USA Men's Head Coach Scott Lawrence has chosen his gameday 23 to face Samoa Sunday at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Denver.

Tickets are still available for the three-match day here>>

Jason Damm returns as captain of the team and at lock. There's a bit of a shift in the back row following Makheen Alikhan's injury last week against Japan. Vili Helu comes in at blindside flanker and he brings a good injection of lineout ability.

Tomasso Boni comes in as an experienced head at inside center. Mitch Wilson gets the start at fullback.

California Legion prop Malie Niuafe is on the bench and he could make his Eagle debut. Born in California, Niuafe learned his rugby in New Zealand and was in the New Zealand age-grade system before coming back to the USA. A massive body at prop, he brings a good amount of power to help close out a game against a challenging Samoa team Sunday.

"Malie Niuafe has come into camp and really put his nose and head down and worked hard," said Lawrence. "And, you know, it's good to have a 290-pound tighthead to call on for this one. It's time for him. He's earned it. He's a special talent when we look into the future for this team."

This game against Samoa is the 5th-6th game in the Pacific Nations Cup and is also a World Cup qualifier. As a result of it being a qualifier, there cannot be a tie.

For Damm, the gravity of the game is unavoidable, but also has to be put aside.

"I've been saying all week—let's not make the moment bigger than it is, because at the end of the day, it's another game of footy," Damm said. "Obviously, to ignore the moment is pretty… naive, but it's more of making sure that through our prep, [how] we keep consistent with our actions, and keep consistent with our game plan, and not letting the moment get to us, we're staying together as a team and rising to the occasion, whatever comes our way."

There is pressure, but, added Damm, there is always pressure.

"When you put on a nation's jersey, you're carrying a lot of weight, but that's a good thing, and that's a privilege and an honor," he said.

Having lost to Canada and Japan, the Eagles have to get a win here or start a two-game series with Chile to get to the 2027 World Cup.

Both Lawrence and Damm said they have seen improvement. The Eagles lost 47-21 to the Brave Blossoms but it was 28-14 at halftime. 

"I think we saw a shift in attitude and work rate, and, really, just 80 minutes of fight, which is what we really wanted," said Damm. "There were some little technical things here and there, and some errors made, but overall I'm just happy with the fight from the fellas."

"We know Japan was a fast starting team," added Lawrence. "And we held them out for the first 20. We had some kind of tactical things that put us in our own half quite a bit, but we really got back to the way that, preparing with the intensity we needed to leading into Japan, and I think that it showed, in the way that we were able to fight for 80 minutes. So we know that that's a recipe in the way we prepare that gets us ready. We've picked up on that and are taking that forward."

Minimizing fast-break turnover opportunities against Samoa will be hugely important for the USA. But Samoa is also a physically punishing side, something the Eagles prides themselves on as well.