DUBLIN, IRE.— USA Men's 15s Head coach Gary Gold has made four changes to the starting lineup to face Ireland Saturday at 2:15PM ET.

 with three new faces on the bench as the USA Men’s XVs National Team faces Ireland for the first time since 2018 on Saturday, KO 2:15 PM ET, on florugby.com. 

The game will be live-streamed on florugby.com. 

Bryce Campbell returns as captain following an impressive performance against England last week at Twickenham. The USA struggled in the first half, coming back for a thrilling second-half performance that saw them outscore England 26-17 in the second period; England won 43-29.

Joe Taufete’e, who has scored more tries than any tight five forward in World Rugby history, starts at hooker. Hanco Germishuys, who made an impact as a sub last week, starts at flanker. With Will Hooley out due to injury, and Marcel Brache now out due to head injury protocols, Mike Te’o moves to fullback with Christian Dyer, who scored a try on his debut as a sub last week, starting at wing.

Hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, flanker Andrew Guerra, and fullback/flyhalf Will Magie are new on the bench.

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Back in the starting lineup is Riekert Hattingh, who was, amazingly, cited for the clash in the air last week that was already examined via TMO and ruled not a penalty. It's unclear who instigated the citing, but Hattingh, who said he'd done nothing wrong, was cleared of all wrongdoing and allowed to play this weekend.

“I’m proud of the guys for the fight they showed against England last week but obviously we have a new and difficult task ahead with Ireland," said Gold. "While we did some very good things last week, it’s important that we improve on those and eradicate the silly errors that allowed us to give away soft tries. We need to keep building on our basics and enjoy the opportunity to learn from teams who play in this environment regularly." 

@USARugby Head Coach @Garygoldrugby says, quite rightly, that the Eagles haven't been together for more than a year and a half. Coming together like this and playing like this? Not bad. His comments ... pic.twitter.com/u9ZBJFbJ0e

— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) July 4, 2021

Gold continued: “Luke and Christian did themselves proud last week, as did the rest of the boys. It was a great occasion for them and they showed the carefree exuberance of youth. We hope to see them build on that energy this weekend with a focus on improving.”

The USA Men and Ireland last met in 2018 when the Irish were ranked No. 2 in the world. While the Eagles fell 14-55, it was their first test match loss all year. 

Ireland are currently fourth in the world, having defeated Japan in a close 39-31 last week at home. The USA are ranked at No. 16. 

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