USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All-Americans vs Oxford University Blues Preview
By Doug Coil
The USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All Americans will play the Oxford Unviersity Men’s Blues on Saturday, September 16 at Talen Energy Stadium, outside of Philadelphia. Kickoff for the match will be at 2:15 ET and will precede the 5pm Aviva Premiership Rugby match between the Newcastle Falcons and the Saracens. The match will be shown live via the Rugby Channel, with highlights shown later on NBC.
Current Eagle and former Collegiate All-American Captain, Madison Hughes, will provide color commentary on the Rugby Channel with play-by-play commentary by former Eagle, Dan Power.
USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All-Americans
The All-Americans squad was initially announced with Eagle Bryce Campbell, Scholz finalist Cody Melphy and USA U20 captain Malon Al-Jiborri in the lineup. These players however, are unavailable and they’ve been replaced by Naval Academy scrumhalf Gardy Lebon, Wheeling Jesuit lock forward Hugh McAllister, and Arkansas State center Zach Young.
Three of the All-Americans, Matthew Jensen, Peter Malcolm and Alex Maughan, have represented the United States as Men’s Eagles.
Oxford University Blues Men’s Rugby
Oxford University Blues captain Conor Kearns announced the team to take on the Collegiate All American XV at Talen Energy Stadium, Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, in the second match of the Men’s Blues US Tour. The team include eight Blues in the starting XV and a further two on the bench, as the squad look to build on their successful start to the 2017 Varsity Campaign.
The match will be shown live via the Rugby Channel http:/www.therugbychannel.tv/# with highlights shown later on NBC. The match is the curtain raiser to the Premiership match between Newcastle Falcons and Saracens.
Thirty one players were selected for the Oxford University Men’s Blues Tour, which left the U.K. on September 8 for two weeks. The touring group flew into Boston, and then traveled down the east coast, visiting Ivy League Universities – Harvard, Yale and Princeton. They will also visit the US Military Academy at West Point and before ending up in New York for the final three days.
The tour consists of three matches, with the Blues beating the 2016 USA Rugby National Club Champion, Mystic River, 31-20 on September 10th. On September 16, prior to the Aviva Premiership match between Newcastle Falcons and Saracens, they will play the the Collegiate All American XV at Talen Energy Stadium outside of Philadelphia. The final fixture will take place on Friday, September 22nd against Old Blue at Baker Athletic Complex, New York, with the kickoff at 7.30pm ET.
“The touring party is a blend of youth and experience, with nine returning Blues making the trip, alongside two undergraduate Freshers, five experienced graduate players in scrum-half Sam Edgerley, centre Dom Waldouck, flanker Andy Saull, lock Lisi Fifita, hooker Ed Elvin and wing Dan Moor and seventeen returning players looking to impress Kearns and Head Coach James Wade.”
USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All-Americans: 1 Kevin Sullivan (Cal) 2 Peter Malcolm (Wheeling Jesuit, Austin Elite Rugby) 3 Estevan Florez (Life) 4 Matthew Jensen (BYU) 5 Jeremy Lenaerts (Central Washington) 6 Connor McNerney (USNA) 7 Alec Barton (Saint Mary’s) 8 Maciu Koroi (Life) 9 Nicklas Boyer (Cal) 10 Duncan Van Schalkwyk (Life) 11 Cristian Rodriguez (Lindenwood) 12 Zachary Young (Arkansas State) 13 Brady Gent (Davenport) 14 Marcus Tupuola (Notre Dame College) 15 Mitchell Wilson (Life) 16 Alex Maughan (Life) 17 Chance Wenglewski (Linenwood) 18 Brian McKellar (Penn State) 19 Chad Gough (Utah) 20 Holden Yungert (Saint Mary’s) 21 Theodoros Terezis (Indiana) 22 Gardy Lebon (USNA) 23 Jake Lachina (West Point) + Hugh McAllister (Wheeling Jesuit), Blace Walser (Arkansas State), Vetekina Malafu (Kutztown)
Oxford University Blues v Collegiate All Americans: 1 Lewis Anderson * (Trinity) 2 Ed Elvin (St Hugh’s) 3 Kieran Ball * (Trinity) 4 Lisiate Fifita (St Edmund Hall) 5 Hugo McPherson (Lady Margaret Hall) 6 Andy Saull (Kellogg) 7 Will Thornton * (Lady Margaret Hall) 8 Will Wilson * (Keble) 9 Sam Edgerley (St Catherine’s) 10 Conor Kearns * (Jesus) Captain 11 Dan Moor # (Christ Church) 12 Alex Hogg * (Keble) 13 Dan Barley (St Edmund Hall) 14 Tom Stileman * (St Peter’s) 15 Ed David * (St Hilda’s) 16 John Aaron Henry (Somerville) 17 Noah Miller (St Peter’s) 18 Michael Gorry (Jesus) 19 Charlie Pozniak (St Benet’s Hall) 20 James Beaufils * (Exeter) 21 Tom Kershaw * (Worcester) 22 Thom Foster (Keble) 23 Dylan McGagh (Magdalen)
* Denotes Blue, # denotes International
Oxford University Men’s Rugby Blues Touring Squad
Forwards
Kieran Ball * (Trinity), Lewis Anderson * (Trinity), Michael Gorry (Jesus), Ben Parker (Brasenose), Noah Miller (St Peter’s), Ed Elvin (St Hugh’s), John Aaron Henry (Somerville), Charlie Pozniak (St Benet’s Hall), Lisi Fifita (St Edmund Hall), Hugo McPherson (Lady Margaret Hall), George Warr (New), Rob Menzies-Wilson (Magdalen), Ollie Adams (Lady Margaret Hall), Jimmy Beaufils * (Exeter), Will Thornton * (Lady Margaret Hall), Sam Miller (St Edmund Hall), Andy Saull (Kellogg), Will Wilson * (Keble)
Backs
Sam Edgerley (St Catherine’s), Tom Kershaw * (Worcester), Thom Foster (Keble), Conor Kearns * (Jesus), Tom Dyer (St Edmund Hall), Alex Hogg * (Keble), Dom Waldouck (Kellogg), Seb Haddock (St Edmund Hall), Dan Moor # (Christ Church), Tom Stileman * (St Peter’s), Dan Barley (St Edmund Hall), Robbie Fraser (Corpus Christi), Rob Quinlan (Jesus)
* Denotes Blue, # denotes International
