Toronto Arrows Announce Lineup for Seattle Clash

21 February 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEATTLE, WA – Toronto Arrows Director of Rugby Chris Silverthorn has named his starting lineup for Saturday’s match against the Seattle Seawolves.

Silverthorn has made three changes to his starting squad that featured in the club’s victory over Houston in Las Vegas last Sunday, with scrum-half Andrew Ferguson, lock Kolby Francis, and wing Leandro Leivas all earning their first starts of the season.

Scrum-half Riley Di Nardo and lock Tom Van Horne have been named to the bench and are in contention to make their season debuts.

“We’re looking forward to getting another hit-out at Starfire,” said Silverthorn. “We played two close games here last season, and with most of our team from last year returning for 2020, the guys are eager to make the most of this early-season opportunity to assert themselves against last year’s title-winners.”

The Arrows (2-0-0) enter the match coming off a 27-22 victory over the SaberCats as part of MLR Vegas Weekend last Sunday. Toronto sits first in the Eastern Conference standings with nine points; expansion side Rugby ATL also has nine points, but Toronto holds the tiebreaker with a superior points differential (+33 compared to Atlanta’s +21).

Twelve full internationals have been named to Toronto’s matchday squad, carrying a combined cap total of 232 matches.

Back-to-back title-winning Seattle (0-2-0) has dropped two road games to start its season, falling to the San Diego Legion (33-24) and Old Glory DC (28-22) to occupy the fourth spot in the Western Conference with one point.

“Seattle will be hungry for their first win of the season, and we have to be ready to face a motivated side with a strong home record over the past two years,” added Silverthorn. “Our guys have looked sharp in training this week, and don’t need any extra inspiration ahead of this fixture.”

Squad Notes:

• Ferguson, Francis and Leivas earn their first starts of the 2020 MLR season
• Di Nardo and Van Horne stand to make their season debuts off the bench
• Ten squad members are full Canadian internationals: Ciulini (8 caps), du Toit (14 caps), Ferguson (10 caps), Keith (16 caps), Kelly (1 cap), LeSage (16 caps), Moor (14 caps), Quattrin (5 caps), Rumball (35 caps)
• Two squad members are full Uruguayan internationals: Diana (25 caps), Leivas (76 caps)
• One squad member is a full Argentinian international: de la Vega (12 caps)

2020 Stats Notes:

• de la Vega is ranked first in the league in made tackles (38) and tied for second in lineout takes (13)
• Malcolm is tied for second in the league in made goals (8) and tied for third in goal kicking accuracy among players with 5+ attempts (88.9%)
• Moor is tied for fourth in the league in tries scored (2) and ranked ninth in the league in running metres (179)
• Diana is tied for fourth in the league in tries scored (2)
• Rumball is tied for fifth in the league in made tackles (32)
• Keith is tied for sixth in the league in dominant tackles (4)
• Toronto is tied for fourth in the league in total tries scored (8) and is ranked third in total points scored (65)

Toronto split its regular season series with the Seawolves in 2019, falling 35-30 in Seattle before earning a 29-7 win in the opposite fixture.

Saturday’s match will kick off at 10 p.m. ET.

Broadcast Details:

Canada
TSN Direct (TSN.ca) / TSN App

United States of America
CBS Sports Network

International
Toronto Arrows Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/TorontoArrows/)

The match can also be enjoyed amongst Arrows fans at the club’s Official Watch Party, held at Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar – Toronto’s home of rugby.

Toronto Arrows Lineup vs. Seattle Seawolves

1. Richie Asiata
2. Andrew Quattrin
3. Cole Keith
4. Kolby Francis
5. Paul Ciulini
6. Tomy de la Vega
7. Lucas Rumball
8. Manuel Diana
9. Andrew Ferguson
10. Tayler Adams
11. Leandro Leivas
12. Guiseppe du Toit
13. Ben LeSage
14. Dan Moor (C)
15. Sam Malcolm

16. Steven Ng
17. Pat Lynott
18. Tyler Rowland
19. Tom Van Horne
20. Peter Milazzo
21. Riley Di Nardo
22. Will Kelly
23. John Sheridan

STAFF
Vice President & General Manager: Mark Winokur
Director of Rugby:Chris Silverthorn
Coaches: Aaron Carpenter, Cory Hector, Peter Smith
Performance Analyst: Rodin Lozada
Team Physicians: Dr. Anthony Dixon, Dr. Chris Gallimore, Dr. John Gillis
Athletic Therapist: Perry Fan
Physiotherapist: Rohit Rajput

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

The Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American 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] 

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Header Photo Credit: Jeff Chan