USA Rugby Age Grade Schedule Out
LAFAYETTE, CO. - USA Rugby has today announced the 2019 schedule and selection process for its Men’s High School All-American (U18), Under-20 and Collegiate All-American programs.
The High School All-Americans (HSAA) will participate in two events each on the sevens and fifteens side including one in July and another in December. Both will feature international competition.
Summer assemblies will take place from July 1-15 on the fifteens side and July 7-13 on the sevens side. Selections for both will be made primarily from last year’s All-American Winter Camp and Regional Cup Tournaments (2018).
USA National Teams Land Ernst & Young As Sponsor
LAFAYETTE, CO - USA Rugby has announced EY as the Official Principal Partner of their Men’s and Women’s senior national teams. This partnership builds on an intensified D&I approach from EY during the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 and ongoing support of a globally growing sport. As Principal Partner, EY will provide business strategy, digital and technological transformation services to USA Rugby. This includes fan and player engagement and experience capabilities, marketing and analytics, and development of revenue models.
USA Falcons Set For LVI
LAS VEGAS, NV. - The USA Men’s Falcons have named their 13-player roster for the Las Vegas Invitational taking place this week Feb 28 - Mar 2 alongside the senior HSBC USA Sevens tournament.
Captained by senior Eagles Sevens player Cody Melphy, the developmental USA side will feature three D1A athletes in Life University’s Maciu Koroi (injury reserve), Austin White and Harley Wheeler. Two 2018 Youth Olympians are included as well in Inoke Waqavesi and Lauina Falatea who both represent the USA Men’s Sevens Academy Program.
Falcons’ regulars Travion Clark, D’Montae Noble and Thomas Robles were also selected, along with four more senior Eagles Sevens players in Pat Blair, Naima Fualaau, Anthony Welmers and Joe Schroeder.
USA Sevens Academy Player Ulu Niutupuivaha will also compete in the LVI tournament with the Denver Barbarians.
USA Rugby Names Women's 15s Performance Squad
CHULA VISTA, CA. - 38 athletes have been named to the new Women's Eagles (15s) 2019 Performance Squad, USA Rugby announced today.
The Performance Squad serves as the top tier of a new player pool structure, to be announced at the beginning of each year and remain equivalent in status across both the Women's and Men's Eagles (15s) sides. Both programs will include an Extended Squad within their player pool -- which sits junior to the top tier -- while the Women's National Team will also have a third tier called the Watchlist.
Where The Eagles Come From Is A Classic Rugby Story
The USA will play Argentina XV live on FloRugby this weekend (click here to watch or subscribe), and at the center of this group is indication that the USA pathway is working.
Yes, there are still a lot of players who learned their rugby overseas, but the numbers are still good for the American high school and college programs. Notably, however, we're seeing more and more players who don't attend college, but go from high school straight to the pros. We will see more of that if - IF - Major League Rugby academy programs get stronger.
USA Players, Coaches, Visit HS Game
Gary Gold and his Men's Eagles team practiced in Fort Lauderdale, FL before journeying to South America for the Americas Rugby Championship tournament. On Saturday, Jan 26, Head Coach Gary Gold, Team Manager Chris Hanson, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Huw Bevan, flyhalf A.J. MacGinty, and Marcel Brache (serving as Eagles Captain with Blaine Scully out with injury) traveled to Sharks Field in Jupiter, FL to watch a high school match between the Jupiter Sharks and the Boca Raton Junior Buccaneers.
Before kick-off, Gold addressed the players, coaches and the parents with words of encouragement for youth rugby in the USA. MacGinty and Brache chatted with the reserve players on the sideline during the match, which left quite an impression on the young ruggers.
USA Rugby Names 2019 Women's 7s Residency List
CHULA VISTA, CA. - USA Rugby has announced the names of 24 athletes who will train full-time as part of the Women's Eagles Sevens Residency Program at the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Chula Vista, CA. Players will be available for selection for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019 and PanAm Games 2019 with the potential to also compete in developmental Falcons tours.
The roster includes 19 players who have made appearances on the Sevens Series circuit with five who still seek their national team debut. Of those five are Kasey McCravey, Kate Herran, Kristi Kirshe, Nikki Kenyon and Eti Haungatau. Haungatau is the youngest player in residency at only 18 years old while McCravey and Kirshe will look to make their debut at Sydney Sevens 2019.
USA U18 Boys Finish Camp 3-0-1
The Boys HS All American/U18 winter camp finished off with a win and a tie over Canadian opposition to finish off the camp games with a 3-0-1 record.
