Eagles Named to Face Canada
Eagles Named to Face Canada
USA Men's 15s Head Coach John Mitchell has named his squad for Saturday's clash with Canada in the Americas Rugby Championship.
Canada Names Lineup to Face USA
The game will kick off at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC at 5pm Pacific Time and will be on The Rugby Channel live, behind the pay wall.
Mitchell has been using the ARC as a tool to pare down his Rugby World Cup Qualifier squad, and he makes a small number of changes from the team that blew out Brazil last week.
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Anthony Purpura, Peter Malcolm, and Chris Baumann return as starters in the front row, where they started against Uruguay. Purpura was uncapped for seven years before getting called back up to the Eagles this winter.
"I am very excited to be back on the team," Purpura told Goff Rugby Report. It's been a long road, and the former University of Maine standout has worked hard to get here.
Nick Civetta and Nate Brakeley seemed to have locked down second row, but the back row changes a somewhat, once again. Todd Clever captains the side from blindside flank, while try-scoring openside Tony Lamborn returns. Cam Dolan, who was a sub last week, starts at No. 8.
The backline basically unchanged from last week's selections, except that former Tempe U19s and University of Arizona All American Ryan Matyas gets the start at right wing in favor of SPike Davis. Will Magie, who had a shaky day kicking last week, but has shown good field awareness and poise, returns at flyhalf.
Mitchell has opted for six forwards and just two backs on the bench, as opposed to five and three, which is how he's done it in the past. New faces include former HS All American Siaosi Mahoni, a monster of a second row, and former Peninsula Green standout David Tameilau, who got a look last year and has been working to get himself fit for international rugby.
Thirteen of the 23 named played high school rugby in the USA or were part of the HS All Amrican and Junior All American programs.
USA Lineup to Face Canada
1. Anthony Purpura
2. Peter Malcolm
3. Chris Baumann
4. Nate Brakeley
5. Nick Civetta
6. Todd Clever (C)
7. Tony Lamborn
8. Cameron Dolan
9. Shaun Davies
10. Will Magie
11. Nate Augspurger
12. JP Eloff
13. Bryce Campbell
14. Ryan Matyas
15. Mike Te'o
Reserves
16. James Hilterbrand
17. Dino Waldren
18. Ben Tarr
19. Siaosi Mahoni
20. John Quill
21. David Tameilau
22. Ben Cima
23. Aaron Davis
