USA Men’s 15s Head Coach Scott Lawrence has made several changes to the USA lineup as the Eagles prepare to face Fiji Saturday at 6AM ET.

The game, one of two semifinals in the Pacific Nations Cup this weekend, will be live on Peacock.

Six players who didn’t start against Japan will be in the starting 15 against Fiji and there are come corresponding changes on the bench.

Perhaps most notable is Chris Mattina coming in at flyhalf for Luke Carty, who is unavailable this weekend. Cal standout Rand Santos is on the bench as flyhalf/fullback cover, while Toby Fricker earns his first cap, starting at fullback.

“We knew Luke was gonna be away for this for this test match from the very beginning, so it's always been part of the plan,” said Lawrence. “Chris has been working in at 10 and Toby's a natural 15 anyway. We've been training two full backlines for the entire assembly, so we expect some cohesion there. They slotted in well.”

This is a completely new combination of flyhalf and fullback, a position upon which a heavy decision-making and kicking responsibility falls. 

“For us, it's kicking on our own terms,” said gameday captain Nate Augspurger, who is coming off a two-try game against Japan last week. “That's something you probably heard in the past, but we're going to play the game at at our tempo. In the areas where we need to kick, it's going to be important that we are set and that we get a good kick off so that we can get a good chase.”

On the other side of the kicking game is how Fiji is expected to counter on kicks.

“The other side of it is obviously they are good in space,” Augspurger continued. “And so if the balls get scrappy and the ball gets loose, we've worked really hard on on getting connected on defense, but also just getting to that ball first. So those are the kind of things we're just focused on is is getting on getting on top of that ball and having a good, solid kick, chase.

Also notable among the changes is Greg Peterson, who has captained the USA through four test matches this year, is on the bench getting a bit of a rest, while Nate Augspurger takes on the captain’s role. That puts Vili Helu and Jason Damm in the second row. 

Saint Mary’s undergrad Dom Besag, who came off the bench to make a couple of key plays in the last two matches, gets a start at outside center.

On these and other changes, Lawrence said: “when you look at a tour of this length and the intensity of the games, I think it's important to keep an eye on your depth and your succession planning in each position. So it's always a focus going in. And then [Head of Performance] Alex Ross does a really nice job of letting us know where the load is on the players, and how we can manage that. So, we're just looking for consistency and performance from the guys. And that comes down to the three pillars that are now the key of our of our campaign.”

New Caps

Rand Santos is the flyhalf for Cal. He played rugby at the International School of Manila and his brother, Reed, led Babson to a national small-college championship. The 6-3, 205-lb Santos can play flyhalf, center, and fullback.  Toby Fricker is a wing fullback who grew up in Wales and played professionally in Wales and the English Premiership. His mother was born in the USA, which is how he qualifies for the USA. He is 29.