The USA Men’s National Team has gone from the lights and welcoming environment of Chicago to old-world Bucharest and a stern test against Romania.

In actuality, the Eagles often get a nice welcome in Romania, where they play the Mighty Oaks for the Pershing Cup, named after US Army General John Pershing, the only US general to be promoted to General of the Armies during his lifetime. He also received medals by the country of Romania, and is considered a hero in that country. So the rugby game between the two countries honors Pershing, and always promises to be a tough battle.

USA prop Titio Lamositele knows this. The young front-rower, who was first capped at 18, just out of playing for the Chuckanut HS program in Washington state, is now a seasoned veteran of 21 and with 19 caps under his belt, the Saracens pro has seen plenty.

“For me it’s just being part of the team that matters to me,” said Lamositele, who has been brought in late several times because of his commitments at Saracens. “I have come in late and maybe a step behind, so getting to know the system and especially getting to know the guys on the team is what’s important.”

In the end, though, he’s just got to go play.

Head Coach John Mitchell said Romania will try to attack the USA in the scrum, and that’s certainly true. Lamositele, who looks to line up at loosehead, will have an important role there.

“The Maori had us on a few scrums, especially on the second push, but overall we’re getting there,” the prop told Goff Rugby Report. “There are obviously some things we can work on, but overall it was decent.”

Against Romania, Lamositele said he looks forward to a confrontation with a team that values the scrum.

“As a prop that’s what we do, we scrum first. The rest is we try to catch up and do the next job. But as a prop I really look forward to the challenge.”