The USA squad for the November tour is going to be announced soon, and it’s going to be a list of players who will be available for specific games, and with few available for all.

 

This highlights the difficulties inherent in a system where a country’s best players play overseas. Those leagues are good, and being able to play professionally is a wonderful thing for those athletes, but USA Rugby has little control of those players - certainly not to the extent that the New Zealand RFU has their All Blacks in camp solidly from August through November.

 

Here’s why there’s a difficulty. There are rules within world rugby that force pro clubs to release players for international teams at specific times of the year. There’s a window in March, one in June, and one in November. Clubs can’t force a player to stay during those times. But the USA v New Zealand game on November 1 doesn’t fall within that window. The window actually starts that following week. So pro clubs are under no mandate to allow their players to leave.

 

That put USA Rugby in a position of having to negotiate the release of some of their top players. Why? Because the Eagles are playing the All Blacks, and they need their best 15 November 1 to put in their best performance. So the terms were set - USA Rugby had a big need and little to negotiate with, and top pro teams had the rules on their side, and all the power. You can see where this is going.

 

The Eagles will get all their best players for the All Blacks and in some cases that is the only game those players will play (you can guess the names, and so can we - Samu Manoa, Chris Wyles, Blaine Scully are definitely on that list, and probably a few more. (Northampton, Saracens, Newcastle, and Leicester all have two league games during the November window.)

 

But when they play Romania, Tonga, and Fiji, the lineup will look very different. I think Todd Clever will be available for all four games, and the French Top 14 gets two weeks off in November, so maybe Scott LaValla will be available then. But it’s going to be a different USA squad to play those last three games than will play the All Blacks. 

 

Why? Because USA Rugby really had no choice. They have to put their best players on the field against the All Blacks. Getting 60,000 fans to Soldier Field is a big win for USA Rugby, but they have to play well, too. No one is picking the Eagles to win this game, but there’s losing and being competitive, and there’s losing and being steamrolled. No one wants to be steamrolled.

 

So here’s a list of 18 players who will likely make up the 15 starters plus two top subs against New Zealand: Eric Fry, Nick Wallace, Phil Thiel, Olive Kilifi, Lou Stanfill, Hayden Smith, Scott LaValla, Samu Manoa, Todd Clever, Cam Dolan, Mike Petri, Adam Siddall, Andrew Suniula, Seamus Kelly, Folau Niua, Blaine Scully, Brett Thompson, and Chris Wyles.

 

Those are pretty much plug-n-play Eagles right there. Of those, maybe half will be unavailable the rest of November. That means is several players will get a shot at playing more minutes. Who benefits?

 

John Cullen. Played really well in the ARC. He’s big and athletic, and will have a chance to show it for 60-80 minutes.

 

Tai Tuisamoa. He plays in the English 2nd division, the RFU Championship. His team is essentially tied for 1st right now, but he might get away for a game or two.  

 

Danny Barrett or Kyle Sumsion. The regular USA back row is quite good, but if there’s room, you want to see one of these in it for a full game.

 

Some young prop. A couple - Ben Tarr and Angus MacLellan, showed significant promise in the ARC. The question is, is that enough? 

 

Somebody on the wing or at fullback. Looking at the ARC, Troy Hall played really well. Tim Stanfill, of course, kept coming up with tries. Tim Maupin is still very solid. But this may also (with Luke Hume injured) be an area of great need if Wyles, Scully, and Thompson can’t play all the games.

 

(Actually, I’d put Shalom Suniula at flyhalf and put Adam Siddall at fullback, but I’m not picking the team.)

 

And finally, there has to be some surprise coming. There always is. We could see a USA-qualified player who is new to the radar (I think we will). We could see a player or two who seemed out of favor (I can think of at least four guys who fall into that category). We could see longtime club players who have been knocking on the door finally get in. We could see guys on the edge of the pro scene get released later in the month (who could I mean?).

 

We could see all of that, and in the end I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. I think a USA team without Samu Manoa or Blaine Scully or Chris Wyles can still beat Romania. I think a forward pack with Kilifi and Wallace, and Cullen with Lou Sanfill, and a back row of Kyle Sumsion, Danny Barrett, and Todd Clever would do just fine. The halfback combo won’t change, and the centers won’t change. There would be some work to do in the deep three, but that’s work they can do. And … as I said … expect a surprise.

 

 

Notes: The USA team quietly made a coaching change over the ARC, but it was one that was expected. Billy Millard, being USA Rugby’s 15s High Performance Director, has stepped away from his backs/attack coach role. Nate Osborne, who is Head Coach at the Metropolis club, has stepped in. Justin Fitzpatrick remains in charge of the forwards, Phil Bailey remains in charge of defense, and Chris O’Brien is still the kicking coach.


And ... just imagine the headache it is for Mike Tolkin to assemble this team. To have four test matches in four weeks in four countries and four different time zones, and then to have to find players who can be available for one or two games because another guy can only do one or two games. It is a monumental task.