USA Blue took on Canada White and dominated, winning 33-0.
No. 8 Russell Lemaster scored the first two USA tries in that game, with Lewis Gray converting. Captain Will Chevalier added a try to make it 21-0 with Gray's conversion.
Marcus Schumacher's try made it 28-0 with Gray's conversion, and then Carson Shoemaker scored at the end in a very convincing performance.
On the other side of the ledger, USA Red tied Canada Red 20-20.
USA and Canada U18s Set To Face Off
The USA and Canada boys U18 teams will face off in two clashes today, December 28.
To start off the holiday tour, Canada White will take on USA Red with kick off at 1:00pm PT/ 4:00pm ET on December 28th before Canada Red faces off against USA Blue at 3:00pm PT/ 6:00pm ET.
The teams also play December 31
Canada U18 White Roster:
1. Willem den Ouden
2. Ryan Goodyear
3. Hudson Barnaby
4. Adam Ford
5. George Piper
6. Philipe Marchand
7. Isiah Springer
8. Brenner Kelava
9. Carson Young
Falcons Named For South America Trip
USA Rugby has named 14 players to represent the USA Men's for the Sudamérica Rugby Sevens 2019 taking place in South America this January.
The full tournament will consist of two legs beginning with Punta Del Este in Uruguay Jan. 5-6 and followed by Viña del Mar in Chile Jan. 12-13.
Along with the USA, the full tournament will consist of teams from 12 nations including Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Paraguay and Uruguay. In traditional sevens form, pool matches will be played on Day One with knockout rounds on Day Two of each leg.
USA Men's 7s Selected For Dubai
The USA Men's 7s team has been named to play in the Dubai 7s.
Head coach Mike Friday has named two debutants, former Notre Dame College All American Marcus Tupuola and former Grand Canyon University standout Maceo Brown, to join a relatively season squad.
"Both Marcus and Maceo have done remarkably well and worked very hard all summer to get this opportunity," said Friday. "Firstly this is a testament to JD Stephenson's talent identification work which put both in the Collegiate All-American pathway and in front of us at RugbyTown Sevens these last two years."Olympic Qualification is on the line this season, with the top four teams in the World Series getting an automatic place in Tokyo 2020.
Roques Named USA Men 7s Assistant
CHULA VISTA, CA. - Former RFU Coach and player Anthony Roques has been selected as the new Assistant Coach for the Men’s Eagles Sevens, USA Rugby announced today.
Previously an Assistant Coach for England Men’s Sevens from 2014-2018, Roques has been a part of three gold medal victories in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018 for both the men and women’s sides; as well as a silver medal at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018.
In just four years with the union, Roques helped the England men’s side qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and achieve their highest World Series finish in a decade (2nd place) at the conclusion of the 2017 season.
Tracking Men's Eagle Player Origins
Where do the USA Men's National team players come from?
It's a question we ask often when the squad is assembled. I do this analysis many different ways, and this time I am going to go as specific as I can be, but be general in other areas.
Watch The USA Fall Tour Games LIVE on FloRgby
We're looking at whether these players are home grown or not, qualify for the USA by birth or by residency, and whether they were always in the pipeline.
Isn't that what we want to know? We want to know if the Eagles are simply hired guns or have come through the process in some way. Here's what we have:
USA Women Add England A To November Schedule
LAFAYETTE, CO. - The USA Women's Selects (15s) will face England A on Nov. 13 at Newbury RFC at 2:30 PM ET as part of the larger Women's National Team's November schedule, USA Rugby confirmed today.
With the opponent announced, the Women's 15s program has now fully revealed their fall schedule, offering three test match opportunities -- along with the developmental game -- to give athletes more international playing time.
The game takes place four days after the Women's Eagles' senior test match with England (Nov. 9) and less than a week before they take on Ireland (Nov. 18), providing a boost in preparation before the finale of their November Internationals.
Vote On USA Rugby Eagles Hashtag
LAFAYETTE, CO. - USA Rugby has today opened voting for an official unified hashtag to support the vision and representation of its union. Fans across the United States are encouraged to use one of three options on their social media channels before Sunday, Sep. 30 to vote on which phrase they feel should be selected.
Each of the three options fits a set of criteria established by the union to be both uniquely identifiable and serve as a purposeful depiction of what the organization represents. The objective is to create a singular phrase that fans, athletes and the community can use in support of national teams; and by extension, the growth of rugby in America.
After an initial period of conceptualization, a multitude of options were measured against the following:
