Back for another round with the Eagles is former Chuckanut and St. Mary’s All American Nick Wallace, who has suddenly become the top choice at prop.

The options have been dwindling through the fall. First Shawn Pittman retired. Then Titi Lamositele got injured. Then Eric Fry could only play in Chicago. And then Olive Kilifi limped off at halftime against Romania. The Eagles go into the final two games of November with one player a regular in an Eagle jersey the last couple of years, Wallace. He is joined, fortunately, but Mate Moeakiola, who earned his first cap since 2011 on November 1, and while he hasn’t received credit for it yet, earned his 28th cap against Romania when he subbed on for Kilifi.

After that it’s Ben Tarr and Angus MacLellan - good players who are untested. So if you want an experienced recent Eagle up front, it has to be Wallace. The prop knows Saturday against Tonga is an important game, given that the Eagles seem to have trouble beating a team they feel they should beat.

“We’ve tried to approach the Tonga game the same way we approach every week - keep our line speed up, put them under pressure,” said Wallace. “They’re a very good team with all those offloads and playing an open style. So we’re going to make sure we keep our wits about us and don’t bite down on fakes.”

The Eagles are coming off a win against Romania where set pieces were an issue. They misfired in the lineouts, which is a rarity, and had problems holding their ground in the scrums, which is an all-too-common occurrence. Fans watching that game could hear Lou Stanfill exhorting “Wally” to hold firm in the scrum. It was, the prop said, standard operating procedure.

“He’s just getting guys pumped and ready to go,” said Wallace. “The scrum is a lot like lifting weights - you kind of want to get your adrenaline and your emotions going. The scrums didn’t go the way we wanted to go, but we know we can do better. We just need to keep working together as an eight.”

The lineouts weren’t all that great, either, but can easily be chalked up to a big change in personnel - the pack that started against New Zealand and the pack that started against Romania had five changes. And one of those players who didn’t play, Scott LaValla, usually runs the lineout for the team.

“We had a bad day,” Wallace said. “That might sound like an excuse but some days things don’t go your way. We have been working very hard to get better.”

Wallace himself has played very well. Against Romania he was active around the field and made big contributions in the rucks, with the ball, and especially on defense. And defense is something the Eagles are pretty proud of. They gave up 17 points against Romania, but were attributed to penalties and the failure to secure set piece ball. It had nothing to do with their ability to tackle or control the gain line.

“We saw we could really hang our hat on our defense,” said Wallace. “We wanted to get up in their faces, make them go backward, and make them tired, and when we did it was a great feeling. You get an emotional boost from shoving them back or putting them on their backs. And doing well defensively opened things up for us offensively.”

Against New Zealand the Eagles defended hard but often committed two or three players to a tackle. Two is OK, said Wallace, but at some point you have to trust your teammate to make the hit.

“You want to tackle one-on-one,” he said. “New Zealand was a bit of a different beast. But against Tonga we need to trust guys to make their tackles. And they will. We’re ready to go. We’re excited. We’ve been spending time in a town where rugby is the sport, it’s a hotbed, and it’s exciting.”