As the USA U20 men finish uo the World U20 Trophy with Sunday morning's match vs Hong Kong, they will be without their captain.
Dom Besag, who was a standout for an exceptional De La Salle HS team in 2022 and followed that up with an excellent showing for Saint Mary's this past season as a freshman, has been asked to join the USA senior national team assembly about to convene in Romania. As a result, USA Head Coach Scott Lawrence asked USA U20 Head Coach Kyle Sumsion to sit Besag down for Sunday's U20 game.
And that is what has happened. Besag is the latest in a long list of young rugby players getting a look for the Eagles in their summer tour of Europe. And while the U20s have not found wins at the U20 Trophy, it's worth pointing out that this year they sit 2-3, with two of their losses by a total of three points. Their other loss was to Scotland.
Sunday the Junior Eagles take on Hong Kong to avoid finishing 8th out of eight in the U20 Trophy.
The game kicks off at 3AM ET and will be shown on Kenya Rugby's YouTube channel>>
Cal's Reed Santos replaces Besag at inside center, and that's not the only change. Three players who didn't start against Zimbabwe will start in the pack, with some positional shifting as well (Logan Ballinger going from flanker to No. 8 and Will Sherman shifting from lock to flanker).
The only back starting at the same position as he did against Zimbabwe is scrumhalf Solomon Williams. Santos shifts to center, and so does wing Aisake Tukuafu. High O'Kennedy comes in at flyhalf and also takes on the role of captain, while the deep three is completely changed.
