USA Men’s Eagles Head Coach Scott Lawrence has made several changes to the lineup as the USA faces Scotland Friday night in Washington DC.
The game, part of the 2024 American Series presented by USA Rugby and AEG Rugby, kicks off at 6:30PM and will be live on FloRugby.
These changes appear to be more of a long-term plan than an instant reaction to last week's loss to Romania. Former Gonzaga and Cal prop Jack Iscaro, now with Old Glory in MLR, comes in at prop and fomer Libery Patriots and current Stade Toulousain prop David Ainu'u comes in at prop also, having just helped his cub to a dominant win in the Top 14 final in France.
Seattle Seawolves wing Conner Mooneyham (The Woodlands, Life University) is set to make his USA Eagles debut at wing as Christian Dyer will sit out on injury recovery. Utah Warriors lock Saia Uhila and Old Glory DC scrumhalf Ethan McVeigh have an opportunity to earn their first USA Eagles cap off the bench. Uhila, 36, grew up in Tonga but has been in the USA for over 10 years, playing all along the West Coast. McVeigh played for St. Augustine HS in Southern California and with EIRA before attending Cardiff Met. He is 24.
“Transition has gone better this round," said Lawrence. "In Chicago we had a partial week as our first assembly together, so with a full week under our belts we’ve been able to go to the next level with our training and off-field conversations. We are in better alignment now with a new 9 and 10 combination on the team from last year. I think cohesion is starting to come together, so we’ll build into this week and further into the Pacific Nations Cup."
It was pretty clear the team that played Romania had not been together long, or for much time in the last several months. Lawrence said today he expects more time will fuel improvement. He also expects to give more players, including younger players, opportunities if they earn it.
“Anytime we get to play on home soil, it means a lot to be the American national team. Washington DC is special because we can look around and see the memorials, pulling inspiration from the sacrifice of those who have come before us. We’re hoping to inspire the next playing generation, so it’s no lost on us the impact that we see here in our nation’s capital," added Lawrence.
The bench will be a 5-3 split with five forwards, an indication perhaps that Lawrence will want to play a wider, more expansive game against a Scotland team that just beat Canada 73-12 in Toronto. Overall there are six changes to the starting lineup, with Vili Helu coming in at lock, Paddy Ryan at flanker, and Luke Carty in at fullback.
