The Boys HS All Americans are getting set to kick off U18 European Championships Friday in Brittany, France.

The HSAA team is in the Championship bracket, which is the top level (The Trophy is the second level, and the third level is The Conference). They are staying in Plobannalec-Lesconil, which is a small seaside town in Northwestern France on the Bay of Biscay. The closest large town is Quimper, which is where the All Americans will start the tournament Friday, playing Portugal at Quimper - Creac’h Gwen rugby club.  

The trip will include some cultural activities as well as rugby, but the rugby is paramount as Head Coach Salty Thompson. The players flew out of Detroit on Tuesday, flew to Paris, and then took a seven-hour bus ride to their base of operations.

"It's a bit isolated out there on the peninsula," said Thompson. "They're going to be tired, but these guys have been around this for a while and know what to expect."

This is a playoff bracket format, and Friday's game is the quarterfinals. The USA team, the HS All Americans, will play Portugal. Japan plays Belgium, Georgia plays Canada, and France plays Spain.

The next game day will be Thursday, April 11, and the HSAA team will play either France or Spain. 

The final placement games will be Saturday, April 15.

The opening game against Portugal will kick off Friday at 9:30am PT, 12:30pm PT and will be live streamed here.

Here is the HSAA roster.