The Nations Cup is part of World Rugby's global competition plan. This competition involves 12 Tier 2 nations:
Canada
Chile
USA
Samoa
Tonga
Uruguay
Georgia
Hong Kong
Portugal
Spain
Zimbabwe
Romania
The teams that play in one pool actually play the teams in the other pool. There is no knockout round.
The Nations Cup will not have a championship game, but it will have a champion ... actually two.
It's been a comeback summer for the Eagles.
The USA Men's National Team made it three comeback wins in a row with a 29-22 decision over Spain in Cary, NC, wrapping up the first half of the Nations Cup 3-0.
One of the places of control in the Nations Cup relies on Saturday's test match between the USA and Spain on Saturday night in Cary, NC.
Kickoff is 7:30PM ET at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary. The game is also live on Paramount+.
Going into the game, the two teams match up in an interesting way.
The warning had been there, don't look past ZImbabwe, and while we at GRR World Headquarters wouldn't say the Eagles looked past the Sables, they certainly played as if whatever they did would flumox their opponents.
The result was that Zimbabwe took a lead into halftime and had taken the American fans out of the game and put their own fans into it.
What are the big rocks this week?
Last week the USA Men's 15s looked at tough, disciplined defense, set piece, and the kicking game.
De La Salle HS
Saint Mary's (Rudy Scholz Finalist)
USA U20s (Captain)
USA Men's National 15s Team (Debut vs Georgia 2023 at age 20)
As a 17-year-old Spencer Huntley required a waiver to play for the USA U20s, an indication of how he was rated in the USA age-grade pathway. He got that waiver and impressed for the USA U20s, and then moved up to the USA U23s. He led the San Diego Mustangs to a national HS Club championship in 2024.
He also played in the SoCal single-school league for Cathedral Catholic.
Hope Rogers began playing rugby at age 16 in high school and continued to compete during her time at Penn State University. There, she won four National Championships, was crowned MVP on two occasions, was named to the USA Under-20s and earned Collegiate All-American honors for four years. Rogers was also an impressive discus player during her senior year in high school where she broke a school record and won Gold at Districts for the sport.
Mike played for Life College, Philly-Whitemarsh and played for the USA National 7s and 15s teams in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was also part of the Atlantis touring side, playing 7s for the team in several around the world.
