The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy is playing British Columbia's U16 and U17 teams on Thursday and Saturday in Vancouver, BC, but that's just part of the EIRA touring puzzle.

The program is also sending U16 and U17 teams to Ontario later this July, and in between, a different group of U17 players are touring Ireland.

The plan, organizers say, is to use the program to close the gap between the USA and top-tier rugby nations.

The Ireland tour will see the EIRA squad base its operations at Campbell College, Belfast (one of the top private secondary schools in Ireland), and play two games against Ulster Academy in Belfast and one game against Leinster Academy in Dublin.

The squad will assemble in Newark, NJ, on July 16 and will commence training at West Point before leaving for Belfast on July 19. The tour will run through July 29. The squad of 28 players has been drawn from 15 states and will be coached by John Banarhall (West Point assistant coach), Darrell Knowlton (Culver Academy and Bethel College), Scott Bracken (High School All-Americans and the Claremont Colleges), and EIRA Director Salty Thompson. Anne Micinski of Indiana will serve as the trainer.

The team will face a demanding schedule and will also visit the Giant's Causeway and the Titanic Museum in Belfast.

While this is an Eagle Impact Rugby Academy tour, it has received verbal support from USA Rugby and also signals a spirit of cooperation between EIRA and Atavus. The Seattle-based company has sponsored two players who would have otherwise been unable to afford the trip, and Atavus is also sponsoring the Giant's Causeway and Titanic trips.

"We believe that cooperation like this between rugby entities in the U.S. is a very healthy thing, and we thank Atavus for their generous support," EIRA President Robin Reid said.

EIRA Squad to Ireland

First	Last	Year	Ht	Wt	Pos.	Team	Town	State
Tyren	Aljiboori	Junior	6'1"	187	Wing	Union High	Tulsa	Oklahoma
Austin	Arnett	Junior	6'2"	185	Flanker	Tribe Rugby	Athens	Tennessee
Ayden	Augspurg	Sophomore	6'0"	225	Prop	Parkhill United	Kansas City	Missouri
Alexander	Cleary	Junior	6'0"	185	Lock	Chuckanut	Ferndale	Washington
Nolan	Filteau	Junior	6'2"	245	Prop	Amoskeag	Bow	New Hampshire
Matthew	Freeman	Sophomore	5'9"	185	Hooker	Gonzaga	Silver Spring	Maryland
Mateo	Gadsden	Junior	6'4"	198	Wing	Back Bay	Costa Mesa	California
Jasper	Green	Junior	6'4"	185	Full-back	St Paul's, London	San Francisco	California
Kaipono	Kayoshi	Junior	6'0"	187	Lock	Granite Bay	Granite bay	California
Isaia	Kruse	Junior	5'8"	155	Wing	Bullard	Fresno	California
Russell	Lemaster	Sophomore	6'1"	210	Eight	Royal Irish	Indianapolis	Indiana
Niklas	Lundqvist	Junior	6'0"	205	Flanker	Coastal Dragons	Encinitas	California
Michael	Maafu	Junior	6'1"	220	Eight	Tempe	Phoenix	Arizona
John	McCrossin	Junior	6'1"	185	Flanker	Fort Hunt	Alexandria	Virginia
Christiaan	Mosconi	Junior	5'6"	150	Scrum-half	Back Bay	Aliso Viejo	California
Zachary	Neff	Junior	6'0"	187	Lock	C.K. McClatchy Lions	Sacramento	California
Sean	Nolan	Sophomore	6'2"	175	Fly-half	Back Bay	Laguna Beach	California
Gavin	Prentice	Sophomore	6'0"	240	Prop	Eastside Lions	Seattle	Washington
James	Reid	Freshman	5'11"	175	Center	Loudoun	Purcellville	Virginia
Cole	Semu	Junior	5'10"	190	Center	Chuckanut	Ferndale	Washington
Quinn	Sheppard	Junior	6'3"	200	Lock	C.K. McClatchy Lions	Carmichael	California
Sidney	Shoop	Junior	5'6"	135	Scrum-half	South Greenvill	Fletcher	North Carolina
Adam	Tounkara	Junior	6'2"	270	Prop	Maryland Exiles	Rockville	Maryland
Alex	Vaca	Junior	5'8"	180	Center	Santa Monica	Santa Monica	California
Jordan	Wander	Junior	6'3"	220	Flanker	Harlequin Colts	Richardson	Texas
Inoke	Waqavesi	Junior	5'8"	180	Center	C.K. McClatchy Lions	Sacramento	California
Michael	Weir	Junior	5'10"	149	Fly-half	Doylestown Rugby Club	Schwenksville	Pennsylvania
Larry	Williams	Junior	5'11"	215	Hooker	Clayton Copperheads	Clayton	North Carolina