference tilt will feature on TSN5 and stream on TSN.ca and the TSN App for Canadian audiences, and will be available on The Rugby Network for international audiences.

Toronto Arrows Lineup vs. Rugby New York:

1. Lolani Faleiva
2. Andrew Quattrin
3. Tyler Rowland
4. Mike Sheppard (C)
5. Paul Ciulini
6. Tomas de la Vega
7. Lucas Rumball
8. Ronan Foley
9. Cole Brown
10. Sam Malcolm
11. Mitch Richardson
12. Guiseppe du Toit
13. Ueta Tufuga
14. Matt Hood
15. Gaston Mieres
16. Jack McRogers
17. Cole Keith
18. Isaac Salmon
19. Adrian Wadden
20. Siaki Vikilani
21. Sam Reimer
22. Will Kelly
23. John Sheridan

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

Established in 2018, the Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first and only professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American professional club teams, providing emerging Canadian talent with enhanced and more frequent opportunities to hone their skills at an elite level.

For more information, visit https://torontoarrows.com/

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For more information, please contact:

Brock Smith
Communications Manager
Toronto Arrows
[email protected]

Header Photo Credit: Erich Eichhorn