USA star Scott LaValla has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup after apparently fracturing his elbow in training.

He has been replaced by Seattle Saracens loose forward Matt Trouville.

LaValla started playing rugby as a sophomore in high school with the Budd Bay Barbarians of Olympia, Wash., and captained that team, as well as the USA U19s, and later Dublin University - the first American to do so. He is an established pro with French Top 14 champions Stade Francais and one of the USA's best players.

“Scott has been a fantastic Eagle and has done so much to raise the level of play of the Eagles program,” Head Coach Mike Tolkin said in a statement to USA Rugby. “He has represented the national team with pride and distinction from age-grade through to the senior level. All of the players and staff feel for Scott, and our hearts go out to him during this unfortunate turn of events.”

“Scott LaValla’s involvement in this team is nothing short of invaluable,” Eagle Louis Stanfill said in USA Rugby's statement. “On top of being one of our top performers, he brought a level of professionalism, energy, and leadership that fueled this team to be better both on and off the field; from the bottom of the roster to the top. He holds his quality of play to a standard that is near perfection, but a standard that he expected himself to attain from training to games, and that mentality has helped us to push each other and the team culture to gain that winning edge.

“It is with great pain and grief that this injury occurred so close to such a great sporting event, and also during a time when our men’s national team has been working day and night to put our best foot forward, and has been doing so in the right direction. Scott has been all in since he first started with the national team, and his legacy will help to carry us to continue a winning tradition as the USA men’s national team.”

The loss is huge, as LaValla was one of the teams best and most reliable defenders, strong in the lineout, and a steadying force on the field. However, the Eagles are fairly deep at loose forward, and with Samu Manoa, Danny Barrett, Cam Dolan, Andrew Durutalo, and John Quill all contributing, the Eagles might well be able to cover the loss.