Eagles XV
By: Dallen Stanford, USA Rugby
Tokyo, Japan – Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, has made eight changes to his team that started against Canada in Glendale last weekend. The USA will face Japan at 7.00 p.m on Sunday, August 21, at the Prince Chichbu Memorial Rugby Ground with the match available LIVE online at UniversalSports.com at 6 a.m. EST, and delayed on TV at 5:30 p.m. EST.
”Again we have made a number of changes to selection, as this is our final hit out before Rugby World Cup (RWC) and also our last opportunity to take a look at players before we make the final squad announcement,” said O’Sullivan.
The Eagles coaching staff will announce the RWC squad of 30 players following the clash with Japan, with one final chance to book their tickets to the third largest sporting event in the world.
Captain Todd Clever – who plays his club rugby in Tokyo at Suntory Sungoliath – is unavailable due to injury. Scrumhalf Mike Petri will lead the United States this weekend: “I am obviously disappointed for Todd, but I hope to continue the good work he has done, and set an example. I am really looking forward to this opportunity”.
In the forwards veteran Mike MacDonald starts at loosehead prop and will equal the most appearances for an Eagle (62) set by his former teammate, Luke Gross. MacDonald made his debut against Fiji in 2000, and has played in all eight USA matches during the 2003 and 2007 RWC’s.
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Photo Credit: Eagles XV
By Dallen Stanford
Toronto – Despite a late comeback from the Eagles, Canada held on for a 28-22 win in front of a record crowd of more than 10,000 at BMO Field. In so doing Canada retain the Can/Am Trophy. The match was aired LIVE on TSN in Canada and Universal Sports in America.
The USA produced some excellent passages of play, scoring three team tries in the process.
Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, said: “We are disappointed, it would have been great to get the win here in Toronto. We let in a couple of tries from very simple errors that really hurt us, and put ourselves under pressure. But we responded well and got back into the game,”
The Eagles will travel back to Glendale, Colorado, tomorrow for what will be a very busy week. The USA Select XV will play the Glendale Raptors on Wednesday August 10 at Infinity Park. Then on Saturday, August 13, the Eagles will take on Canada at the same venue, with kick-off at 7.15 P.M. This match will be broadcast LIVE – both online and on television – through Universal Sports.
“There were plenty of positives against Canada. Our scrum was very solid and our line-out fired well for the most part. We scored some good tries, and with more time together, the team cohesiveness will only improve. We have one week to fine tune things before the return match,” said O’Sullivan.
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Photo Credit: USA Rugby
By Kyle Jones
USA gives up early lead to give Canada the win.
Canada 28 USA 22
“Disappointment” has to be the one thing on everyone’s mind after a stunning defeat by Canada today. A confusing start allowed Canada to score unscathed in the 6th minute after a bizarre call that would only set the tone for what was to come. USA overcame some poor kicks by Nese Malifa with two daring tries in the first half.
The fiirst came from Takudzwa Ngwenya after a brilliant pass from Todd Clever. Canada continued with penalties, providing Nese Malifa more opportunities to make good on penalty kicks, yet he failed to convert. Clever took things into his own hands and capitalized on Canada’s weakness: Line Outs. He intercepted one late in the first half, instantly converting it into a try and putting the Eagles up 15-7. The tide would begin to shift just before the half, with USA giving up senseless penalties as well, providing Canada with a penalty kick. The half ended USA 15-10 Canada.
Before you could say, “Bob’s your Uncle” the Eagles did the unthinkable. Nese Malifa dropped a pass back in his own red zone, providing Canada with an instant try and a two-point lead. The Eagles never went back in front.
Canada showed their physical dominance and ability to last the full 80 minutes by pounding out more penalty points and one more try with a quick phase out of an overpowering scrum. The score would climb to 25-15 before USA would even come close to another chance at goal. It would take Tim Usasz, the scrumhalf, to breathe direction and life into a fatigued USA offense. He would get them within meters of a try not once, but twice before Clever would bring it home off a flashy pass from Inaki Basauri.
But their missed opportunities to score just moments earlier cost them precious time and would not allow them to mount another attack before the game was over. With just 1 minute to go, Canada put up its final penalty kick to put the Eagles out of reach. The clock would wind down and USA would squander a first-half lead and hand a close win to Canada.
This game could have gone either way, with both teams playing very different halves. USA dominated possession early, but Canada clearly took advantage of the penalty calls and the fatigue of the USA Eagles.
Some things to watch out for next week at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colo.: USA Eagles fixing those poor kicks and maintaining their endurance throughout the match; Canada looking to desperately fix their lineout turnovers and maintaining possession. It should be another exciting match, which will hopefully come out in our favor. Stay tuned for details on tickets and live coverage.
Full Game Replay: Here
Video Highlights: Here
Phillip Thiel, Todd Clever, Chris Biller, Louis Stanfill, Brian McClenahan and Shawn Pittman! Photo Credit: Eagles XV
By: Dallen Stanford, USA Rugby
Glendale, Colo. – Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, has named his best possible squad for the Canada encounter set to take place at BMO Field in Toronto on Saturday.
“It’s important that we get a solid start to this August tour, with the Rugby World Cup (RWC) only weeks away. The squad has switched on right from the start, and realize that their RWC campaign is in their hands,” said O’Sullivan.
The 35-man Eagles squad arrived in Glendale on Sunday, July 31, hitting the ground running with two-a-day sessions on both Monday and Tuesday.
“Some players were not available during the Churchill Cup, so this is our first real opportunity to work those combinations that will allow us to achieve our goals,” explained the Head Coach.
The 22-man traveling squad will depart for Toronto on Thursday morning, looking to start their RWC campaign on a high note.
Canada are currently ranked 16th on the IRB World Rankings, one place ahead of the United States. Next week the Eagles will host Canada at Infinity Park on Saturday, August 13, after which the squad will travel to Tokyo to take on Japan on Sunday, August 21.
Two players that are not available for this upcoming match include veteran fullback Chris Wyles and Highlanders winger James Paterson. Wyles is nursing an ankle problem, and Paterson is continuing his rehabilitation.
“We need to give both Chris and James time to get back to full health,” added O’Sullivan.
The Eagles are led by the outstanding Todd Clever, with hard working Louis Stanfill (flank) and Nic Johnson (8th man) completing the loose forwards. In the tight five, the experienced props Mate Moeakiola and Shawn Pittman will look to dominate up front. Phillip Thiel – one of Life University’s standouts – starts at hooker.
Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, has released his preliminary 50-man squad ahead of the Rugby World Cup in September.
“With the World Cup less than three months away we have put together an extended pool of players from which the final Eagles Squad of 30 players will emerge,” said O’Sullivan.
The names were submitted to the International Rugby Board as part of a requirement of Rugby World Cup planning. Each rugby union will then select their final squad of 30 players by the August 22 deadline.
O’Sullivan has had an opportunity to watch half of this squad in the recent Churchill Cup competition. Several players certainly impressed in the 32-25 victory over Russia, putting up their hands for RWC inclusion.
“The players who made the Churchill Cup Squad have the advantage of having been in camp together for the past three weeks,” said O’Sullivan, “But there are players who missed the Churchill Cup for various reasons.
With a busy July of fitness training ahead and three warm-up games in August, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to impress before we select the final RWC Squad near the end of August.”
The preliminary squad consists of 26 forwards and 24 backline players.
The Eagles will next assemble at the end of July, before taking on Canada on August 6 (BMO Field, Toronto, Canada) and August 13 (Infinity Park, Glendale, Colo.). The USA will then travel to Tokyo to play against Japan on August 21.
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Churchill Cup Finals
USA Vs. Russia
June 18, 2011
LIVE 7:00 am ET
UniversalSports.com/rugby
Twitter: @usrugbynz for Live Updates
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj6cqyzHsK8]
NORTHAMPTON, England – The USA Eagles went down to a record-breaking defeat in their opening game of the Churchill Cup, losing 87-8 to the England Saxons.
The Saxons are the second England team, usually made up of young, promising talent being eyed for potential full-squad duty. The USA, too, started mostly domestic players to give them experience against a Saxons team that was fully professional.
Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan tried some experimental combinations and gave domestic players an opportunity to play at a very high level. The Eagles were starved of possession by the Saxons and the English side was able to capitalize on turnovers, scoring seven tries from turnover ball.
USA struck first after solid phase play resulted in a penalty which outside center, Tai Enosa, converted with ease in the 3rd minute. England answered back quickly through the very lethal Miles Benjamin, who ended up scoring a hat trick in the encounter.
The first 20 minutes would see the Saxons run rampant and the Eagles were up against it to the tune of 33-3 at halftime.
“The game got away from us early on and we were struggling early. On some occasions we held onto the ball and did some good things,” said O’Sullivan.
“It was a very big ask of our team to go against the fully professional England Saxons side and a lot of our problems were of our own making.”
Unfortunately, the Churchill Cup has not been kind to the Eagles. They’ve been on the wrong end of both the other largest trouncings: The New Zealand Maori’s 74-6 victory in 2006 and a 62-10 loss, also to the Saxons, in 2008.
The coach continued to say that mistakes and turnovers were compounded by the Saxons’ speedy backs and defensive lapses by the Eagles.
Next up for the Eagles are Tonga, on June 8.
USA Rugby has announced that a New Zealand Universities rugby team will tour California during the northern hemisphere summer.
They will play a team of Collegiate Americans.
There is a long history between U.S. collegiate rugby and New Zealand. In 1910, more than a hundred years ago, a team of U.S. collegians toured Australia and New Zealand and actually beat the Auckland R.U.
1910 USA Collegiate team in New Zealand - Photo courtesy of USA Rugby
“We are excited to be hosting a strong New Zealand Universities side that will present a tough challenge and opportunity for the All-Americans in this World Cup year,” said All-American Program Director, Matt Sherman.
“We are also looking forward to showcase the All-American team in three different American cities with strong rugby foundations.”
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