USA Name 30 Player Roster for Summer Tests and World Cup Qualifiers – Meanwhile What’s Happening in Canada With the Men’s XVs
USA named their 30 player squad for 3 matches in July, a warmup game against the French Barbarians and the home and away World Cup Qualifier series against Chile. Of the 30 players 22 are from MLR (8 from European clubs) and interestingly, 13 of the 22 made the weekly MLR First XV list on one or more occasions.
The French Barbarians were supposed to play Canada but that fell through and Canada are now playing a test against Spain. The USA Rugby media release is posted below.
It brings up questions about what’s happening in Canada with the men’s XVs program. Of course, Canada have been eliminated from World Cup contention but there’s still interest in the two test matches. There’s an eerie silence from Rugby Canada on the men’s XVs program, is Kingsley Jones still in charge, he’s been low profile since losing the home and away series to Chile last year, which saw Canada exit the World Cup qualifying process. We’ve sent enquiries to him and the Rugby Canada media person, Oliver Wheeler, to get some clarification. Will there be a selection camp, if so where and when. When will the long list be announced? Will there be any sort of media call in to get questions answered?
We’ll be interested to see if this will be a MLR selected team as last year or will it be open to some of the young players taking part in the Coast to Coast Cup and Challenge Cup of the Americas initiatives. Will any of the European based players be involved? Updates as they become available.
from USA Rugby
With the 2022 USA Rugby Summer Series and Rugby World Cup Qualifiers upcoming for the USA Mens Eagles, Head Coach Gary Gold has named 30 players to the traveling roster for three fixtures this July. The USA Mens National Team XVs kick off this summer with an exciting match against the French Barbarians in Houston on July 1st, before jetting off to Santiago for the first of a home-and-away series against Chile to compete for Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification. Gold and the Mens Eagles coaching staff have been visiting and scouting MLR clubs over the past few months, similarly hosting a two-day alignment camp in early May to shortly assemble players and staff ahead of this summers penultimate games. Players will enter camp in Houston through a staggered entry as many continue to compete with their respective MLR, Premiership and Top 14 club competitions, with the full 30-man roster in assembly by week of the French Barbarians match. Tickets are now available to the upcoming home matches in Houston, TX and Glendale, CO via usa.rugby/tickets and all summer series matches will be streaming LIVE on FloRugby.
Roster Highlights
– 22 of 30 traveling roster players are currently competing in Major League Rugby (MLR) as the growing league nears completion of its fifth season.
– Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Martin Iosefo named to the greater player pool, following transition to MLR for the 2021-22 season.
– Lock Samu Manoa returns from an international hiatus following a strong season with the Seattle Seawolves.
– New England FreeJack Mitch Wilson has the potential to make his USA debut and earn first cap during Chile matches.
Comments from Head Coach Gary Gold ahead of this years summer series and qualification matches:
Its been a tough selection process due to the level of improvement across the MLR and with many of our players playing so well. We are all really excited to eventually reassemble and spend time together as we prepare for an incredibly important summer. The games will prove a real challenge for us as a group, as we have a massive amount of respect for how well this Chile team has developed and improved.
We have spent time as a coaching group with many of the clubs around MLR over the past few months, it has been a really good exercise as the level of coaching and feedback has been excellent. We were also able to have an alignment camp in Houston this past May, where we got our wider group of players together and we were able to lay out our plans and ideas for the French Barbarians and Chile. The camp afforded us an opportunity to spend two days with the group to agree on those plans and strategies, so that when we do assemble as a group we can hit the ground running and be more efficient.
Our immediate goals are to get the squad in as soon as possible, post all player commitments, and to become aligned as a group as soon as possible as we dont have a massive amount of time before the first game is upon us..
David Ainuu Prop Toulouse (FRA)
Malon Al-Jiboori Backrow Houston Sabercats – Week 6 First XV
Nate Augspurger Scrumhalf / Wing San Diego Legion – Week 1 First XV
Michael Baska Scrumhalf Rouen Normandie (FRA)
Ben Bonasso Backrow Rugby New York
Marcel Brache Fullback / Center Austin Gilgronis – Week 2 First XV
Nate Brakeley Lock Rugby New York – Week 3,6 First XV
Bryce Campbell Center Austin Gilgronis
Luke Carty Flyhalf LA Giltinis
Nick Civetta Lock Rugby New York
Ruben de Haas Scrumhalf Saracens (ENG)
Cam Dolan No. 8 NOLA Gold
Christian Dyer Wing Houston Sabercats
Hanco Germishuys Backrow LA Giltinis – Week 7,8,10,11 First XV
Will Hooley Fullback / Flyhalf San Diego Legion
Martin Iosefo Wing Seattle Seawolves – Week 6,7,11,18 First XV
Titi Lamositele Prop Montpelier (FRA)
Paul Lasike Center Utah Warriors
Tavite Lopeti Center Seattle Seawolves – Week 2,3 First XV
AJ Macginty Flyhalf Sale Sharks (ENG)
Siaosi Mahoni Lock Houston Sabercats – Week 6 First XV
Samu Manoa Lock Seattle Seawolves – Week 17 First XV
Paul Mullen Prop Utah Warriors – Week 11 First XV
Greg Peterson Lock Newcastle Falcons (ENG)
Kapeli Pifeleti Hooker Saracens (ENG)
Mikey Sosene-Feagai Hooker Toulon (FRA)
Joe Taufetee Hooker / Prop LA Giltinis
Moni Tongauiha Backrow NOLA Gold – Week 5,8 First XV
Chance Wenglewski Prop Rugby New York – Week 8,18 First XV
Mitch Wilson Wing New England Free Jacks – Week 8 First XV
USA MENS EAGLES 2022 SUMMER SERIES MATCH SCHEDULE
USA vs French Barbarians | Houston, TX
July 1, 2022 7:30 PM CT at Aveva Stadium
GET TICKETS | Watch Live on FloRugby
Chile vs USA | Santiago, Chile | Rugby World Cup Qualifier
July 9, 2022 Time 6:00 PM ET at Estadio Santa Laura Universidad
Watch Live on FloRugby
USA vs Chile | Glendale, CO | Rugby World Cup Qualifier
July 16, 2022 1:00 PM MT at Infinity Park
GET TICKETS | Watch Live on FloRugby