Eagles Names for ARC - <50% to Play All 5

USA Men's 15s Head Coach John Mitchell has named his list of players for the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC).

The Eagles will play in five games: 

Uruguay - Saturday, Feb. 4 at Toyota Field, San Antonio, Texas

Brazil - Saturday, Feb. 11 at Dell Diamond, Round Rock Texas (Austin area)

Canada - Saturday, Feb. 18 at Swangard Stadium, Burnaby BC (Vancouver area)

Chile - Saturday, Feb. 25 (expected to be in Santiago)

Argentina XV - Saturday, March 4 (non-test game)

As happened last year, the Eagles are forced to name a large squad of players, not all of whom are available for every game. Despite the ARC falling inside the Six Nations/Northern Hemisphere test match window, USA Rugby, perhaps because of earlier deals made with pro clubs, has not been able to secure the availability of every overseas pro. 

So Titi Lamositele, who recently scored a crucial game-tying for Saracens against Exeter (see here https://youtu.be/7wCTyX8EBVc?t=1m19s), his first for the Saracens 1st side in the Premiership, won't be in the squad. Absent, too, is Samu Manoa, who recently played in a losing effort against Lamositele's Saracens. Taku Ngwenya, who seems to have a new lese on his rugby life at Brive, is not available, and neither is Thretton Palamo, who is becoming a go-to player for Bristol. The other major European pros, such as Blaine Scully, Cam Dolan, Nick Civetta, and AJ MacGinty are available, but for limited games.

So, once again, Mitchell has had to look at the five games in the ARC with an eye toward balancing his talent, and also with an eye toward who is waiting in the wings if there's an injury - not only an injury on the Eagles, but an injury on a pro teams, resulting in a call-back for one of the USA players.

So for this lineup of 36 players, less than half will be available for all five games. And the positions are not exactly spread evenly. Of the 17 players available for all five games, only one is a lock, and only two are loose forwards, while three play flyhalf. So Mitchell will have to retool much of his pack every game. The good news is that a solid group of front-rowers can play through, with Chris Baumann anchoring a front group that includes former USA U20 player Ben Tarr, former Collegiate All American Tony Purpura - who was first on the radar about nine years ago - and hookers Pete Malcolm (U20 and Collegiate All American), and Tony Hilterbrand.

Of the prominent professionals, MacGinty gets a look, but only for the opener against Uruguay - an important game, to be sure, but a winnable one without him. Scully, too, is only available for the Uruguay clash. Cam Dolan will miss the Uruguay game but will be available for every other contest, and that's very good news for a USA team that needs his combination of height, pace, athleticism, and experience. 

Here's the list of players, where they play, and what US college and HS teams they played for, plus what games they will be available for. Below this list we break the squad down by position:

* means not capped

Props: Baumann, Tarr, Pupura, Beach, Maughan, Kilifi, Waldren 

Hookers: Hilterbrand, Malcolm, Germishuys

Locks: Jensen, Mahoni, Civetta, Brakeley, Dolan, Tameilau

Loose Forwards: Clever, Dolan, Lamborn, McFarland, Quill, Tameilau, Germishuys

Scrumhalves: Augspurger, Davies

Flyhalves: McGinty, Eloff, Magie, Cima

Centers: Campbell, Whiting, Matyas, Eloff, Davis, Te'o

Wings: Hume, Turner, Test, Scully, Te'o, Davis