USA Faces Uruguay in Americas 1 Decider

Head Coach Gary Gold has made two changes to his match-day 23 for Saturday’s finale of the Americas 1 qualifier. The USA beat Uruguay 19-16 last week and the USA Eagles need one more victory, on aggregate, to confirm their place in Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2023. The kick-off is set for 4:30 PM local time (2:30 pm ET) with a live stream on florugby.com

Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz will start in place of Hanco Germishuys, who did not travel to Montevideo due to family obligations. Benjamin Bonasso could make his national team debut from the bench at flanker.

Head Coach Gary Gold said that “It was a long travel day into the country but now that we’re here; and with one good training session under our belts, things are going smoothly and we look forward to the weekend. Looking back on this journey from our first match with Canada to where we are at the moment, this group of guys has put in a tremendous amount of work and now it’s all about making some significant improvements, maintaining our discipline, and playing our brand of rugby. Uruguay continues to prove how capable they are of shaking things up and we know this will be an 80-minute shift for us.”

Last Saturday, the USA hosted the first leg of the series at Infinity Park at Glendale, Colorado with the team jumping to a 19-3 lead before second-half penalties had Los Teros took advantage and cut the final score to 19-16. See match Highlights and read the Match Report.

The forwards forced penalties at the goal line and set-piece while disrupting Uruguay’s attack and capturing momentum. “Ruben De Haas and Kapeli Pifeleti had a pair of runs that set up Cam Dolan for a brilliant first try. Then Dolan combined with Christian Dyer for another and Mikaele Kruse scored in the second half. Even though the USA’s classic maul didn’t function as it normally does, the squad adapted, playing patiently through phases, to find a way to score. That same versatility will be necessary from whistle to whistle as Saturday approaches.”

Match Information: October 9, 2021, at Estadio Charrua, Kick-off: 4:30 PM Uruguay Time (2:30 pm ET), Broadcast: FloRugby.com

USA Men’s XVs National Team Roster

NAME	POSITION	CLUB	CAPS
1. David Ainu’u	Prop	Toulouse (FRA)	14
2. Kapeli PIfeleti	Hooker	Saracens (ENG)	7
3. Joe Taufete’e	Prop	Lyon (FRA)	32
4. Nate Brakeley	Lock	Rugby United New york	28
5. Nick Civetta	Lock	Rugby United New York	26
6. Andrew Guerra	Flanker	NOLA Gold	4
7. Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz	Flanker	Old Glory DC	5
8. Cam Dolan	No. 8	NOLA Gold	56
9. Ruben De Haas	Scrum half	Saracens (ENG)	22
10. Will Magie	Flyhalf	Austin Gilgronis	30
11. Mika Kruse	Wing	Utah Warriors	4
12. Tavite Lopeti	Center	Seattle Seawolves	3
13. Bryce Campbell	Center	Austin Gilgronis	37
14. Christian Dyer	Wing	USA Sevens	5
15. Marcel Brache	Fullback	Austin Gilgronis	27
16. Dylan Fawsitt	Reserve Hooker	Rugby United New York	18
17. Matt Harmon	Reserve Prop	NOLA Gold	3
18. Paul Mullen	Reserve Prop	Utah Warriors	23
19. Greg Peterson	Reserve Lock	Newcastle Falcons (ENG)	33
20. Benjamin Bonasso	Reserve Flanker	Rugby United New York	Debut
21. Nate Augspurger	Reserve Scrumhalf/Wing	San Diego Legion	29
22. Luke Carty	Reserve Flyhalf	LA Giltinis	4
23. Will Hooley	Reserve Fullback	Unattached	16