USA Men's 15s Head Coach Scott Lawrence has named 54 players in the 2023 USA Men’s Eagles player pool.
The list has several well-known players, notably captain AJ MacGinty, Bryce Campbell, David Ainu'u, Dam Dolan, Joe Taufete'e, Dylan Fawsitt, and Ruben de Haas. There are also players who were in the USA program, moved away for some reason, and are now back, such as Peter Malcolm, Martin Iosefo, and Ben Landry. And this list includes 19 who have not been capped. Many of them are standouts in college or even high school who have moved up into the pro ranks, including former Cal captain Sam Golla, and recent West Point standout Collin Grosse.
Lawrence and staff will review the pool of 54 to eventually select traveling rosters for the upcoming three-match Europe tour in August, and a hoped-for test series later in the fall. (Remember the USA will not be playing in the Rugby World Cup so they have to find games around that.)
Some players are nursing injuries and will not be available this summer but still are on the radar: Benjamin Bonasso, Cory Daniel, Hanco Germishuys, Jason Damm, Mike Dabulas, Nafi Ma’afu, and Paul Lasike.
“We’re grateful to the Eagles DnA group who watched all of our American players in detail each week in order to form a more complete profile for selection," said Lawrence. "I believe we achieved a fair balance of enhanced analytics from Jimmy Harrison and coach intuition from the DnA group into the selection process. The EPS named is as of today, there are several more players outside of the 54 knocking on the door that can still make their way into the EPS through the remainder of this season."
Lawrence said players will be tracked along several metrics, including how they operate as teammates and representatives of American rugby.
"Final selection will now come down to character above talent," said Lawrence. "That means the degree to which our values of love, work, and energy show up. Every game we watch in these final few weeks we’ll be checking to see who can consistently deliver the intensity we need to play a dynamic American game plan.”
The player selections come following a recent alignment camp hosted by Lawrence and staff in North Carolina this past March. The gathering brought current team leadership together with influential Men’s Eagles alumni to recalibrate the identity and the team environment going forward. Attending players included AJ MacGinty, Nate Augspurger, Tavite Lopeti, Dylan Fawsitt and Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz, alongside Eagle alumni Alatini Saulala, David Hodges, Chris Wyles, and Blaine Scully. Also in attendance was U20 Head Coach and Eagle alumnus Kyle Sumsion.
“We set out to connect the past Eagles with current Eagles to define the characteristics of an ideal Eagle that thrives in a great Eagle environment," said Lawrence. "The group established a new vision for the 2023 Eagles team and more importantly alignment on an action plan we’ll put in place over the next four months to produce ideal Eagles and great Eagle teams in both the U20s and senior team. There is real clarity now that we are part of an unbroken chain of past Eagles that have experience on offer and want to see the team do great things, things never done before. I’m proud of the group’s focus and inspired to do my part in implementing the vision.”
