USA Men's 15s Head Coach Scott Lawrence has named his matchday 23 to face Romania at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago on Friday night.
Tickets are available at usa.rugby/tickets with streaming live on FloRugby.
The squad arrived in Chicago for a brief camp beginning June 30, in prep for the continued American Series, which is produced in partnership with AEG Rugby. Starters Renger van Eerten and JP Smith are set to make their USA Eagles debut at lock and scrumhalf, respectively.
With injuries hitting potential starters Cam Dolan, Ruben de Haas, Alex Maughn, and Jason Damm, four from the ongoing 2024 roster, Viliami Helu, Kaleb Geiger, Saia Uhila, and Navy’s Ethan McVeigh, have been called up.
Helu moves into the matchday 23 as cover at loose forward and lock, while Geiger provides front-row cover on the bench . Van Eerten if a frequent starter for Brive in France's Pro D2 and is a month short of his 25 birthday. The 6-8 Dutch-raised second row played for Netherlands U20s but with an American mother he also is eligible for the USA team, which is why here is where he is. Smith is from Queenstown, South Africa and now plays for the Seattle Seawolves, where he's a regular starter. He qualifies for the USA on residency, having been with the Seawolves since 2019.
This is a USA team low on international experience, with eight starters sporting fewer than 10 caps and five of the seven reserves in the same situation (this is slightly misleading as Tommaso Boni had 11 caps with Italy before he exercised his World Rugby-approved one-time nation shift). There is some experience on the bench. Look for Luke Carty to come in at flyhalf or fullback—his ability to do that means that if there's an injury on the wing, Mitch Wilson would move to wing and Carty would like come in at fullback. Bryce Campbell and his 45 caps is also on the bench and provides cover at center, which will likely be needed as the nature of the game today asks a lot in terms of collisions of their midfielders.
The USA-vs-Romania test match has its own challenge trophy, the Pershing Cup, named after USA General John J. Pershing, (1860-1948). Because of Pershing's service in World War I he was and is highly honored in Romania, which presented him with the Order of Michael the Brave, Romania's highest military decoration. Eagles last played Romania last August, coming away with a 31-17 win, and hold a 7-2 all-time record over the Oaks, including a 39-0 victory in the 1920 Olympics.
