Utah Warriors @ Houston SaberCats

Coming off a bye, Utah will be eager for their first win since their season opener. That one came in Texas, and so too would this one.

Houston followed up their best game of the season against Seattle with probably their worst, being run off the rails by NOLA. What makes it worse is the double red card fight that sent off stars Josua Vici and Osea Kolinisau. We await word from the citation committee on any suspensions, but I’m expecting at least Vici to miss some time. His hit on Holden Yungert appeared so malicious that I’m going to assume he is not suiting up for this contest.

At full strength, this would have been a good chance for Houston to make some progress. Missing one and maybe two of their star players, it looks like too big a lift.

Utah by 7

Austin Elite Rugby @ NOLA Gold

Austin is beginning to show a tiny bit of life. But they’ll need a whole lot more than that to go into New Orleans and come away with a win. At this point, sitting winless on the season, one wonders if they’re even thinking about winning. They may view this as an opportunity to improve their play, and that’s how I view it too.

NOLA will no doubt be bonus point hunting, happy to continue building their lead on top of the table. I expect nothing less.

NOLA by 21

Glendale Raptors @ Rugby United New York

The Raptors have won on the road. Once. Against Austin. Otherwise, their road record features:

Loss to Seattle by 2

Loss to NOLA by 9

Draw with Utah

Not terrible, but not exactly inspirational. That said, they’ve been playing well of late. They haven’t lost since February 2. They’ve managed the dark period with their half back pairing and best forward ball carrier away in the Americas Rugby Championship. They are primed to make their run.

But RUNY will have something to say about that. This will be their first travel free week of the season (a home game followed by a home game), and after starting with five on the road, they needed the rest. Speaking of rest, they’ll get two additional days (Friday match to Sunday match). With the forecast looking a bit better and the crowd expected to be a bit larger than the frigid Friday home opener, RUNY should have all the intangibles working in their favor.

In the marquee matchup of the week, I expect the Roosters to defend their roost.

New York by 6

TRS Staff Picks

You can find TRS contributor Paul Bains’ picks here.