Preview: Canada v United States
Having beaten Canada in their Pacific Nations Cup showdown recently, the US Eagles can expect a fierce backlash from the Canucks.
After this game the Eagles host English Premiership giants Harlequin on Sunday, August 30 and then face Australia in a historic Test at Soldier Field in Chicago on – Saturday, September 5.
Canada have another three games after this weekend – against Scottish franchise Glasgow Warriors on August 29, Georgia on September 2 and Fiji September 6.
AJ MacGinty sealed the 15-13 win over Canada with an 80th-minute drop-goal, and led the Eagles in PNC scoring with 44 points. The Dublin-based flyhalf will sit behind scrumhalf Mike Petri Saturday to give the backs accurate, decisive ball.
Thretton Palamo and Seamus Kelly resume the partnership built throughout the course of the past year, dating back to the Eagles' November 2014 match against Fiji in France.
Brett Thompson earns his fourth start for the US on the wing opposite Blaine Scully, who has scored three tries against Canada since 2011.
"We have good talent in the centres and we want to continue to rotate them," head coach Mike Tolkin said.
"They each bring positive characteristics in their play, and slightly different skill sets. We expect a balanced center pairing of solid defence, playmaking skills, and a strong running game.
"Thompson is part of an athletic back-three group and we want him to get more game time under his belt. [Height and speed] are desirable in the game with more kicking involved in the face of stronger defences. Wings need to be aerial as well as strong runners with the expected speed of a finisher."
The pack remains largely unchanged from the starting eight that kept Canada's set pieces quiet earlier this month, with Zach Fenoglio, Eric Fry and Titi Lamositele retaining their positions in the front row. Al McFarland's second start and fourth cap will come as a flank, while the US will count on Andrew Durutalo's tenacity in the contact area to strip Canada of possession.
Cam Dolan will lock beside Greg Peterson at a position the now-member of Cardiff Blues played in the Eagles' 23-18 defeat of Japan in Sacramento.
Danny Barrett will anchor the scrum in his sixth consecutive start at No.8.
Captain and fullback Chris Wyles will have a strong team of veteran leadership on the pitch as well as in the reserves Saturday, as Louis Stanfill of 53 caps, Andrew Suniula and Phil Thiel offer substitution options. Matt Trouville has also joined the squad.
"[We need] the pack to be strong in the set pieces, the ball-carriers to run strong at the line, and the supporting cast must work hard to win the ball at the tackle area," Tolkin said. "All of our forwards need to be intelligent and uncompromising in defence, especially in first-up tackles."
For Canada Aaron Carpenter will captain the side from the No.8 spot in Tyler Ardron's absence. In addition to Carpenter, Hubert Buydens, John Moonlight and Harry Jones are the only other players to keep their spot in the line-up after Canada's 15-13 loss to the USA in their final Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) game.
"There are a couple of guys who performed pretty well during PNC who deserve the opportunity again and a couple of guys who are carrying knocks who are better served to have a week off," Canadian coach Kieran Crowley said.
"It's a reward for performance. Some of the boys have played well who might not have considered themselves to be in this position at this time so they deserve another opportunity."
Buydens will be joined by Ray Barkwill and Doug Wooldridge in the front row while Tyler Hotson and Jon Phelan will play at lock. Nanyak Dala will join Moonlight and Carpenter in the back row.
Gordon McRorie is back at scrum half after missing the USA game due to injury while Nathan Hirayama gets his second start of the summer at fly half.
Nick Blevins, who along with Carpenter was Canada's top try scorer during the PNC with two tries, will play at centre with Conor Trainor. Phil Mackenzie and the returning Taylor Paris will man the wings with Jones at fullback.
Paris, who was an integral part of Agen's promotion to the Top 14 this past season, missed the entire PNC due to injury but the 22-year-old has regained his fitness to be included in Saturday's game.
"He's been out for a while but had an outstanding season over in France," Crowley said.
"He's probably got a little more of a skip than some of the other players so he brings a different sort of wing game. He's obviously very keen to have a good one as we have a lot of competition out on those wide areas and on the back line.
"He's been training well and recovered so we're expecting him to do well."
The team has spent the last week in Ottawa at their second training camp. The other took place at Shawnigan Lake ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup.
"We've been training at Ashbury College which has been outstanding," Crowley said. "They have a great facility there for us. I'm quite pleased with where things are at right now. We have some new guys in the system so we need to get them squared away in terms of what we're trying to do."
Teams:
Canada: 15 Harry Jones, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter (captain), 7 John Moonlight, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Jon Phelan, 4 Tyler Hotson, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Kyle Gilmour, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Ciaran Hearn, 23 Matt Evans.
United States: 15 Chris Wyles (captain), 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Brett Thompson, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Danny Barrett, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Al McFarland, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Cameron Dolan, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 Phil Thiel, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Louis Stanfill, 20 Matt Trouville, 21 John Quill, 22 Niku Kruger, 23 Andrew Suniula.
Date: Saturday, August 22
Venue: Twin Elm Park, Ottawa
Kick-off: 16.00 Eastern time (13.00 Pacific time; 20.00 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Andrew McMaster (Canada), Ed Gardner (USA)
