The USA Men's National Team has announced that Todd Clever has been dropped from the team, effective immediately.

The announcement posted today on USARugby.org cited "multiple squad conduct violations."

Also in the announcement, USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin said, "clearly, this is not a pleasant or desirable circumstance for either party."

Tolkin had removed Clever as captain before the Pacific Nations Cup, and while that move was as much to reward Chris Wyles, it was also an indication that not all was well with the relationship between Tolkin and Clever - two men who first worked together with the USA U19 team in the early 2000s.

Not being captain, Clever was supposedly free to just concentrate on securing his place on the team, which wasn't a done deal considering the competition among loose forwards on the Eagles. Clearly it appeared that Tolkin was testing him - would he respond to losing the captaincy with sanguinity?

With the relationship apparently soured, this week Clever missed two mandatory sessions. The first warranted a warning and a message that there should not be a second. The second led to the announcement that he is off the team.

Whether this rift can be repaired remains to be seen - rifts between players and coaches, including between players and Tolkin, have been repaired before.