2018 Americas Rugby Championship begins for USA Men's Eagles against Argentina XV

ARC 2018: USA Rugby Men’s Eagles vs. Argentina XV

The Men’s Eagles open the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship against Argentina XV on Saturday, February 3 at 5 pm PT at the StubHub Center, Carson, California. The undercard was supposed to be the first Super Rugby regular season match between the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers, however, due to an inability for contractual flight accommodations being available, UCLA and Arizona will play a D1A Rugby match prior to the Eagles and Argentina XV instead. Super Rugby fans in the United States will need to wait for a match until at least next year, as at least six months is needed to plan for flights.

The Eagles are defending ARC champions and new Head Coach Gary Gold and the Eagles have spent the last week training and preparing to open the season against the 2017 runner-ups. Tickets for the match start at $20 and are on sale through AXS.

The Eagles will play other home matches Feb. 10 against Canada at 3 pm PT at Papa Murphy’s Park in Sacramento on Feb. 10 and against Chile at 2 pm PT at Titan Stadium at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 17. The ARC matches will be live on The Rugby Channel.

The Americas Rugby Championship consists of five national teams, with the exception of Argentina XV. The national teams are ranked by World Rugby as follows: USA 17, Uruguay 18, Canada 21, Chile 24, and Brazil 28.

USA Men’s Eagles

Gary Gold, the head coach of the Eagles, will coach his first USA match on Feb. 3. “The StubHub Center in Los Angeles will host the two fixtures as part of USA Rugby’s long-term strategy in the region, leading to the Summer Olympics in 2028.”

“Focus around the camp has been for us all to get on to the same page as quickly as possible and to be well aligned as a group,” said Gold. “We also need to ensure we get the stuff we need to focus on doing to the best of our ability. Having only been together for the week, we’ve worked really hard to put plans into place. The boys have bought in really well and we hope we are going to get some great returns.”

The Eagles will be captained by Blaine Scully at wing, who led the team during the November tests to a 46-17 win over Germany and a narrow 21-20 loss to 12th ranked Georgia.

The forwards have Titi Lamositele returning to his previous form after an injury. He is paired with Dino Waldren at prop and with Joe Taufete’e filling out the front row at hooker. All three join the team from their league season in Europe. Locks Nick Civetta and Nate Brakeley have performed well together in the past and are reunited again. The back row will consist of Hanco Germishuys and Tony Lamborn at flanker and Cam Dolan at No. 8.

The backs will have a half-back combination of Nate Augspurger and Will Magie, who will also assume the kicking responsibilities. The centers are Bryce Campbell and Marcel Brache. The back three have Captain Blaine Scully and Ryan Matyas at wing and Mike Te’o at fullback.

The reserves consist of James Hilterbrand at hooker, Huluholo Moungaloa, and Angus Maclellan as props, Ben Landry at Lock/Flanker, Andrew Durutalo at the back row, Shaun Davies at scrumhalf, Will Hooley at flyhalf and Dylan Audsley at center/wing.

Argentina XV

Head coach Felipe Contepomi team is captained by flanker Lautaro Bavaro. The other forwards include Francisco Ferronato and Benjamín Espinal at prop, with Gaspar Baldunciel at hooker. The latter two players are contenders for Los Pumas. Ignacio Larrague is a very experienced lock and is paired with Jerónimo Ureta. The back-row consists of uncapped players Rodrigo Bruni at flanker and Santiago Montagner at No. 8. Reserve back-row player Francisco Gorrisen is also uncapped.

The halfbacks consist of Luca Magnasco at scrumhalf, with Juan Cruz González at flyhalf. The centers include Juan Cappiello, who is knocking on the door for Los Jaguares, and Juan Cruz Mallía, a young player who had a hat-trick against Uruguay A in the Fall. Both wings are experienced players to watch in Rodrigo Etchart and Germán Schulz. Gastón Arias rounds out the starters at fullback.

