The USA Men’s National Team held off the French Barbarians’ comeback bid in Houston on July 1 for a 26-21 win. The team now faces a Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification two-game series against Chile which begins this Saturday, July 9 at 6:00 PM EDT in Santiago. The total or points aggregate will determine who officially qualifies for next fall’s Rugby World Cup in France. The second fixture will be at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO before a sold-out home crowd. Both matches will be streamed live on FloRugby.
While the USA has won five of their six previous meetings with Chile, the South American side has improved after competing in the Americas Pacific Challenge and Superliga Americana de Rugby. Los Condores defeated Canada in the fall Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers, eliminating the Canadians from qualification for the first time. South American nations will be rooting for Chile to defeat the USA, so the Eagles will not underestimate them.
The Eagles, who played well defensively in Houston, will look to continue that pressure in Santiago with Chile playing in front of their home fans. USA Head Coach Gary Gold has made three changes from last week’s match against the French Barbarians. Joe Taufete’e will start at hooker with Kapeli Pifeleti moving to the reserves. Taufete’e was a reserve at tighthead prop last week. Ben Bonasso is the blindside flanker with Hanco Germishuys switching to openside flanker, with Moni Tonga’uhia left out of the matchday 23. Martin Iosefo also will start on the left wing with Mitch Wilson also not on the squad this week, Nick Civetta and Greg Peterson will swap lock positions.
There are three changes in the reserves with Angus MacLellan at tighthead prop, and Tavite Tamileau and Jason Damm, who could make his USA debut, in the back row.
Kisi Unufe, who played with the Houston SaberCats this season has also joined the 30-man traveling squad in place of Paul Lasike, who broke his hand against the French Barbarians.
Head Coach Gary Gold noted on the away qualifier:
“I am incredibly proud of the performance we put out in Houston. It was a short assembly period with the full squad, so I’m pleased with our early defensive effort and expect to see the same this Saturday. We allowed the French Barbarians back in the game as time went on last week – with a few corrections needed at our set piece – but I’m confident we can play our game as we need to on the road.
South America is always a challenging arena to play in on the road, so setting the pace early as we did last week, will be important against this hungry Chilean side.”
USA MEN’S EAGLES ROSTER | USA vs CHILE | RUGBY WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
July 9, 2022 6:00 PM ET | Estadio Santa Laura Universidad | Watch LIVE on FloRugby
| Position | Name | Club |
| 1 | David Ainu’u | Toulouse (FRA) |
| 2 | Joe Taufete’e | LA Giltinis |
| 3 | Paul Mullen | Utah Warriors |
| 4 | Greg Peterson | Newcastle Falcons (ENG) |
| 5 | Nick Civetta | Rugby New York |
| 6 | Ben Bonasso | Rugby New York |
| 7 | Hanco Germishuys | LA Giltinis |
| 8 | Cam Dolan | NOLA Gold |
| 9 | Ruben de Haas | Saracens (ENG) |
| 10 | AJ MacGinty (C) | Sale Sharks (ENG) |
| 11 | Martin Iosefo | Seattle Seawolves |
| 12 | Bryce Campbell | Austin Gilgronis |
| 13 | Tavite Lopeti | Seattle Seawolves |
| 14 | Christian Dyer | Houston SaberCats |
| 15 | Marcel Brache | Austin Gilgronis |
| 16 | Kapeli Pifeleti | Saracens (ENG) |
| 17 | Chance Wenglewski | Rugby New York |
| 18 | Angus MacLellan | Utah Warriors |
| 19 | Siaosi Mahoni | Houston SaberCats |
| 20 | Jason Damm | Rugby ATL |
| 21 | Tevita Tameilau | San Diego Legion |
| 22 | Nate Augspurger | San Diego Legion |
| 23 | Luke Carty | LA Giltinis |
USA MEN’S EAGLES TRAVELING STAFF
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Asst Coach | Stephen Brett
Asst Coach | Shawn Pittman
Asst Coach | Scott Lawrence
Head of Strength & Conditioning | Huw Bevan
Strength & Conditioning | Calvin Morriss
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Team Doctor | Mark Sakr
Head Physiotherapist | Kristen Douhan
Athletic Trainer | Ron Klingensmith
Sports Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager | Oscar Alvarez
USA MEN’S EAGLES 2022 SUMMER SERIES MATCH SCHEDULE
USA vs French Barbarians (W) 26-21
July 1, 2022, 7:30 PM CT at Aveva Stadium
Chile vs USA, Santiago, Chile – Rugby World Cup Qualifier
July 9, 2022 Time 6:00 PM ET at Estadio Santa Laura Universidad
Watch Live on FloRugby
USA vs Chile, Glendale, CO – Rugby World Cup Qualifier
July 16, 2022, 1:00 PM MT at Infinity Park
Watch Live on FloRugby
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