The Ironman vs. The Institution: Johan Momsen and Rhyno Herbst: The Lock Battle in Charlotte
There is something almost inevitable about Johan Momsen ending up at Anthem RC. When the Houston SaberCats withdrew from the league last November, he was the first international player announced on the roster, not waiting to see what happened next, just moving. That's the kind of player he is. He has been that player for six seasons now.
How They Got Here
Last season, he was the league's Ironman and named to the All-MLR Second XV. Last week against Chicago, he picked up a yellow card. He'll be looking to make a cleaner impression today.
Herbst's story is simpler, and that simplicity is the point. Golden Lions academy, Currie Cup, Super Rugby for the Lions, then Seattle in 2021, and never left. Seventy-four MLR appearances. Seventy-four starts. He has never missed a start for the Seawolves. Named in the MLR Dream Team in 2024, he is one of the most quietly consistent second rows the league has seen. He doesn't make much noise. He just shows up every week and does the job.
What's at Stake
Seattle comes in off a statement. They beat Old Glory 33-16 at Starfire, disciplined, physical, finishing with two tries while down to 14 men after a red card. It was the kind of win that tells you something about a team's character.
It also put them level with San Diego Legion on 72 all-time MLR wins. A victory today would give them 73, the most in league history. For a club that has been here since day one, that record means something.
Anthem arrives off a harder week. Chicago beat them 33-19 at home, a result that means they are still searching for their first-ever win at the American Legion Memorial Stadium. Seventeen home games. Zero wins. The closest they have come was single-point losses to Miami and Houston last season. Today is another chance to change that.
The head-to-head doesn't help Anthem's case. Seattle leads this fixture 3-0 all-time. Anthem has never beaten the Seawolves. But this is also a different Anthem side, one that has already proven this season, against California in Week 1, that it can put up 39 points and win convincingly. The belief is there. The home win isn't yet.
Sunday
Locks don't set the temperature of a game the way halfbacks or flyhalves do. They set something harder to measure, the platform on which everything else is built. Lineout ball, carrying hard off a set piece, making the opposition's maul go backward. The work that makes the visible work possible.
Momsen is the journeyman who keeps showing up. Herbst is the constant who never left. Neither will end up on the highlights reel. Both are why their teams function.
One is building something new. The other is protecting something established. That's the battle in the engine room today.
Ruben de Haas and Gonzalo Bertranou: The Halfback Battle at the Heart of Sunday's Game
Rugby tends to find its defining moments at the base of the ruck. In the split-second decisions made by the player with the ball in hand, the one who sets the temperature before anyone else has touched it. On Sunday night at SeatGeek Stadium, that player will be either Ruben de Haas or Gonzalo Bertranou.
How They Got Here
De Haas grew up between South Africa and Arkansas. He was captaining the USA High School All-Americans at 17, making his senior Eagles debut at 19, Eagle #522 against Chile in February 2018, straight out of the Cheetahs academy. The professional journey that followed took him through Free State, a two-year stint at Saracens in the English Premiership, back to South Africa, and eventually to NOLA Gold last season, where he completed 96% of his passes across 13 appearances. Now he's in Chicago on a one-year deal, 44 Eagles caps deep, and the incumbent USA starting scrumhalf. Last week, on his Hounds debut, he picked up a yellow card. This week,k he'll be looking to make a different kind of impression.
Bertranou has 68 caps deep for Argentina. He has beaten New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia in a Pumas shirt. He came through the Jaguares in Super Rugby, spent time at the Dragons and Cardiff in the URC, and arrived in the MLR this season with one stated purpose: to use the league as a platform ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. In Week 1 against Anthem, he was the most active ball-carrier on the pitch. Twenty-five carries. Six offloads. Three clean breaks. For a scrumhalf. He was named in the Week 2 First XV. He is not here to take it easy.
What's at Stake
California arrived at SeatGeek Stadium having just done something remarkable. In Week 2, they beat the three-time defending champions, New England, 43-5, the heaviest margin of defeat in Free Jacks history. A 51-point swing from Week 1, where they lost to a team that had previously gone 0-32 in MLR. The Legion is a franchise playing in just its third-ever MLR game, and it leads every attacking category in the league. Carries, meters made, clean breaks, offloads, defenders beaten, first in all of them. Seven of their ten tries have come directly from the et piece. They are not playing like a new team.
Chicago won their opener against Anthem 33-19. They made half as many meters as Anthem did, but were ruthless when it counted. That is the Hounds' identity under Chris Latham: grind, patience, punish mistakes. They also hold the Old Mate, MLR's lineal title, contested every time the holder plays, having won it from Anthem last week. California will be looking to take it from them today.
The Contrast
De Haas is a controller. His value is in precision, 383 of 399 pass attempts completed at NOLA last season. He manages the game around him, keeps things clean, and gives his forwards a platform to work from. That is exactly what Chicago's system asks for. Structure over chaos, patience over spark.
Bertranou is something else. He is a Tier 1 Test scrumhalf who treats the ruck as a launching pad. His Week 1 numbers weren't a one-off; they were a statement of intent from a player who has been in rooms where the stakes are considerably higher and who has lost none of the instincts that got him there. California's attack is built around tempo and continuity, and Bertranou is its engine.
Chicago's best chance is to slow things down and make the game ugly. California's best chance is to play at a pace that makes ugly impossible.
Sunday Night
The thing about this matchup is that neither player is trying to out-stat the other. De Haas wants control. Bertranou wants chaos. Whoever gets what they want goes a long way to deciding this game.