MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay—USA Men's 15s Head Coach Gary Good has made two changes to his match-day 23 for Saturday’s finale of the Americas 1 Rugby World Cup Qualifier.
Having beaten their South American hosts last week 19-16, the USA Eagles need one more victory, on aggregate, to confirm their place in Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2023. Kick off is set for 4:30 PM local time with a live stream on florugby.com.
Too Close For Comfort: USA Edges Uruguay
Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz will start in place of Hanco Germishuys, who did not travel to Montevideo due to family obligations. Connecticut-born, Argentinian-raised flanker/lock Benjamin Bonasso could make his national team debut from the bench.
“It was a long travel day into the country but now that we’re here; and with one good training session under our belts, things are going smoothly and we look forward to the weekend," Gold said. "Looking back on this journey from our first match with Canada to where we are at the moment, this group of guys have put in a tremendous amount of work and now it’s all about making some significant improvements, maintaining our discipline and playing our brand of rugby. Uruguay continues to prove how capable they are of shaking things up and we know this will be an 80-minute shift for us.”
The USA hosted the first leg of the series last Saturday in Glendale. After building a 19-3 lead, the South Americans came back to bridge the gap from a few untimely U.S. penalties late in the second half. Those penalties produced a momentum shift that allowed Los Teros to close the gap.
Match Information
Date: October 9, 2021
Venue: Estadio Charrua, Montevideo, Uruguay
Kick off: 4:30PM Uruguay Time (3:30PM ET, 12:30PM PT)
Broadcast: FloRugby.com
| USA Men’s XVs National Team Roster | |||
| NAME | POSITION | CLUB | CAPS |
| 1. David Ainu'u | Prop | Toulouse (FRA) | 14 |
| 2. Kapeli PIfeleti | Hooker | Saracens (ENG) | 7 |
| 3. Joe Taufete'e | Prop | Lyon (FRA) | 32 |
| 4. Nate Brakeley | Lock | Rugby United New York | 28 |
| 5. Nick Civetta | Lock | Rugby United New York | 26 |
| 6. Andrew Guerra | Flanker | NOLA Gold | 4 |
| 7. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz | Flanker | Old Glory DC | 5 |
| 8. Cam Dolan | No. 8 | NOLA Gold | 56 |
| 9. Ruben De Haas | Scrum half | Saracens (ENG) | 22 |
| 10. Will Magie | Flyhalf | Austin Gilgronis | 30 |
| 11. Mika Kruse | Wing | Utah Warriors | 4 |
| 12. Tavite Lopeti | Center | Seattle Seawolves | 3 |
| 13. Bryce Campbell | Center | Austin Gilgronis | 37 |
| 14. Christian Dyer | Wing | USA Sevens | 5 |
| 15. Marcel Brache | Fullback | Austin Gilgronis | 27 |
| Reserves | |||
| 16. Dylan Fawsitt | Hooker | Rugby United New York | 18 |
| 17. Matt Harmon | Prop | NOLA Gold | 3 |
| 18. Paul Mullen | Prop | Utah Warriors | 23 |
| 19. Greg Peterson | Lock | Newcastle Falcons (ENG) | 33 |
| 20. Benjamin Bonasso | Flanker | Rugby United New York | Debut |
| 21. Nate Augspurger | Scrumhalf/Wing | San Diego Legion | 29 |
| 22. Luke Carty | Flyhalf | LA Giltinis | 4 |
| 23. Will Hooley | Fullback | Unattached | 16 |
Men’s XVs National Traveling Team Staff
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Asst Coach | Rob Hoadley
Asst Coach | Steve Brett
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Team Doctor | Brady Bowen
Head Physiotherapist | Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Athletic Trainer | Ron Klingensmith
Team Manager | Oscar Alvarez
