Eagles Named For ARC
Eagles Named For ARC
Gary Gold has named his squad for the 2019 ARC.
USA Men's 15s head coach Gary Gold has named 35 players to his squad for the Americas Rugby Championship, which kicks off February 2.
The Eagles are two-time defending champions, having won nine out of the last 10 games, and tying the other. Gold, who led the USA to a 5-0 clean sweep last year, has said he wants to use fewerr players overall in 2019 (in 2018 50 players received caps), as the Rugby World Cup is on the horizon.
All five USA games will be LIVE on FloRugby:
Feb 23 vs Brazil at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX (near Austin) 7:10pm CT
Mar 2 vs Uruguay at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA (near Seattle) 7:10pm PT
Mar 8 vs Canada at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA (near Seattle) 7:10pm PT
Regular captain Blaine Scully has been ruled out due to an injury he sustained while with the Cardiff Blues. Mike Te'o and AJ MacGinty are named to the squad despite having been out for some time due to injury. Gold said both players are close, but also stressed that MacGinty will need game time before he suits up for the Eagles.
Te'o sustained an injury that kept him out of both the Summer and Autumn test matches last year and is expected to make an appearance at some point during the tournament.
Like Te'o, Peter Malcolm is nearing complete recovery from injury and looks to return to the team during the home legs of the competition. With him is No. 8 Malon Al-Jiboor,i who returns to fifteens after earning his first cap in the Americas Rugby Championship last season and then continuing to make appearances in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Alongside the athletes who make long-awaited returns are a handful of newly capped players who add fresh depth to the veteran group. Among them are wing Gannon Moore and scrumhalf Nick Boyer, as well as props Chance Wenglewski and David Ainuu, who all made their Eagle debut in November of 2018.
With the tournament serving as a catalyst for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, three new players will have the opportunity to earn their first caps in Life University's Duncan Van Schalkwyk, San Diego Legion's Kipeli Pifeleti and New England Free Jacks' Tadhg Leader.
"This selection was one of the more challenging ones for us as a staff," said Eagles General Manager Dave Hodges. "In a World Cup year, it is important that we get the players we believe have the most probable opportunity to be selected for Japan, playing together to develop the cohesion that Coach Gold needs for the team to perform. The competition marks the start of a critical period where we thoroughly test our players and processes for the World Cup while also focusing on delivering a successful ARC campaign."
USA Men's Eagles Squad by the Numbers
35 athletes
19 forwards
16 backs
19 former All-Americans across the high school, junior and collegiate levels
14 played for a D1A rugby program in college
20 former American football players from an official program
10 former basketball players from an official program
11 average age athletes started playing rugby
20 age of the youngest player
34 age of the oldest player
14 average player cap number
3 uncapped players
5 matches (4 at the test level)
3 countries visited
USA Men's Eagles Squad
Player | Position | Club | Caps |
David Ainuu | Prop | Toulouse (FRA) | 2 |
Malon Al-Jiboori | Flanker / No. 8 | Glendale Raptors | 1 |
Nick Boyer | Scrumhalf | San Diego Legion | 1 |
Marcel Brache | Wing | Western Force/Perth (AUS) | 12 |
Bryce Campbell | Center | London Irish (ENG) | 21 |
Nick Civetta | Lock | Doncaster Knights (ENG) | 18 |
Shaun Davies | Scrumhalf | Glendale Raptors | 19 |
Ruben de Haas | Scrumhalf | Free State Cheetahs (RSA) | 7 |
Cam Dolan | No. 8 | NOLA Gold | 40 |
Dylan Fawsitt | Hooker | Rugby United New York | 7 |
Hanco Germishuys | Flanker | Glendale Raptors | 11 |
James Hilterbrand | Hooker | Manly Marlins (AUS) | 16 |
Luke Hume | Fullback | Rugby United New York | 20 |
Will Hooley | Flyhalf | Bedford Blues (ENG) | 6 |
Titi Lamositele | Prop | Saracens (ENG) | 26 |
Ben Landry | Lock | Ealing Trailfinders (ENG) | 15 |
Paul Lasike | Center | Harlequins (ENG) | 9 |
Tadhg Leader | Flyhalf | New England Free Jacks | uncapped |
AJ MacGinty | Flyhalf | Sale Sharks (ENG) | 20 |
Will Magie | Flyhalf | Glendale Raptors | 19 |
Peter Malcolm | Hooker | Austin Elite | 11 |
Samu Manoa | Lock | Unattached | 22 |
Ryan Matyas | Wing | San Diego Legion | 12 |
Tim Maupin | Fullback | NOLA Gold | 9 |
Gannon Moore | Wing | Utah Warriors | 2 |
Paul Mullen | Prop | Houston Sabercats | 6 |
Greg Peterson | Lock | Bordeaux Bégles (FRA) | 20 |
Kapeli Pifeleti | Hooker | San Diego Legion | uncapped |
John Quill | Flanker | Rugby United New York | 29 |
Tevita Tameilau | Flanker | Glasgow Warriors (SCO) | 12 |
Joe Taufete'e | Hooker | Worcester Warriors (ENG) | 19 |
Mike Te'o | Wing | San Diego Legion | 21 |
Duncan Van Schalkwyk | Scrumhalf | Life University | uncapped |
Dino Waldren | Prop | London Scottish (ENG) | 15 |
Chance Wenglewski | Prop | Lindenwood University | 1 |
*Unavailable due to injury: Blaine Scully, Nate Augspurger, Psalm Wooching, Eric Fry, Tony Lamborn, Dylan Audsley
USA Men's Eagles Staff
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Assistant Coach, Backs & Attack | Greg McWilliams
Assistant Coach, Forwards | Shawn Pittman
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Team Doctor | Mark Sakr (Chile, Argentina Uruguay, Canada)
Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan (Brazil)
Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng
Assistant Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager | Chris Hanson
Americas Rugby Championship 2019 Schedule
LIVE on FloRugby in the United States
Saturday, Feb. 2
vs Chile | Time TBA
Santiago, CHL
Saturday, Feb 9
vs Argentina XV | 3 PM ET
Rio Negro, ARG
BYE WEEK
Saturday, Feb 23
vs Brazil | 7:10 PM CT
Dell Diamond, Austin, TX
Saturday, Mar 2
vs Uruguay | 7:10 PM PT
Starfire Sports, Seattle, WA
Friday, Mar 8
vs Canada | 7:10 PM PT
Starfire Sports, Seattle, WA