Nate Augspurger gets his 50th cap Saturday in the USA’s match against Belgium, and it is, in a way, an unlikely milestone.

A player who played scrumhalf for the Eagles but often struggled to garner that starting position, Augspurger reinvented himself as a wing. In a game where most wings are now tall and are often picked for size, Augspurger, listed at 5-7, is not a big man. But what he does bring is a commitment to getting everything he can out of his athleticism and his brain.

A smart, quite funny, and engaging player, Augspurger is the most accomplished rugby player out of the University of Minnesota, and someone who will do whatever it takes to be a great rugby player. He will likely make an excellent coach when he eventually retires, because he has had to think and battle his way to 50 caps, perhaps more than anyone.

How did he do it? First off, he’s a student of the game. He understands what he can do and he excels at it. He has been capped at 7s and 15s, and he has leveraged what he is really good at—sidestep, acceleration, and his vertical leap—to make himself supremely valuable.

Add to that his scurmhalf skills. Yes he can pass; yes he can launch a box kick. And you’ve got an added weapon on the field. Is the scrumhalf slow to get to the ruck on the edge? No worries, Augspurger can fire a pass as good as anyone.

Augspurger’s journey to 50 Eagles caps is one we want to see more of—picking up the game young, playing in high school with Southside in Minnesota, then the Golden Gophers, where he was an All American, and then on to 7s, followed by 15s, and ongoing as a professional. 

But behind that resume is a pile of joy for the game, a desire to learn, and a lot of heart.

We knew all of this before we asked USA Head Coach Scott Lawrence about Nate Augspurger, and he concurred while also adding to the assessment.

“If we could bottle up Nate Asperger and sprinkle it on every player that came in here, we would certainly do that,” said Lawrence. “He's a tremendously gifted leader within the squad. His level of effort is second to none. We had training review yesterday, and we had three clips of efforts that were world class efforts from Nate, and that's in the training field. So on and off the field, his influence has been significant.”