USA Rugby Eagles Play Australia Wallabies: Squads
By Grant FeeleyToday is the calm before the storm as the Captain’s run and press conferences are over and the players can concentrate on the task at hand. Tomorrow is the big event. The USA Rugby Men’s Eagles play the Australia Wallabies at 6:30pm CT at Solider Field in Chicago. The match will be on national television on NBC Sports Network.
The Eagles enter the match ranked 16th in the World, while the Wallabies are 2nd. This is the last match before both teams travel to England for the Rugby World Cup which begins September 18th. Along with the 31 man Rugby World Cup squad, Australia has brought an extended squad of ten players for this match and three will be reserves.
In preparing for the Rugby World Cup, the Eagles have spent a longer period of time together. That has been evident in producing very competitive performances. They played four Pacific Nations Cup matches against Samoa, Japan, Tonga and Canada with wins against Japan and Canada. They then added another win against Canada and a close loss to the Harlequins from the Aviva Premiership Rugby.
The Eagles will travel to England prepared and ready to challenge teams in their Pool. At the Rugby World Cup, they will play against the following teams in Pool B:
Against Australia, the Eagles will showcase Chris Wyles, USA captain, who will earn his 50th cap for the United States. Chris, who plays for the Saracens in the Aviva Premiership, will be playing Wing for this match. He becomes the 9th player to have 5o international test matches for the U.S.
Don’t miss the action at Soldier Field. Tickets may still be purchased on Ticketmaster. If that is not possible, then watch the match on NBC Sports Network. In other words, support the growth of USA Rugby!
Men’s Eagles | v. Australia (with USA Rugby Player Profiles) 1. Eric Fry 2. Zach Fenoglio 3. Titi Lamositele 4. Cameron Dolan 5. Greg Peterson 6. Al McFarland 7. Andrew Durutalo 8. Samu Manoa 9. Mike Petri 10. AJ MacGinty 11. Chris Wyles (C) 12. Thretton Palamo 13. Seamus Kelly 14. Takudzwa Ngwenya 15. Blaine Scully
Men’s Eagles | Reserves 16. Phil Thiel 17. Olive Kilifi 18. Chris Baumann 19. Louis Stanfill 20. John Quill 21. Danny Barrett 22. Shalom Suniula 23. Folau Niua
Australia | v. USA 1. James Slipper (C) 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau 3. Greg Holmes 4. Kane Douglas 5. Rob Simmons 6. Ben McCalman 7. Sean McMahon 8. Wycliff Palu 9. Nick Phipps 10. Bernard Foley 11. Rob Horne 12. Matt Giteau 13. Henry Speight 14. Joe Tomane 15. Kurtley Beale
Australia | Reserves 16. James Hanson* 17. Scott Sio 18. Toby Smith 19. Dean Mumm 20. Sam Carter* 21. Quade Cooper 22. Will Genia 23. Taqele Naiyaravoro*
The rest of the Eagles Rugby World Cup squad include, Matt Trouville, Matekitonga Moeakiola, Joseph Taufete’e, Hayden Smith, Niku Kruger, Andrew Suniula, Zack Test and Brett Thompson.
Other members of Australia’s Rugby World Cup squad include, Forwards – Stephen Moore (C-RWC), Michael Hooper (VC-RWC), Sekope Kepu, Will Skelton, Scott Fardy, David Pecock and Backs – Adam Ashley-Cooper (VC-RWC), Matt Toomua, Israel Folau, Drew Mitchell and Tevita Kuridrani.
Australia’s Extended squad* includes, Sam Carter, David Dennis, Tetera Faulkner, James Hanson, Scott Higginbotham, James Horwill, Samu Kerevi, Christian Lealiifano, Tagele Naiyaravoro and Nic White.