Eagles and the Cherry Tree
While losing two games is not good news, June for the USA is shaping up to be an encouraging one, especially if they can knock off Canada this coming weekend.
Inside the 22 - Score It
Three tries for Scully but early lesson; on the ground before the tryline? On your feet, but stay low to dive over.
Japan Defeats Improving USACARSON, Calif. – Blaine Scully scored three tries Saturday at StubHub Center, but the Eagles could not rebound from two early second-half tries from Japan in a 37-29 loss in their first match of the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. Scully almost opened his account in the seventh minute of the match after the Eagles held possession through a few phases. The Leicester Tiger took a loose ball at midfield and beat three Japanese defenders before being tripped up by a fourth five meters from the try line. Without support, Japan managed to clear the danger. Cam Dolan, appearing in his 10th match for the Eagles, took advantage of a lazy Ryu Koliniashi Holani pass from a lineout a minute later and ran 20 meters for the match’s first try and the Northampton Saint’s second career international try.
What Eagle Changes Bring
USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin has mdd a few changes for Saturday's game against Japan, moving former USA U20 captain Scott LaValla (Budd Bay/Trinity) from flanker to lock, where he joins Samu Manoa (SFGG), now with the team after some family time.
The move leaves a place open in the back row, where hard-nosed flanker Danny Barrett (Sacred Heart/Cal) slots in, joining Todd Clever (College Park/Nevada) and Cam Dolan (Naples/Life). Up front, where the Eagles had a few problems against Scotland in the scrum, Ollie Kilifi (Seattle Vikings) moves to tight head and Nick Wallace (Chuckanut/St. Mary's) comes in at loosehead.
The backs are unchanged except that with Andrew Suniula's unfortunate injury, Folau Niua comes in at the midfield.
Eagles Select for JapanCARSON, Calif. – USA Men's 15s Team Head Coach Mike Tolkin has named his team’s starting roster for its opening match of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup against Japan Saturday, June 14, at StubHub Center. The starting XV features five changes from the Eagles’ starters in last week’s 24-6 loss to Scotland at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas, including the return of Samu Manoa at lock. Danny Barrett will earn his first starting cap at blindside flanker and Nick Wallace will partner Olive Kilifi at prop. Barrett played against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks last November, a non-test match, and was a member of the Eagles Select XV at the 2013 IRB Americas Rugby Championship in Canada last August. “We like the way Danny’s progressed,” Tolkin said.
55 Try for All American GloryMen’s Collegiate All Americans have started their assembly at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, with Head Coach Matt Sherman and his staff looking at 55 players who have four days to show they have what it takes to make the team. As happened last year, the All American team won’t be named until everyone has tried out. The camp itself will include testing, skills development, system implementation, and finish with a live scrimmage. “We think this will give us a good idea of who they are as athletes, how they learn, improve and play together, and how they compete,” said Sherman.
Questions to Answer on Eagle Women TourWith the USA women’s team off to the United Kingdom for an important three-game tour in advance of the World Cup, there are potential changes afoot. Head Coach Pete Steinberg has named a squad with plenty of players we expected to see - Jamie Burke, Emilie Bydwell, Lynelle Kugler, Nathalie Marchino, Jillion Potter, Stacey Bridges to name just a few. But Steinberg has some questions to answer, too. Namely:
Thompson Scouts On for HSAA Team
While the High School All American boys team will be assembling July 10 for their tour of South America, coaches are still scouting for one or two players to fill out the squad.
That means that Head Coach Salty Thompson and his staff will be attending several Regional All-Star Tournaments looking not only for next year’s players, but perhaps one or two for this year.
Thompson and Michael Engelbrecht will be in Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Challenge, while University of Arizona Head Coach Sean Duffy will be in Elkhart, Ind for the Midwest Rugby Challenge.
After that, Thompson goes to Portland, Ore. for the Great Northwest Challenge, and then to the New England Challenge Cup in Massachusetts. That last one may be a bit late to get players on the HSAA team, but it is also clear that breaking into this year’s tour squad won’t be easy.
Scotland Too Much for USAHOUSTON, Texas – The USA Men’s National Team lost two players to injury in the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s match against Scotland at BBVA Compass Stadium, a 24-6 loss in front of 20,001 fans. Shalom Suniula, starting his first match for the Eagles, got the game started with the kickoff and Blaine Scully nearly won it cleanly in the air. The Eagles’ penalty troubles began in that first minute, allowing Scotland to advance up the field with kicks to touch. The lineout just meters from the Eagles’ try line in the third minute was stolen by the home team, but they were penalized before they could break midfield.
Opinion: How the Eagles Can WinSo the USA Men’s National Team is up against yet another Tier I Nation. In case you hadn’t noticed, the Eagles have never, ever, beaten a Tier I Nation (for our purposes that would be England, Scotland, France, Ireland, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and Samoa - some might argue Fiji is a Tier I Nation, and the Eagles beat them in 1999, but the IRB doesn’t think so, and they are ranked #11, so I’d say no … Italy, also, is borderline and probably ranks as Tier I despite being ranked #14 in the world). Why the Eagles haven’t toppled one of these top teams is obvious - the top teams, being traditional rugby nations where athletes learn the game at a very early age, and being financially strong, and (in most cases) small enough to be able to concentrate their best players and have them train regularly, all pu
Can the Eagles Win This Time?
The last two years the USA Men's National Team has faced a top international opponent at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, only to come away with a tough to swallow loss.
In 2012, the Eagles were right there with Italy before two very dubious red cards destroyed their hopes. A year later, Ireland came away 15-12 winners in a game where the USA was just a little unlucky. Both games set USA Rugby attendance records.
Suniula Helps in FH Crisis
Last year USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin spent considerable time looking for depth at flyhalf. He got both Toby L'Estrange and Adam Siddall in games, worked with them to give himself options, and then saw his options dwindle.
Eagles Named to Face ScotlandHOUSTON, Texas – The starting roster for the Men’s Eagles’ IRB Rugby World Cup preview match against Scotland at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday, June 7, has been announced. Shalom Suniula will get his first start in an Eagles jersey at flyhalf behind Mike Petri in Houston. Suniula earned his first two caps earlier this year in the World Cup Qualifier series against Uruguay and scored a try in the second-leg victory. “We’re looking for Shalom to do what we want out of our 10s: run the show, be an organizer, be a leader,” Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin said. “He has athleticism, a nice step, he can shoot holes and take advantage of that. And he has a little bit of flair to his game, which we like.
Coaches for Youth Olympics Named
BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced Thursday the coaches for the boys and girls rugby sevens teams to compete in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, Aug. 17-20.
Ben Gollings, the all-time leading points scorer on the IRB Sevens World Series and former head coach of Sri Lanka, will coach the boys team with the help of Salty Thompson, head coach of the USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans.
Eagle Women Picked for UK Tour
BOULDER, Colo. - Following a 50-player camp, the USA Women's National Team to tour the UK has been named.
Thirty players and 10 non-traveling reserves will take to England and Wales for the final preparations before the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014.
Extensive thought was used in selecting the group that will take on Wales (June 28) and England (July 2 and 6).
“The decisions we made this week defined careers of players, so they deserved a deliberate process,” Eagles Head Coach Pete Steinberg said. “All areas were considered and we reviewed the performances from all games over the past three years.”
Steinberg and his staff took into account all aspects of a player’s abilities - both on and off the field.
