The Eagles will get together soon to prepare for the Pacific Nations Cup, hopefully clothed and perhaps some of the big changes we might see will be in the numbers 4 through 8. Samu Manoa is not with the team as he is just getting started at Toulon, so that leaves a spot open for the eight players who are looking to play lock, flanker, No. 8, or any of those. Among them is Cam Dolan. Coming off a knee injury that saw him miss the USA games in the fall, and a season at Northampton where he was getting virtually no playing time, Dolan is itching to get on the field now.

“When I got to Northampton, they were top of the Premiership, and they stayed top of the Premiership, so I understand they didn’t want to change much,” said Dolan, who switched to the Cardiff Blues for next season, joining Blaine Scully, who made basically the same decision moving from Leicester. “I wanted to come in and add some value and also learn something.”

And that’s where we see a new Cam Dolan now. He is bulkier, now up to 250 lbs. He is more adept at the game in tight.

“Northampton has been an excellent mauling team for a while so you have to be good at it when you play there,” said Dolan. “I came into Northampton with my main thing being lineouts. But I’ve worked on so much more, especially my tight game.”

Feeling fit, 100% healthy, and stronger than before, Dolan may well find himself used in the second row at times. He really panned out as a No. 8 and possibly blindside flanker for the USA. But as he works on his size, his 6-6 height now comes into play, as well.

“We have a lot of good players in the back row, so if I can help the team by playing lock, I am going to do that," said the Naples Bears U19 and Life University product.

All of this adds up to a lot of enthusiasm from Dolan.

“We’ve got the Premiership guys back now and we’ve got a long summer together, and that’s great,” Dolan said of the USA buildup to the Rugby World Cup. “When we get together we feel that we get better every week. So now having two months together, we know things will start clicking. With the way we’re building up to things, and the way the 7s team has been going, things are looking really good for the USA.”