All-Time American List: Jerry Walter
Jerry Walter was the fullback on the hugely successful Cal tour of Australia.
A superb punter of the ball and also a thundering tackler, Walter was critical to Cal's ability to turn pressure around on their opponents. The Cal team surprised everyone by going 5-2-2 on the tour, showcasing a knowledge of rugby their opponents didn't expect and a physicality they weren't quite prepared for.
All-Time American List: Nate Ebner
Like some of the early 20th Century players on our All-American list, Nate Ebner hasn't played a lot for the USA, but there's a reason, and that reason doesn't reduce his ability or influence as a player.
Ebner was a USA U19 standout, playing mostly at fullback, and at that age he was good enough to make the senior Midwest All-Star team. (Yes kids, back in the dark ages there used to be an annual all-star championship where the best players in each region faced off with a look to getting a shot with the national team.)
One of the best players on the 2007 USA U19 and 2008 U20 teams, Ebner was also a standout at Ohio State. He was fast, strong, and able to hold his own with much older and more experienced players. Having grown up with the game and played the game in preference to football, he was knowledgeable and unafraid.
All-Time American List: Dave Hodges
Dave Hodges was unstoppable.
An All American in football and rugby at Occidental, Hodges, like many of the top players from the late 1990s, came to the game late, but embraced it quickly. A cinder block of a man who could play lock, flanker, or No. 8, he was a leader by example, taking on the toughest jobs and the nastiest roles with no complaint, and perhaps even relish.
Dave Hodges had his nose broken twice, in the same game, and came back to keep playing. Dave Hodges was not only the Players’ Player of the Year and the Fans’ Player of the Year for Llanelli Scarlets, but he also served as the team’s Strength & Conditioning coach and was the team’s representative when Welsh rugby entered negotiations to change its league structure.
That’s right, modern Welsh Rugby owes its success, in part, to an American.
Possibility For College Rugby This Spring Increasing
It looks like we will see major college rugby going on this spring.
While some areas of the country do not look like sports teams of any kinds will have an easy time of it, still others look like they may be able to compete in some form. We caution fans when they hear that a team is going to play. For some that means that they may have been given the OK to train.
Stepping Lightly
And at the same time, teams that are just getting the OK to train are treading very, very carefully. Partly it's about COVID and working on a testing plan and a safety plan, but it's also about making sure the players physically get up to speed.
All-Time American List: Jeff Lombard
In a time when the best of thw West Coast often came from California exclusively, Jeff Lombard was an outlier.
A big, powerful flanker from Western Washington University, the lifetime Northwesterner cut his teeth in the always imposing British Columbia league, and forced his way onto the USA national team at a time when playing in Washington and BC was a quick road to obscurity.
Playing for his beloved Chuckanut Bay rugby club, he quickly earned select-side recognition by the Washington state all-star team (the Ravens), the Pacific Northwest Loggers, and most notable for many, the Pacific Coast Grizzlies when he was the only non-California on the roster. He also made the Fraser Valley Rugby Union rep side—a league for which he was MVP—which played the Vancouver Rugby Union.
All-Time American List: Kirk Khasigian
Kirk Khasigian had the unenviable task of replacing one of the USA's all-time greats, as he pulled on into the Eagle #2 jersey after the retirement of Tom Billups.
Roundly considered one of the smartest men ever to step onto a rugby field for the USA, Khasigian was also the first son of an Eagle to make the national team—his father, Fred, started at hooker for the USA in the first modern-era test match against Australia.
An All American as a flanker and then as a hooker at Cal, Khasigian is one of a long list of Cal Eagle hookers, many of whom were converted from other positions. Mobile, fit, hardworking, and skilled, Khasigian played in two Rugby World Cups, and was capped 37 times.
All-Time American List: Paul Emerick
Paul Emerick is one of the greatest American outside backs.
Generally playing at outside center, the former University of Northern Iowa All American and later Chicago Lions was a favorite with fans because he never, ever backed down, was brutally honest about his performance good or bad, and was just plain fun to watch.
He was often blunt with his coaches, too, and usually managed to play his way out of any doghouse he might have been thrown into by his play. Having essentially been benched against Portugal in 2010, Emerick came off the bench and resurrected a poor USA performance by steamrolling a defender and rambling in to score the game-sealing try. His interception, try, and salute in a losing cause against Ireland on September 11, 2011 was an iconic moment.
