USA Rugby Men’s Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold has made two changes to his starters for the match against 16th ranked Romania this Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7 AM ET at Ghencea Stadium, Bucharest, Romania. The match will be broadcast live on FloRugby.

Brache Brache will start at fullback with captain Blaine Scully shifting to wing. John Quill, who was slated to start against Samoa but had a minor injury, has recovered and returns at flanker.

Nick Boyer, who played with the Men’s Selects for the Americas Pacific Challenge 2018, has the opportunity to earn his first cap as a reserve.

Shaun Davies still is impacted by the HIA protocol following the Eagles’ opening match against the Maori All Blacks, so Ruben de Haas will once again take his place at scrum-half. It is hoped that Davies will be available for selection against Ireland next week.

The Eagles are still undefeated in international tests with their loss in 2018 to the Maori All-Blacks. The USA’s overall record is 9-1 this year.

The USA is 15th in the World Rugby rankings but is .05 points from replacing Georgia at 14th.

The win pushed the Samoans back to No. 17 in the World Rugby Rankings with Romania taking their place at No. 16. The USA currently sits at No. 15, just .05 points shy of Georgia in14th place. Georgia plays Samoa this week.

The Eagles last played Romania in November 2016 with the Oaks-winning 23-10. The USA has had success against Romania and holds a 3-2 overall record.

Last week the Eagles beat Samoa for the first time 30-29, while Romania beat Portugal 36-6. Romania Head Coach Thomas Lièvremont has made a number of changes in the forwards for the match against the U.S. Adrian Motoc, who is 22-years-old and plays for Agen in France, will captain the team. Four of the starters and one reserve are based in France, while the rest play club rugby in Romania.

Squads

Romania: 1 Ionel Badiu (Roval Drome, FR) 2 Andrei Radoi (Timisoara) 3 Alex Gordas (CSM Bucuresti) 4 Adrian Motoc (Captain, Agen, FR) 5 Marian Drenceanu (Timisoara) 6 Adrian Ion (CSM Bucuresti) 7 Johan Van Heerden (Perpignan, FR) 8 Cristi Chirica (Baia Mare) 9 Florin Surugiu (Steaua) 10 Daniel Plai (Steaua) 11 Ionut Dumitru (Steaua) 12 Fonovai Tangimana (CSM Bucuresti) 13 Catalin Fercu (Timisoara) 14 Vladut Zaharia (Timisoara) 15 Ionel Melinte (Steaua) 16 Eugen Capatana (Timisoara) 17 Alexandru Savin (CSM Bucuresti) 18 Constantin Pristavita (Baia Mare) 19 Marius Iftimiciuc (Timisoara) 20 Razvan Ilisescu (Blagnac, FR) 21 Valentin Calafeteanu (CSM Bucuresti) 22 Tudor Boldor (Steaua) 23 Vladut Popa (Timisoara)

USA Men’s Eagles: 1 Titi Lamositeli (Saracens, ENG 24) 2 Joe Taufete’e (Worcester Warriors, ENG 17) 3 Paul Mullen (Unattached 4) 4 Greg Peterson (Glasgow Warriors, SCO 18) 5 Nick Civetta (Doncaster Knights, ENG 16) 6 John Quill (Glendale Raptors 28) 7 Tony Lamborn (Rugby Southland, NZL 17) 8 Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold 38) 9 Ruben de Haas (Free State Cheetahs, RSA 5) 10 Will Hooley (Bedford Blues, ENG 5) 11 Ryan Matyas (San Diego Legion 11) 12 Paul Lasike (Harlequins, ENG 7) 13 Bryce Campbell (London Irish, ENG 19) 14 Blaine Scully (Cap, Cardiff Blues, WAL 41) 15 Marcel Brache (Perth/Western Force, AUS 10) 16 Dylan Fawsitt (Old Blue NY/Rugby United NY 5) 17 David Ainuu (Toulouse, FRA 1) 18 Dino Waldren (London Scottish, ENG 13) 19 David Tameilau (Glasgow WArriors, SCO 10) 20 Hanco Germishuys (Unattached 9 ) 21 Nick Boyer* (San Diego Legion 0) 22 Will Magie (Glendale RAptors 17) 23 Gannon Moore (North Harbour, NZL 1)