The USA men's national team has its gameday 23 to face Australia XV Saturday evening at Geodis Park in Nashville.
Tickets available: https://eagles.rugby/tickets
As he has almost the entire season, Head Coach Scott Lawrence has rotated some players in as he looks to ensure more players get meaningful minutes.
The 2027 Rugby World Cup looms larger each week, and there are opportunities to think long-term (such as the USA team's assembly in Japan). Also looming is the Nations Cup, where the Eagles can come away with a title of sorts this November.
"Our main focus is always the Eagles and the players here and their development and our performance," said Lawrence. "We had some really clear things that we needed to get better at coming out of Japan, and those things are relevant in every test match, including November, so that's where our focus is at the moment."
Notable in the lineup for this week, Oscar Lennon gets a start at scrumhalf. This is not a capped test match, but it is a country capture match, meaning a player who plays in this game is now committed to playing for that country. Lennon qualifies for the USA because his dad was born in Ohio, but he grew up in Wales so qualifies for Wales, too. When he takes the field this Saturday in Nashville he will be committed to the Eagles.
(This match is a capture match but the second game between Australia XV and USA will not be.)
"Oscar joined us late in Japan, and has been a infectious personality and good guy in the environment," said Lawrence. "He's a really smart rugby player, so we've enjoyed having him. I think we want to see him do well and put a lot of miles on the tires this week. So I think that's a that's an important thing."
Other players who need time and a chance to test themselves against what will be a very strong Australia XV side are Tonga Kofe, who Lawrence said he'd like to see playing in Europe, and Dom Besag.
"Tonga has been coming along really well. His development's been fantastic, and you know we've made some changes here, you know, around the environment to accelerate the front row development a little bit, which have been which have been good. So so we're looking for Tonga to really put himself in a showcase window," said Lawrence. "Same with Dom. I think this is an opportunity for Dom. When you play the Aussies, they've got great backs, really expressive and talented, and so it'll be a good opportunity for him to to step up and show up for this game. I really just want everybody to play well and do well and get a great experience and give our home fans something to be proud of."
