USA Rugby Falcons Travel To Mar del Plata & Viña del Mar Sevens

USA Falcons Travel To Mar del Plata & Viña del Mar Sevens

The USA Falcons development, comprised of Men’s Eagles Sevens pool players, will play in international sevens tournaments in Mar del Plata, Argentina Jan. 9-10 and Viña del Mar, Chile Jan. 16-17.

Andrew Locke, who is part of the U.S. Army’s World-Class Athlete Program, will coach the team on this South American tour. At the end of August, he coached both the Armed Forces Men’s and Women’s Rugby teams at the Elite City Sevens.

The Falcons will include two capped Eagles, Mike Te’o and Aladdin Schirmer. Alex Faison-Donahoe, Seth Halliman, Tua Laei, Peter Malcolm, ConRoy Smith, and Joey Sok represented the Falcons at the inaugural Halloween Rugby 7s invitational tournament where they lost to a USA Hawks team predominantly featuring capped Eagles in the tournament’s third-place match, by a try.

Jope Motokana has continued to impress Mike Friday and Assistant Coach Chris Brown. He will miss this weekend’s tournament in Argentina before joining the team in Chile.

Kingsley McGowan has been playing rugby for Trinity College in Dublin after winning two D1A Rugby National Championships at Saint Mary’s College. Faison-Donahoe, Malcolm, and Anthony Welmers play D1A rugby at Kutztown University, Wheeling Jesuit University, and Davenport University, respectively.

The Falcons are in Seven de Mar del Plata’s Pool B with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, with Canada, Paraguay, South Africa, and Uruguay in Pool A. In Argentina, the Falcons will play Argentina, Canada, and South Africa in pool play the following weekend. Following the tournament in Chile, the team will return to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., as the Eagles finish their Camp ahead of the HSBC Wellington Sevens and HSBC Sydney Sevens Series stops.

USA Falcons | 2016 South America Tour Aaron Davis – Columbus Rugby Club / Tiger Rugby Alex Faison-Donahoe – Kutztown University Seth Halliman – Central Washington University / Men’s Eagles Sevens Tua Laei – Brigham Young University / Rugby Utah Peter Malcolm – Wheeling Jesuit University Kingsley McGowan – Trinity College Jope Motokana – Seattle Saracens / ATAVUS Academy Aladdin Schirmer – Central Washington University ConRoy Smith – Northern Virginia Rugby Club Joey Sok – Columbus Rugby Club / Men’s Eagles Sevens Mike Te’o – Men’s Eagles Sevens Anthony Welmers – Davenport University

USA Falcons | Coaching Staff Andrew Locke – Coach Brian Finn – Physiotherapist Sean Lindersmith – Manager

USA Falcons | Seven de Mar del Plata v. Chile – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 12:50 p.m. ET v. Brazil – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 4:30 p.m. ET v. Argentina – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 6:35 p.m. ET

USA Falcons | Seven de Viña del Mar v. Argentina – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 12:20 p.m. ET v. South Africa – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 2:40 p.m. ET v. Canada – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 5:50 p.m. ET