The USA Men's 15s National Team has two test matches set for this summer, and their 30-play roster has been named by Head Coach Scott Lawrence.
The Eagles will play Romania July 5 in Chicago at SeatGeek Stadium and then meet Scotland July 12 at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
Tickets are available at usa.rugby/tickets with both games streamed live on FloRugby.
“We’ve picked a balance of experienced Eagles and new players in key positions, aimed toward future growth into the Eagle jersey in this first mission of Project Gemini," said Lawrence, referring to the idea that Project Gemini was NASA's precursor to the Apollo program to the moon. "It was a highly competitive pool in certain positions, and there will be others in reserve and continuing to play domestically still who will challenge for a spot in the Pacific Nations Cup and beyond. It must be earned.”
This will be the first full assembly for the USA Men’s Eagles in 2024. This match with Romania will be for the Pershing Cup, a challenge trophy between the two national teams.
Five potential new caps are named to the traveling roster—USA-eligible Renger Van Eerten, who plays for Brive in France; Seattle Seawolves scrumhalf JP Smith played for South Africa's U20s in 2014 but has been playing in the USA for five years now; Seattle Seawolves wing Connor Mooneyham (Life University, The Woodlands); Saint Mary's center Erich Storti (Saint Mary's, De La Salle); Anthem Rugby Carolina fullback Steffan Crimp joined Anthem just last month and while he played mostly in Wales, his mother was born in Indiana so that leaves him eligible for the Eagles.
Veteran lock Greg Peterson, now with the San Diego Legion after a long career in the UK and Australia, has been named captain. The selections mark some significant changes in some positions for the USA team. Notably the scrumhalf and fullback picture is certainly different from the way it looked two years ago. And there are new faces in the second row, and perhaps even more telling is the non traveling reserves list, which includes many more players with no caps.
