Seawolves Gear Up for RFCLA in Must-Win Match

RFC Los Angeles players look out on the field during a 35-29 win against the Seattle Seawolves on March 15, 2025. Seattle is looking to avenge this loss today. Credit: Sofia McMaster/RFC Los Angeles.

For the Seattle Seawolves, the 2025 season may rest upon this game. Returning home to Starfire six games from the end of the season, the team is outside the playoff picture, but only barely. With three powerhouse opponents – the Warriors, Legion, and SaberCats – approaching, leapfrogging RFC Los Angeles is of paramount importance if the Seawolves want to slot into one of the four playoff spots in the Western Conference. The teams are two table points apart in the Western Conference, with RFCLA in fourth with a 4-6-0 record and 27 points and Seattle in last at 4-6-0 and 25 points.

Both teams got off to a slow start in 2025, with Seattle falling to 2-5-0 before their bye week while dealing with a litany of ball handling, discipline, and coordination issues, and Los Angeles starting the year off with three straight losses before notching their first win – a come-from behind home victory on March 15 against the Seattle Seawolves – and roaring back into contention.

Coming off a nail-biting 38-36 loss to the struggling San Diego Legion on April 26, RFCLA is looking to cement their status as a playoff team for the first time since the 2022 season, when they still played in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Seawolves are seeking to avenge their previous road loss to Los Angeles, move past their rough last game in New Orleans, bring themselves back into a playoff spot, and avoid reliance on a hat trick against three of the best teams in MLR.

Both teams saw plenty of turnover from the previous season, but for the Seawolves, the changes saw some of the best players leaving and other players joining with noticeable struggles. But RFCLA’s turnover went in another direction, with several splashes turning a 5-10-1 last-place 2024 team into a potential contender. 

Los Angeles is powered by its offseason signings, particularly their new halfbacks. At number nine is Gonzalo Bertranou, a 30-year-old Rugby World Cup-capped Argentinian international who is in his first MLR season after playing the first five seasons of his career with Super Rugby’s now-defunct Jaguares before moving to Dragons RFC in Wales for three years. Bertranou leads MLR with 735 passes and has five tries in ten appearances, nine of them starts.

RFCLA’s flyhalf, meanwhile, is Christian Leali’ifano, a 37-year old Samoan-Australian who has World Cup caps with both countries. Like Bertranou, Leali’ifano is in his first MLR season – in his case, after fifteen seasons in Super Rugby. Starting in 2008, his first twelve years were with the Brumbies in Canberra, while he played the 2022 through 2024 seasons for Auckland’s Moana Pasifika. Leali’ifano, with one try, 24 conversions, and a penalty goal, has 56 points on the year – tied with San Diego’s Lincoln McClutchie for second-most of any MLR player this season. 

Another highlight player in Los Angeles’ backfield is fullback Reece MacDonald, who also was a 2025 addition, this time from the New England Free Jacks. Although MacDonald has not played as much in the 2025 season as some of his counterparts – with 242 minutes in five starts – the Los Angeles fullback has 455 meters in 52 carries(8.75 meters/carry, one of the best in MLR in that statistic – not surprising for the league-leading meter eater in 2024). 

Beside MacDonald are Los Angeles’ two wings, Andrew Coe on the left and Rory van Vugt on the right. Coe, an internationally capped Canadian in both Fifteens and Sevens, is in his second season with RFCLA and his fourth in MLR. He currently has three tries in 630 minutes over eight appearances on the year as well as 6.87 meters/carry. Van Vugt, also in his fourth year in MLR, is having perhaps the best season of his career – notching five tries and 6.12 meters/carry in 708 minutes over nine appearances.

Rounding out the backs for RFCLA are a pair of Australian centers, Billy Meakes on the inside and Nick Chan on the outside. Meakes, in his first season with Los Angeles after spending two years with the Los Angeles Giltinis and two with the Chicago Hounds, currently has four tries and 82 tackles in 650 minutes over nine games. Chan, meanwhile, has two tries and 63 tackles in 434 minutes over six games in his first MLR season.

The L. A. forward pack also contains some heavy hitters. The captain is lock Jason Damm, a 6-4, 246-pound American in his seventh MLR season (sixth with his current franchise, which he joined when it was still Rugby Atlanta) who currently leads RFCLA in tackles with 123 in 642 minutes over nine matches. His counterpart in the engine room is Jurie van Vuuren, a 6-3, 269-pound South African in his sixth MLR season who has made 51 tackles in 362 minutes over six matches.