USA Men’s Eagles – 2018 Americas Rugby Championship: 1 Titi Lamositele 2 Joe Taufete’e 3 Dino Waldren 4 Nate Brakeley 5 Nick Civetta 6 Hanco Germishuys 7 Tony Lamborn 8 Cam Dolan 9 Nate Augspurger 10 Will Magie 11 Ryan Matyas 12 Bryce Campbell 13 Marcel Brache 14 Blaine Scully (C) 15 Mike Te’o 16 James Hilterbrand 17 Huluholo Moungaloa 18 Angus Maclellan 19 Ben Landry 20 Andrew Durutalo 21 Shaun Davies 22 Will Hooley 23 Dylan Audsley

USA Men’s Eagles Staff – 2018 Americas Rugby Championship

Gary Gold: Head Coach
Greg McWilliams: Assistant Coach – Backs & Attack
Scott Lawrence: Assistant Coach – Defense
Shawn Pittman: Assistant Coach – Set Piece
Chris Hanson: Team Manager
Jimmy Harrison: Analyst
Kevin Ng: Head ATC
Brian Finn: Assistant ATC (Jan. 24 – Feb. 17)
Dr. Richard Kim: Team Doctor (Jan. 24 – Feb. 3)
Dr. Mark Sakr: Team Doctor (Feb. 4 – Feb. 10)
Dr. Deborah Light: Team Doctor (Feb. 11 – Feb. 17)
Dr. Jeff Mjaanes: Team Doctor (Feb. 18 – Mar. 4)
Dave Hodges: Men’s Eagles General Manager

Argentina XV: 1- Francisco Ferronato, 2- Gaspar Baldunciel, 3- Benjamín Espinal, 4- Jerónimo Ureta, 5- Ignacio Larrague, 6- Rodrigo Bruni, 7- Lautaro Bavaro (C), 8- Santiago Montagner, 9- Luca Magnasco, 10- Juan Cruz González, 11- Rodrigo Etchart, 12- Juan Cappiello, 13- Juan Cruz Mallía, 14- Germán Schulz, 15- Gastón Arias 16- Diego Fortuny, 17- Javier Díaz, 18- Santiago Medrano, 19- Santiago Portillo, 20- Francisco Gorrisen, 21- Facundo Nogueira, 22- Tomás Granella, 23- Tomás Malanos

Coaches: Felipe Contepomi, Ignacio Fernández Lobbe y Diego Ternavasio.

The USA Men’s Eagles Americas Rugby Championship Expanded Squad

The USA Forwards: Titi Lamositele (Saracens, UK), Angus MacLellan (Chicago Lions), Huluholo Mo’ungaloa (Life West), Anthony Purpura San Diego Legion), Paddy Ryan (Austin Elite), Dino Waldren (London Scottish, UK), Chance Wenglewski (Lindenwood), Dylan Fawsitt (Old Blue), James Hilterbrand (Sydney Rays, AU), Peter Malcolm (Austin Elite), Joe Taufete’e (Worcester Warriors, UK), Nate Brakeley (NYAC), Nick Civetta (Newcastle Falcons, UK), Brendan Daly (SFGG), Matt Jensen (Utah Warriors), Ben Landry (Glendale Raptors), Malon Al-Jiboori (USA 7s), Cam Dolan (San Diego Legion), Hanco Germishuys (Austin Elite), Tony Lamborn (Hawke’s Bay, NZ), Aladdin Schirmer (Seattle Seawolves), Psalm Wooching (Seattle Saracens)

USA Backs: Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion), Shaun Davies (Glendale Raptors), Ruben de Haas (Free State, SA), Devereaux Ferris (Life West), Ben Cima (San Diego Legion), Will Hooley (Bedford Blues, UK), Will Magie (Glendale Raptors), Dylan Audsley (San Diego Legion), Marcel Brache (Perth Spirit, AU), Bryce Campbell (Glendale Raptors), Paul Lasike (Utah Warriors), Alex Elkins (USA 7s), Ryan Matyas (San Diego Legion), Peni Tagive (USA 7s), Josh Whippy (Utah Warriors), Blaine Scully (Cardiff Blues, UK), Mike Te’o (San Diego Legion)

Argentina XV extended ARC 2018 Squad

Argentina XV: Gaspar Baldunciel (Hooker), Cristian Bartoloni (prop), Lautaro Bavaro (Backrow), Franco Brarda (prop), Rodrigo Bruni (backrow), Juan Cappiello (center), Franco Cuaranta (wing), Bruno Devoto (center), Julián Domínguez (wing), Francisco Ferronato (prop), Francisco Gorrisen (backrow), Juan Cruz Guillemaín (lock), Fernando Luna (wing), Santiago Medrano (prop), Santiago Montagner (backrow), Pedro Ortega (lock), Mariano Romanini (lock), Segundo Tuculet (center), Lautaro Bazán Vélez (scrum-half), Joaquín Díaz Bonilla (fly-half), Martín Elías (fullback), Felipe Ezcurra (scrum-half), Facundo Gigena (prop), Ignacio Larrague (lock), Santiago Mare (center), Santiago Portillo (backrow), Franco Sábato (wing), Roberto Tejerizo (prop)