All-Time American List: Bob Causey
The looming, hulking lock from Louisiana, Bob Causey gave his entire adult life to the game he loved.
Of course, he's not in this list because he coached and coaxed along the LSU program for over ten years and for almost 200 wins. No, here's here because he could play rugby. Captain and best player of LSU in the early 1970s, Causey was an old-school lock who pummeled first asked questions later. He did it all with a smile and a somewhat laconic bayou tilt of his head.
All-Time American List: Charles Doe
Charles Doe played rugby at Stanford and went on to play for the USA in both the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games.
The starting fullback and, in 1924, the main goalkicker for the team, Doe was a central figure in both gold medal-winning campaigns. Against Romania in the 1924 Olympic Games, Doe slotted five conversions and a penalty goal. That total was the most by any player playing for the USA until Ray Nelson broke it in 1984.
Check out highlights from the 1924 final in Paris here>>
All-Time American List: Kevin Swiryn
Kevin Swiryn attended Saint Mary's College of California planning to play football, but when the football program was halted, he found something better.
A seemingly laid back, easy-going type of person, Swiryn was also intensely competitive and those qualities combined to make him a player who wasn't really afraid of anything. Swiryn helped the Gaels take a big step toward national prominence and his athleticism, dynamic play, and leadership were a big part of Saint Mary’s almost toppling mighty Cal in 2008 in the national semifinal.
Strong in contact, quick, and embracing the Saint Mary’s ethos of attack from anywhere, Swiryn found a place with the USA 7s team. He eventually captained that squad and was part of the team that won its first ever World Series tournament, in 2010.
All-Time American List: Tony Ridnell
Tony Ridnell was the pride of Old Puget Sound Beach and was the towering force on their back row and 7s forward pack as Beach began a run of four national 7s club championships in five years.
A physical flanker who was skilled at anticipating play, adding dimension to his game. Ridnell played rugby in high school back when that wasn’t a thing, and then reacquainted himself with the game while at West Point, suiting up for Army in his final two years in 1981 and 1982.
All-Time American List: Kevin Higgins
Kevin Higgins has two rugby scholarships named after him, and that's because he was hugely respected as a player despite being cut down in his prime.
The uncompromising center from Cal Poly, where he was a repeat All American, Higgins hit harder than anyone and made defenders pay throughout the USA and overseas. Higgins played for the Eagles in two Rugby World Cups, in 1987 and 1991, and at one time owned the record for most caps by an Eagle.
All-Time American List: Don Guest
Don Guest was an athletic wing for Cal in the 1960s and 1970s and continued to play at the highest level years after.
A relatively big wing for his time (5-11, 185), Guest was multi-skilled—he set a Cal football record for longest punt return ever with a thumping 108-yard effort—and was a key part of a very successful University of California tour of Australia in 1971.
Guest went on to represent the USA twice, just at the beginning of the Eagles' modern era when the team was lucky to play two games a year. He also represented the Bay Area Touring Side (the BATS), the Northern California Pelicans, and the Pacific Coast Grizzlies. He toured Romania, England, Wales, Italy, and the USSR with the BATS, and toured England and Ireland with the Olympic Club.
The photo above is taken from the BATS 1978 tour program. Thanks to David Hodges for getting this to us.
All-Time American List: Mike Petri
Mike Petri has been at the top of the game since he started playing at Xavier HS.
Captain of a very strong Xavier HS team, Petri went on to captain the USA U19s, Penn State, and the Collegiate All Americans. A smooth passer and an expert defender among scrumhalves, Petri was a winner at every level he played at.
He spent just a short time at the Belmont Shore rugby club, but Shore won a Super League title in 2007 while he was there. he want back to help NYAC win four Super League titles, with Petri becoming captain of that club.
Is $52K From NCR A Peace Offering?
National Collegiate Rugby CEO Jeremy Treece has published an open letter to the US Rugby community pitching an idea to partner with USA Rugby on training and recruiting referees.
The letter comes as referee organizations continue to try to find their way in a game that a) isn't playing much, b) has a variety of organizations and ouncils overseeing competitions, c) has NCR and USA Rugby seemingly at odds, and finally d) where referees do not have a national organization representing their interests.
