Eagles Named to Face Stade Toulousain
USA Men's 15s interim Head Coach Scott Lawrence had named his squad to face French professional team Stade Toulousain in Sandy, Utah Saturday.
The game will feature more reserves than usual and Lawrence has named a gameday squad of 26.
"We've been focused on getting the newly joined players up to speed with the basics of what we do as a team, getting them connected into the squad. We're looking forward to playing against a really good opponent, it's going to be highly skilled and a fast game that will hopefully be entertaining for our home fans," said Lawrence.
USA v Stade Toulousain
Saturday, Sept. 16, 9pm ET
America First Field | Sandy, UT pic.twitter.com/Dhd0LJDpMP
USA Rugby Brings Milton Haig In as Interim WNT Head Coach
USA Rugby announced today that Milton Haig will assume the interim head coach role for the USA Women’s Eagles during their 2023 Fall test match window.
As the Board of Directors and leadership continue to evaluate a strong pool of candidates for the full-time permanent head coaching role, Haig will lead the team and a new set of interim assistant coaches during the friendly with Wales and WXV2 series in South Africa. Rich Ashfield, who had been in the interim role through this year’s Pacific Four Series, will remain with the team during their joint training camp in Ireland before handing over to Haig. Ashfield will then return home to his new role as Head Coach and Director of Rugby at Stanford University.
Eagle Hopefuls Need More Game Time
One of the comments Scott Lawrence kept bringing up in our recent interview with him was “game time.”
It isn’t enough, said the USA Men’s 15s Head Coach, to be on a professional team. You have to actually play. And, really, you have to play 60 to 80 minutes rather than run on for those last 15-20 minutes.
So while the minutes played statistics are not public from Major League Rugby, a quick tour of team lineups shows a very small number of draftees from 2022 or 2021 in the gameday 23s.
Scott Lawrence on Eagle Goals, Learning, Fool's Gold
Having had a couple of weeks to reflect, and with the Rugby World Cup coming up as a stark reminder that the USA is not attending, USA Men's 15s Head Coach Scott Lawrence spoke with GRR about the last three test matches and what's on the horizon.
Wins and Losses
Judging on wins and losses is probably unfair at this point with a USA team in a rebuilding mode. Beating Romania was nice, but that performance had its hiccups. Losing to Portugal unveiled some issues, while losing to Georgia carried something of a better feeling because it was closer.
USA U23 Men Win RugbyTown 7s
In what has been a very difficult tournament to win, the USA Men's U23s took home the trophy at the 2023 RugbyTown 7s in Glendale, Colo. Sunday.
So close in 2022, when they lost to Ramblin' Jesters in the final, the U23s brought back the bulk of that squad to try to go one better.
As, since this is essentially the USA Futures team, you'd think they would, right? However, the RugbyTown 7s is full of professional or semi-professional players, and even some of the not-so-pro teams have been together for a long time. Youthful exuberance and potential are nice, but experience and unity of purpose are pretty good, too.
This time, the experience of playing together last year helped as the USA U23s went 7-0, posting two shutouts, and generally winning by comfortable margins. They were pushed hard twice, both times by NAV Sevens, and held on.
Why Did They Move the Kickoff For USA vs Toulouse?
The promoters' decision to move the USA vs Stade Toulousain from Sunday, September 17 to Saturday, September 16 was based fairly heavily on fan and partner requests.
Sunday, of course, is a difficult day for things like attending rugby games for those living in Utah as much of the day for members of the LDS Church (Mormons) is taken up with church services. That had an influence, said Utah Warriors Marketing Manager Hannah Miner, who spoke with GRR about the change.
But more broadly, said Miner, there were just more fans, regardless of reason, who wanted to see the game on Saturday.
So the move would, said Miner, "open it up to people wouldn't have been able to come."
The Warriors and The Rugby Alliance, who are promoting the game, were indeed receiving messages from fans asking for the game to be held on Saturday.
Promoters Announce That USA vs Stade Toulousain To Be Played a Day Earlier
The Utah Warriors have announced that the USA vs Stade Toulousain game in September has been rescheduled.
Initially scheduled for Sunday, September 17, the game has now been moved to Saturday, September 16 at America First Field in Sandy, UT.
According to the Warriors, the move was in response to public demand for the game to be held on the Saturday evening.
