The Eagle men will have a tall order facing England Saturday evening.

As everyone looks to the skies and hopes there’s no lightning, the Americans will also be hoping to bring a little thunder … that’s how they will energize their fans this weekend.

But despite England being without their British & Irish Lions, the guys with the roses on their (white) jerseys are a group of seasoned professionals. True, 14 of the 15 starters boast a total of 96 caps (with three debutants), and the 15th guys, George Ford, has 101. But it’s unfair to just look at that. The three uncapped starters are regular starters for Sale, Gloucester, and Bath. It’s not like they’ve never played at a high level. 

The bench is much the same, with players boasting only a handful of caps but being in their mid-20s. They’ve been around.

Lawrence, too, is presenting players with their first caps, and testing a few more. Key among those is debutant flyhalf Chris Hilsenbeck, who played 21 times for Germany but was born in the USA so was able to make the one-time switch.

“Chris bring us consistency,” said Lawrence. “His clarity and calmness is important and he is a very thoughtful player. He will stick to the game plan.”

And that’s what they need. Captain Benjamin Bonasso, who has been growing nicely into his leadership role, said the key feeling among the camp is “we need to keep on going, not stress about every little thing, and trust in the process.”