A USA Military Rugby team will be touring England in November of this year.
This team, which revitalizes a long history of an all-military rugby team of USA servicemen, will play the British Army senior men’s 15 in November to honor the Armistice and Soldier Remembrance period of recognition in both countries. This match will be played in London and the British Army will host the USA Military Team at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst (Britain’s West Point). The Americans will stay there and train in preparation for the match on November 12, the day after Remembrance Day.
Former USA Men’s 15s Head Coach and current General Manager of PR7s, Mike Tolkin, will serve as Head Coach.
"It is an honor and privilege to be named Head Coach of USA Military Rugby in its match with the British Army Rugby Union Senior Men’s XV to Honor the Armistice and Soldier Remembrance,” said Tolkin. “Our men and women of the Armed Services in America, along with their families, make supreme sacrifices each day to maintain our freedom and way of life. I am thrilled to be welcomed into their ranks. There is no better way to honor and remember our brave veterans and soldiers than on the pitch against our close friends and allies in the UK.”
“We have a long history of co-operation,” added Brigadier James P Cook OBE, Chairman, Army Rugby Union. “So I very much hope that this opportunity to use sport to further those bonds of friendship is one that you are able to accept. There is work to be done to add the flesh to the bones of this foundation, however we are standing by to make it so.”
The USA Military Rugby team will be made up of current or former players from the USA National Team, Major League Rugby, Services Academies, Military Service Teams, Men’s Clubs, and University programs. It will include active duty, reserve, National Guard, and veterans from the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force.
