Anthem RC vs. Seattle Seawolves — Week 8 Preview

ANTHEM TRAVEL TO TUKWILA SEEKING TO REPEAT THE BREAKTHROUGH

Written by Dan Brooks

Last Stop On The Road Trip

The last time Anthem Rugby Carolina played the Seattle Seawolves, they ended a four-year wait. The 34-25 victory at American Legion Memorial Stadium on April 12 was Anthem’s first ever home win as a franchise, a result that ended a three-match losing streak against the Seawolves and announced to MLR that Cuca Cavalieri’s side were no longer the league’s automatic three points. Five weeks on, the rematch comes at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, where Seattle have lost just two of their last 20 home games.

It is the third consecutive road match for Anthem (2-4), and the head coach has spent the past three weeks treating those trips as something other than logistical obstacles.

“Playing away is always an opportunity to spend more time with the players, and for the players to spend time together and working on those connections that are very good,” says Coach Cuca. “We try to get the opportunity of that, having a few meetings, sometimes when we are away, trying to find this connection that they are very good for the group.”

That connection produced Anthem’s most balanced attacking performance of the season last Sunday in Bridgeview. Six tries against a Chicago side averaging 40 points a game; six different try scorers; one of the most efficient red-zone performances Anthem have produced. “We came six, seven times into the 22, and we scored six tries against Chicago,” Cuca noted. “Our turnovers were just eight in this game. So that means that we played with much better simplicity and the direct way we were trying to play.”

The Storylines

The team-sheet that lands in Tukwila on Sunday looks like the side Anthem fans imagined when the squad was first announced. Jordan Trainor returns at fullback after two weeks off, “a huge, huge, huge player coming back for us,” Cuca said, and the New Zealand-born international’s organisation in the backfield has been a feature of every match he has played for the club. Outside him, Conner Mooneyham is back on the right wing after recovering from the injury he sustained against Old Glory in April, the USA Eagle was Anthem’s man of the match in California on opening day, scoring two tries, and his speed and aerial work give Anthem a genuine point of difference in the wide channels. Julian Roberts, meanwhile, returns to the left wing, his natural position, and the role in which he produced perhaps the line break of the season against Chicago. With Tom Pittman and Dominic Akina maintaining their midfield combination, this is the first time in 2026 that Anthem’s preferred back five has been on the field together from kick-off.

The pack has been rebalanced too. Sam Golla, the co-captain, starts at blindside flanker for the second consecutive week, with Will Sherman maintaining his place at lock alongside Momsen. The headline change comes at openside, where Marques Fualaau earns a first start of the season after coming off the bench to score in Chicago, with Makeen Alikhan shifting back to No.8, the role he occupied during Anthem’s first home win. It is a back-row shape that prioritises ball-carrying weight across all three positions, and it gives Cuca two of his most explosive forwards, Baden Godfrey, last week’s starting No.8, and Tesimoni Tonga’uiha, as a bench impact pairing.

There is one further note in the front row worth flagging. With Ramiro Gurovich ruled out for the rest of the season after a leg injury in Chicago, “very tough, not only for our game, but also for the group, because he’s a guy that everyone loves,” Cuca said, hooker Seth Smith returns to the matchday squad as cover for Campbell Robb. The rookie Robb, who has scored in every match he has started, retains the No.2 jersey. 

The work-on for this week is concentrated. Tackle technique, body height in the contact area, and discipline at the breakdown are where Cuca has been pushing his side this week. Seattle, he warned, will play “very direct and very, very hard” through the middle, and accuracy in defending the gain line will be essential against a Seawolves backline.

Know The Opponent

Cuca knows Seattle as well as any opposition. “Seattle has a very clear game plan. It didn’t change that much in the past year. Probably this year they’re playing a bit differently with a new attack coach. But the big lessons from the last game also are the lineouts.” Anthem lost six lineouts in the first half of the April 12 match before settling in. “I think that as a team, during the game for the 80 minutes, we are better than them. We started to score more points, but losing all those possessions at the lineouts hurt us a lot.”

The good news for Anthem’s set piece is that it now arrives in Tukwila as a genuine strength. The Carolina pack has won all 25 of its scrum feeds this season, the best rate in the league, and the lineout has hovered around 95% across the past three rounds. “We dominated them when we played at home,” Cuca said. “If we can keep that consistency that we have had from the past three games at the lineout and scrums, that is a very strong starting point.”

Seattle comes into this on a two-match winning run on the road, having beaten New England in Quincy and edged Old Glory DC 30-25 in Washington last weekend in a bonus-point comeback. The Seawolves will be physical, patient, and dangerous off Warner’s distribution. Starfire Stadium, intimate and intense, will be loud.

But Anthem has already beaten this team once this season. The squad arriving in Tukwila is in good shape, with a first-choice back three reunited, a forward pack balanced for impact across 80 minutes, and a fly-half in Luke Carty whose game-management has been the foundation of every step forward. The work-ons are clear. The platform is in place. And a third win, at one of the toughest venues in American rugby, would represent the largest single step yet in Anthem’s third season.

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