October 6, 2016
Eagles Face Maori All Blacks, Romania and Tonga in November
Doug Coil
The USA Rugby Men’s Eagles will kick off “The Rugby Weekend Presented by AIG” against the Maori All Blacks and then travel to Europe, where they will play Romania and Tonga.
John Mitchell’s national team face the visiting New Zealand Maori All Blacks at Toyota Park Friday, Nov. 4. It is outside the International Test window, so he will have some balancing to do as some players will not be available. The Eagles will travel to Bucharest to play against Romania at Stadionul Arcul de Triumf on November 12 and then face Tonga at Estadio Anoeta on November 19 in San Sebastián, Spain. The later two matches are international tests where caps will be awarded. The Eagles then will have a break before the Americas Rugby Championship in February 2017.
The Eagles have hosted the Maori All Blacks twice in their history, in 2006 and in 2013 where 18,500 fans packed the sold out PPL Park in Philadelphia. Both times the Eagles lost, however the Eagles nearly emerged in 2013 with a win.
For The Rugby Weekend Presented by AIG the Eagles play the Maori All Blacks at Toyota Park’s 18,000-seat stadium Friday, Nov. 4, while the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland play their an international rugby match in Chicago’s Soldier Field on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The Eagles last traveled to Romania in 2014 and have only ever lost one match to Romania in pool play at Rugby World Cup 1999, while won the other six matchups. Romania is ranked 16th in the World Rugby Rankings, while the USA is 17th.
The final match of the November tests will be on November 19 when the Eagles meet 15th ranked Tonga in Basque country’s Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastián, Spain. The Eagles have lost seven of eight matches to Tonga in recent years.
Broadcast information for all three November internationals, including “The Rugby Weekend Presented by AIG,” will be announced at a later date. Tickets remaining for the Eagles’ match against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks can be purchased via Ticketmaster.
Men’s Eagles November Tour
v. Maori All Blacks – Friday, Nov. 4 – 8 p.m. ET – Toyota Park (Chicago)
v. Romania – Sat. Nov. 12 – 11 a.m. ET – Stadionul Arcul de Triumf (Bucharest, Romania)
v. Tonga – Sat., Nov. 19 – 11 a.m. ET – Estadio Anoeta (San Sebastián, Spain)
