Eagles Take 28 to Houston

06.03.2014National Teams

USA Men's Head Coach Mike Tolkin has named his 28 players to travelto Houston to take on Scotland at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday.

This came after a tough, 40-man camp in Denver. Tolkin said the team had a good, hard day of training on Monday with "lots of commitment" and it was needed, as all the overseas players are now in camp and ready to play.

The team is healthy, and deep at most positions. Toby L'Estrange is not available at flyhalf due to an injury incurred while playing for London Welsh, and Adam Siddall, who had been struggling with a concussion earlier in the year, was not picked for Houston. So flyhalf comes down to Shalom Suniula or perhaps former East Palo Alto U19 product Folau Niua.

As reported earlier, this group probably has more alumni of American high school programs than any Eagles team before it.

Seventeen of the 28 players have played HS rugby in the USA, with Chuckanut of Washington state leading the list with three players, all props (Titi Lamositele, Shawn Pittman, and Nick Wallace). Xavier wuld have three if you count coaches, as Seamus Kelly, Mike Petri, and Tolkin all played at Xavier. Five players (the Chuckanut props plus Ollie Kilifi and Scott LaValla) played HS rugby in Washington, and five played in California.

Notable in this list are Miles Craigwell, the former Brown University football standout who played 7s for the USA and has been pushing to get a spot on the 15s team, and Troy Hall, another player long on the outskirts who battled work and injury to get the timing right.

Danny BarrettUSA Rugby Sevens

Todd CleverNTT Shining Arcs Japan

Tom CoolicanNYAC

Miles CraigwellSeattle-OPSB

Cameron DolanNorthampton FC England

Eric FryLondon Scottish England

Troy HallSeattle-OPSB

Luke HumeNarbonne France

Seamus KellyUniv. of California

Olive KilifiSeattle-OPSB

Titi LamositeleSaracens RFC England

Scott LavallaStade Francais France