December 11, 2015
USA Rugby South Panthers vs. Capital Rugby Union Selects
Logos: USA Rugby South & Capital Rugby Union
Doug Coil
This Saturday, December 12th, the USA Rugby South Panthers will play the Capital Rugby Union Selects at 3pm at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. The Panthers will have another high profile match in January when they travel to the Bahamas for a international ranking match against the Bahamas Rugby Union.
This is the second time that the Capital Rugby Union Selects have played this season, but the represent the first year in over ten that the Selects have played. At the end of August, the Selects beat the Empire RFU GU 96-17 in Lincroft, N.J. The Selects were comprised of elite D1-3 players from Maryland, Virgina and the District of Columbia. The Empire side was comprised of D2 Club players.
The coaching staff remains the same as in August against the Panthers. Head Coach, Chris Porter and Jeremy Frayne (Norfolk Blues), Chuck Moore (Rocky Gorge), Jon Grasso (Baltimore-Chesapeake) and Roland Pratt (Washington Renegades) make up the staff.
Over 100 players initially tried out for the side in August. In preparation for this match, a camp was held on Nov. 15 where players were narrowed to 30-35 for the last camp on Dec. 5th.
This match does have some roster changes from the Empire match. Some players that impacted that match return against the Panthers. Alex Diegel and Nick Kuhl each scored two tries against Empire, while Adam Floyd added another.
USA Rugby South Panthers
Tyler Bishop -Tallahassee
Zach Blalock – Birmingham
Irving Carcamo – Charlotte
Waymon Cassel – Nashville
Will Crawford – Louisiana Tech
Casey Davidson – University of GA
Chance Doyle – New Orleans
Nathan Driggers – University of GA
Daniel Falkner – Appalachian St
Jarrett Gartin – North Atlanta
Jesse Hackworth – Middle Tenn St U
Matt Hughston – Charlotte
Corey Jones – Little Rock
Amir Khan – Detroit Tradesmen
Jose Laphitzondo – Florida Int’l U
Ben Lopata – Louisiana Tech
Ron Omondi – Atlanta Old White
Alejandro Ospina – Charlotte
Jeff Reuther – New Orleans
Thomas Savoie – Louisiana Tech
Todd Sherer – Columbia
Doug Stillwell – East Carolina
Calvin Storey – Raleigh
Chase Suznevich – Charlotte
Ethan Suznevich – Charlotte
Coaches
Rene Daniel – Head Coach, USARS
Dr. Renaldo Arroya – Valdosta St U
Francesco Balsas – Atlanta Old White
Staff
Manager – Gary Kent, Columbus/Fort Benning
Trainer – Sean Borman , Monster Sports Network
Video – Wes Darwin, Purple Moose Media
Director of Rugby – Kevin Kitto, USARS”
Capital Rugby Union Selects
1. Steve Terjesen
2. Matt Carroll
3. Brian Bidder
4. Will Miller
5. Alex Czajkowski
6. Alex Diegel
7. Kevin Mott
8. Josh Brown
9. Justin Bourgeios
10. Johnny Cameron
11. Zack Schell
12. Alan Rhoades
13. Hunter Naff
14. Nick Sandoval
15. Nick Kuhl
Reserves:
Adam Floyd
Erick Anderson
Kevin Jackson Jr
Sam Johnson
Eric Hagen
Joanel Joseph
Lindsey Cousins
Jacob Milchuk
Coaches/Manager
Chris Porter – Head Coach
Jeremy Frayne – Forwards
Chuck Moore – Forwards
Jon Grasso – Backs
Roland Pratt – Team Manager