USA players at Saracens are making a huge impact, so said Owen Farrell and Neil De Kock, two Saracens stars who, while on injury rehab, visited the training facility of their sister club in Seattle.

Farrell and De Kock are on a North American educational tour and spent much of Wednesday morning working with Seattle Saracens players as they prepare for the National Club 7s and the World Club 7s in August. But while there was a lot of talk about training ideas and fostering partnerships, in the backs of the minds of many young players in the area was the question of how they can get overseas.

“It’s always something you’re thinking about,” said Seattle and USA prop Olive Kilifi, who got his start with the West Seattle Stormers U19 team before switching to the Seattle Vikings.

De Kock and Farrell know all too well the desire to get overseas, as currently four USA players - Chris Wyles, Titi Lamositele (Chuckanut U19s), Hayden Smith (Metro State), and Thretton Palamo (SFGG u19s, Utah) - are with the club. Palamo is on a trial, while the other three are under contract. Chris Wyles, who was born in the USA but developed as a rugby player in England, is one of the club’s star players.

De Kock and Farell are star players, too, with the former having been capped for South Africa and having played over 200 games for Saracens, and Farrell an England and British Lions flyhalf.

Both welcome USA players at Saracens.

“From a playing perspective they fit in so easily,” said De Kock. “I am excited to see what Thretton has to offer - he’s a scary human being.” at this point Farrell chimes in “and Titi.”

“These guys bring a lot of energy,” added De Kock, “and everyone who has come from America have fitted in immediately. They bring energy, they bring whatever experience they have with them. They add value. Hopefully there’ll be more guys in the future.”

Goff Rugby Report wanted to check in especially on the progress of Lamositele, who went from playing high school rugby in the spring of 2013 to playing with the USA senior national team in the summer and with Saracens in the fall. Lamositele is still a project, as props are usually expected to be in their prime in their late 20s. But he is a project with strength and power and skills.

“In our club he’ll get exposed to some big games and you learn very quickly,” said Farrell. “It was only last week we had a preseason game against Montpellier and he played 75 minutes. For him when he’s 19, a prop especially, to be exposed to that and be exposed to one of the leading teams in Europe will help him learn as quickly as he can. He’s got a lot of strengths to him and he’s a powerful player and some good skills. I think with more game time he’ll become a student of the game.”

Saracens is likely scouting for talent in the USA, since many English clubs are limited in the geographic area where they can recruit locally. The connection with Seattle is a natural one.

“Every player who plays rugby that’s something they want to shoot for,” said Kilifi. “Partnering up with Saracens gives athletes here a chance to shoot for that opportunity.”