In the back row, the blindside forward is Tim Anstee, a 6-3, 238-pound capped Australian Seven and former Super Rugby player for the Western Force in his first year in MLR. Anstee currently has 91 tackles in 592 minutes over nine appearances. The openside man is Ed Timpson, a 6-0, 235-pound Englishman and MLR rookie who leads his side with six tries on the season and has also racked up 112 tackles over 630 minutes in ten games. Rounding out the back row is eightman Ben Houston, a 6-5, 246-pound Australian also in his first MLR season, where he has racked up four tries, 439 meters (4.14 meters/carry), and 111 tackles in 685 minutes over nine games.

Although the front row is relatively less star-studded, they are still a heavy first line for RFCLA’s pack. The props for tonight’s match will be 6-1, 277-pound loosehead Alessandro Heaney, in his second season with L. A, and 6-0, 265-pound tighthead Franco van den Berg, who joined RFCLA in 2025 after six seasons with the Utah Warriors. The starting hooker is Ben Sugars, a 6-2, 233-pound Englishman in his first MLR season after a career in the English Championship and a few appearances in Super Rugby play. 

RFCLA’s starting forwards weigh a combined 2,009 pounds (911 kilos). 

The visitors are adopting a 5-3 split in their substitutions. The number 16 will be hooker Ben Strang, while the numbers 17 and 18 will be props Tim Ohlwein (in his first matchday 23 of the year) and Justus Tavai. Back row men Semi Kunabuli and Matt Heaton will wear number 19 and number 20, respectively. The replacement backs for L. A. will be scrumhalf Tasman Smith (#21), center Seth Purdey (#22), and flyhalf Matt Anticev (#23). 

For the home side, Seattle’s starting fifteen will be nearly identical to the team’s last home match on April 18, a 28-22 victory over the Chicago Hounds – the only difference being Dewald Kotze as the starting prop instead of Kerron van Vuuren. The rest of the front row will consist of loosehead Cam Orr and tighthead Mason Pedersen, while Rhyno Herbst will be joined once more in the engine room by OJ Noa. The back row will see blindside flanker Huw Taylor paired with openside man Charles Elton while captain Riekert Hattingh will be the eightman. The starting forwards weigh in at a combined 1963 pounds (890 kilos).

Moving to the backs, JP Smith will be the starting scrumhalf while Rodney Iona will slot in at flyhalf. Dan Kriel will be the inside center and Divan Rossouw the outside center, while the wings will be Toni Pulu on the left and Ina Futi on the right. Rounding out the starting fifteen will be fullback Duncan Matthews.

The team is adopting their usual 5-3 split in their substitutes. Kerron van Vuuren will be the replacement hooker, wearing number 16. Chance Wenglewski (#17) and Juan Pablo Zeiss (#18) are the substitute props, while CC Mahoni (#19) will be the sub at lock. Flanker Devin Short (#20) rounds out the backup forwards. Numbers 21 and 22 will be scrumhalf Brock Gallagher and flyhalf Eddie Fouché. Outside back Malacchi Esdale (#23) will complete the matchday roster.

In order to win, Seattle must do three things. First, they must contain the disciplinary issues that have tossed away possessions and meters. Second, they must continue to have the outside backs be a threat throughout the line in order to work around RFCLA’s strong second and third rows. And third, the flyhalves will have to make the kicks from tee.

The Seawolves’ discipline troubles have been perhaps the most dogging and frustrating thing about the squad this season. In each Seattle loss (and several of their wins), the team has consistently lost possessions to knock-ons and (more rarely) not releasing calls and lost yards to offsides and not rolling penalties. In two of their matches – March 1 against the Houston SaberCats and April 27 against the New Orleans Gold – Seattle has suffered mightily from cards, with three yellows against the gold and two reds against the SaberCats. Though the carding issues have not been as omnipresent, the ball handling and ruck problems are something the team needs to consistently fix.

RFCLA is third in MLR in total tackles, largely due to their star-studded engine room and back row. Seattle will have a tough time breaking the line anywhere on the pitch, but Coach Allen Clarke’s recent turn towards fast play up the sides will be as important as ever against such a side – though maintaining the threat of plays up the middle, as happened against Anthem, is also key.

The Seawolves have also struggled heavily in kicking from the tee. The team is averaging 59.3 percent from the tee this season (65.7 percent on penalties and 57.3 percent on conversions), and both flyhalves – Rodney Iona and Eddie Fouché – have had days when they’re on and days when they’re off. The two are about even in total kicking percentage, though Iona has a slight edge in both penalties and conversions.

While Seattle has struggled on the road in 2025, the team has played strongly at home, with a 3-1-0 record at Starfire. If the Seawolves are going to make the playoffs, they would do well to bring that score to 4-1-0 ahead of some of the toughest matches on the schedule.

Game start is at 7:30 PM Pacific at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, Washington.