Eagles match Saxon's depth with heart
Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:18
The United States of America's national team coach Scott Johnson officially announced the squad to take on the England Saxons in the first match of the Churchill Cup tournament in Ottawa on Saturday.
The match takes place on Saturday at the Twin Elm Rugby Park in Ottawa, Ontario and kicks off a double-header that also features Canada and Scotland A.
Having had only a few days with the squad, Coach Johnson admits that he has taken a bit of what he's seen at training and weighed it with what his assistant coaches have told him to pick this first squad.
"They are willing," Johnson says, of what he's seen so far. "They are very willing to listen and eager to learn; and they learn quick, which is a great thing to see from a team.
"We have a saying that 'you can't put in what God left out'," Johnson added. "And this team has a lot of heart. They will stand up physically to the England Saxons and make a game out of it."
The US squad will be led by Captain Todd Clever and includes 13 players from last year's Rugby World Cup squad and seven athletes that could see time in their first international match.
USA Eagles: 15 Chris Wyles (OMBAC), 14 Gavin DeBartolo (Eastern Suburbs), 13 Paul Emerick (Newport Gwent), 12 Albert Tuipulotu (Bezier), 11 Mike Palefau (Petrarca), 10 Mike Hercus (IBM), 9 Mike Petri (NYAC), 8 Henry Bloomfield (Belmont Shore), 7 Todd Clever, Captain (OMBAC), 6 Louis Stanfill (Cal-Berkeley), 5 John Van Der Giessen (Denver Barbarians), 4 Ben Wiedemer (Belmont Shore), 3 Mate Moekiola (Pukekohe), 2 Mark Crick (PAC), 1 Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie).
Replacements: 16 Saimone Laulaupea' alu (San Francisco Golden Gate), 17 Chad Slaby (Chicago Lions), 18 Brian Doyle (NYAC), 19 Jason Lett (Boston Irish Wolfhounds), 20 Robbie Shaw (Connacht and Galwegians), 21 Nese Malifa (Belmont Shore), 22 Vaha Esikia (Las Vegas
Blackjacks).
Date: Saturday, June 7
Venue: Twin Elm Rugby Park, Ottawa
Kick-off: 14.05 (18.05 GMT)
