USA Military Team to Tour England in November
USA Military Team to Tour England in November
The USA Military Rugby Team will be touring the United Kingdom in November, joining their British military colleagues in honoring Veterans Day (Remembrance Day).
The USA Military team is made up of selections after more than 250 military and veteran rugby players applied to be on the team. The players are Service Academy alumni, MLR, Senior Club, as well as rugby players from all backgrounds..
The Tour will run from November 3 to November 13. The team will assemble and be hosted in England by the Army Rugby Union and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Berkshire, where they will train under the watchful eye of Head Coach Adam Clarke (Director of Rugby at Seattle Seawolves) and build toward their opening match. (Former USA National Team Head Coach and USA Rugby Hall of Famer Mike Tolkin is the technical director, but due to his health issues will not travel with the team this year. )
How The Rugby Family Comes Through for Mike Tolkin
The first match will be on Friday, November 8 against the British Army at Esher RFC in Walton-on-Thames Southwest of London.
On Saturday, November 9, the team will be the guest of the British Army Rugby Union as Australia faces England at Twickenham.
On November 11 the USA Military Rugby Team will attend Armistice Day events.
(World War I officially ended at 11AM on 11/11/1918, and since then November 11 has been remembered as Armistice Day and then Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth, and Veterans Day in the USA.)
The tour will continue on November 12 with the USA Military team taking on the Royal Air Force, and the players will return to active duty after that.
Goff Rugby Report will be with the team throughout and will report on the team, games, and preparation.
Leading players will include former Olympian and USA 7s team captain Cody Melphy, accomplished senior club veterans such as Jason Townes, and capped USA Eagle John Cullen. Also on the roster will be Service Academy players from West Point, the US Naval Academy, and the US Air Force Academy, and several players with MLR experience such as Dacoda Worth, Darby 'Koikoi' Nelligan, Collin Grosse, and Michael Fletcher. Herriman High School standout and American Samoa 7s player Moliki Mulitalo will round out the side. The full roster will be released shortly.
The USA Military Team is a 501 c 3 nonprofit administered by the Pacific Northwest Rugby Union, a member of USA Rugby.
Corporate support from Penington Paint Company, Cuisine Solutions, Capstone Research, Rasa, PowerFund, RugbyWorks, CORMACK, and AKUMA Rugby have made this possible.
To support the USA Military Team, go to Kevin Flynn, Flynn@kevinflynnconsulting.com