Job Done; USA Men Books Paris 2024 Spot
The USA Men's 7s team has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after beating Canada 24-14 Sunday afternoon in Langford, BC.
The Eagles overcame a couple of big mistakes that helped Canada to their tries, but paced by the brilliance and leadership of captain Kevon Williams and plenty of hard work they were able to get home with the win in front of a vocally pro-Canada crowd.
Day One at RAN 7s Qualifiers for Paris
Canada and the USA lead their pools in the Men's RAN 7s Qualifiers after Day One action.
The USA dominated their games 62-0 over Bermuda and 40-0 over Mexico.
USA Starts Strong at RAN 7s Qualifier
USA Head Coach Mike Friday was somewhat muted in his praise.
"Still three or four unforced errors that we need to tidy up," Friday told our on-site correspondent Dave Miller. "Still some pieces to work on despite scoring 100 points, but the boys are in a good place, the chemistry's decent, we're moving well, the work ethic's high and they're supporting one another."
USA 62 Bermuda 0
Tries: Channel 2, Pinkelman, Esdale 3, Lacamp 2, Cummings, Baker
Convs: Tomasin 6
USA Starts Strong at RAN 7s Qualifier
The USA looked composed and dynamic in beating Bermuda 62-0 in their RAN 7s opener.
There is more to come.
@USARugby men at @RugbyAmericasN 7s Paris 2024 qualifiers. Good start. Captain Kevon Williams speaks with our correspondent Dave Miller. pic.twitter.com/rfmMgzKGbZ
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) August 19, 2023
USA Battles Hard but Georgia Wins
Georgia defeated the USA 22-7 Saturday evening in Tbilisi, capping off a 1-2 summer tour for the Eagles.
The performance by the USA overall was hit and miss. Several issues from last week’s loss to Portugal saw improvement, including better intent with ball-in-hand, better kick chase and defense on counterattacks, and fewer mistakes.
But there were still some mistakes, often at crucial moments.
Get Your Kicks
The game began with some high balls back and forth as both teams were looking for an advantage. Georgia got the ball of the early exchange thanks to a penalty against the Eagles and they took a lineout and set up the maul. The Eagles defended very well, and while they were penalized, Georgia opted to avoid a maul the second time and tapped.
More Changes for Eagles as they Face Georgia Saturday
The USA Men's 15s team caps off its summer tour with a very challenging test match against Georgia in Tbilisi.
This meeting has traditionally been very close but this is young and rebuilding USA team facing a seasons Lelos side that just beat Romania 56-6 (the same Oaks side the Eagles beat 31-17).
Why It Matters, A Lot; Olympic Qualifiers
As the RAN 7s Olympic qualifier gets set to kick off on Saturday, the gravity of the situation is something the USA team has to appreciate … and forget about.
“For us, it means the world,” said USA captain Kevon Williams. “We know we’re supposed to be here. We know qualifying is really important.”
“From a business perspective, too, it’s huge,” added Head Coach Mike Friday. “From a USOPC and philanthropy perspective it’s really important. We need World Rugby to recognize that 7s is the way to grow the game both forms.”
RMA Podcast: Play Every Game Like It's Your Last
All-time USA great Gary Lambert sits down with Bruce McLane in this latest RuggaMatrix America podcast.
Lambert, who played 21 times for the USA (back when five test matches was a really busy year), shares his views on the 1987 World Cup, playing for a World XV, and the value of touring.
He touches on what we gained and what we lost with the most to professionalism in the 1990s, and looks at where the current national team is.
But more than that, this is about rugby's life lessons, and family.
It's insightful, raw, poignant, and worth a listen.
US Rugby Foundation, USA Rugby Partner for Eagle Alumni Association
GLENDALE, Colo. – The US Rugby Foundation and USA Rugby have developed present a partnership with the USA Rugby Eagle Alumni Association, a collective group of former USA Eagle Rugby players that focuses on re-engaging former USA Rugby National Team players.
The primary goal of this partnership is to bolster previous USA Eagles players to support and impact the growth of rugby in the United States.
Sub-goals for this collaboration are to:
● Build a USA Eagle community that has lifelong engagement and connectivity
● Aid the current USA National Teams and pathway programs
● Provide player transition opportunities in their post-playing careers
● Create an environment for meaningful player engagement
