USA vs Brazil: ARC 2019

The 13th ranked United States Men’s Rugby National team will face 26th ranked Brazil in Round Three of the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) 2019 this Saturday, Feb. 23 at Dell Diamond in Austin, TX.

Gary Gold has needed to juggle his squad with the return of several players to Major League Rugby, European, and a couple of college clubs. The squad sees the return of captain Blaine Scully and the full squad has 360 cumulative caps. Kapeli Pifeleti could earn his first cap if he enters from the reserves.

The U.S. is currently in third place following their loss to Argentina XV, but will be backed by the home crowd on Saturday. Brazil enters the match in fourth place. The match kicks off at 7:10 PM Central Time.

Following Brazil, the Eagles will travel to Seattle for two final games against Uruguay on March 2 and finish the ARC against rival-Canada March 8 at Starfire Sports. Tickets for all three remaining matches are available at usarugby.org/tickets. All games will be broadcast LIVE on FloRugby, exclusively in the U.S.

The match against Argentina XV, has to be chalked up to an aberration. Argentina XV scored two quick tries and following a red card, the team played down a man for most of the match. The team was inconsistent in the scrums and its team defense was suspect. Both areas were addressed during the week as the team had a positive week to prepare for Brazil.

Brazil has been gaining attention with their scrummaging and as Canada knows, it kicking game. The team has long-time captain Yan Rosetti returning from inury in the reserves and should Lorenzo Massari enter the match, he would earn his first cap for the Tupis.

The USA will need to maintain possession, while utilizing tactical kicking when opportunities arise. The team has changed its front row, but that is more the result of a minor injury to Joe Taufette’e and from Titi Lamositele returning to the Saracens.

Expect the USA to get back to playing expansive rugby and to utilize their lineouts to attack from close range. The team will want to get off to a fast start and to control the match from the onset.

Gary Gold reflected upon last week’s match against Argentina XV saying that “It’s been a long couple of weeks but we’re ready to continue with the ARC and have used our disappointing result against Argentina XV as a learning experience. We know Brazil will bring an incredibly strong set piece; and in order to overcome that, we’ll need to remain patient and focus on getting the small things right through each phase. We’ll be in front of a vocal home crowd this weekend and that atmosphere will be a vital component in keeping momentum on our side.”

Squads

USA: 1 Chance Wenglewski 2 James Hilterbrand 3 Paul Mullen 4 Nate Brakeley 5 Nick Civetta 6 John Quill 7 Hanco Germishuys 8 Cam Dolan 9 Shaun Davies 10 Will Magie 11 Mike Te’o 12 Paull Lasike 13 Bryce Campbell 14 Blaine Scully (C) 15 Marcel Brache 16 Dylan Fawsitt 17 David Ainuu 18 Dino Waldren 19 Ben Landry 20 Tevita Tameilau 21 Kapeli Pifeleti 22 Ruben de Haas 23 Will Hooley

Brazil: 1 Lucas Abud 2 Wilton Rebolo 3 jardel Vettorato 4 Matteo Dell’acqua 5 Luiz Vieira 6 Cléber Dias da Silver 7 Arthur Bergo 8 André Arruda 9 Lucas Duque 10 Josh Reeves 11 Robert Tenorio 12 Moises Duque 13 Felipe Sancery (C) 14 Lucas Tranquez 15 Daniel Sancery 16 Yan Rosetti 17 Caique Sequra Silva 18 Pedro Bengalo 19 Gabriel Paganini 20 Alexandre Figuerado Alves 21 Douglas Rauth 22 Lorenzo Massari 23 Ariel Rodriques

USA Men’s Eagles Staff

Head Coach – Gary Gold
Assistant Coach, Backs & Attack – Greg McWilliams
Assistant Coach, Forwards – Shawn Pittman
Strength & Conditioning Coach – Huw Bevan
Performance Analyst – Jimmy Harrison
Team Doctor – Sam Akhavan (Brazil)
Head Athletic Trainer – Kevin Ng
Assistant Athletic Trainer – Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist – Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager – Chris Hanson