USA Names Side to Face Uruguay in Qualifier #2

Ian Muir photo.

10.07.2021 - GRR Staff

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay—USA Men's 15s Head Coach Gary Good has made two changes to his match-day 23 for Saturday’s finale of the Americas 1 Rugby World Cup Qualifier.

Having beaten their South American hosts last week 19-16, the USA Eagles need one more victory, on aggregate, to confirm their place in Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2023. Kick off is set for 4:30 PM local time with a live stream on florugby.com.

Too Close For Comfort: USA Edges Uruguay

Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz will start in place of Hanco Germishuys, who did not travel to Montevideo due to family obligations. Connecticut-born, Argentinian-raised flanker/lock Benjamin Bonasso could make his national team debut from the bench.

“It was a long travel day into the country but now that we’re here; and with one good training session under our belts, things are going smoothly and we look forward to the weekend," Gold said. "Looking back on this journey from our first match with Canada to where we are at the moment, this group of guys have put in a tremendous amount of work and now it’s all about making some significant improvements, maintaining our discipline and playing our brand of rugby. Uruguay continues to prove how capable they are of shaking things up and we know this will be an 80-minute shift for us.”

The USA hosted the first leg of the series last Saturday in Glendale. After building a 19-3 lead, the South Americans came back to bridge the gap from a few untimely U.S. penalties late in the second half. Those penalties produced a momentum shift that allowed Los Teros to close the gap.

Match Information
Date: October 9, 2021
Venue: Estadio Charrua, Montevideo, Uruguay
Kick off: 4:30PM Uruguay Time (3:30PM ET, 12:30PM PT)
Broadcast: FloRugby.com

USA Men’s XVs National Team Roster
NAME	POSITION	CLUB	CAPS
1. David Ainu'u	Prop	Toulouse (FRA)	14
2. Kapeli PIfeleti	Hooker	Saracens (ENG)	7
3. Joe Taufete'e	Prop	Lyon (FRA)	32
4. Nate Brakeley	Lock	Rugby United New York	28
5. Nick Civetta	Lock	Rugby United New York	26
6. Andrew Guerra	Flanker	NOLA Gold	4
7. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz	Flanker	Old Glory DC	5
8. Cam Dolan	No. 8	NOLA Gold	56
9. Ruben De Haas	Scrum half	Saracens (ENG)	22
10. Will Magie	Flyhalf	Austin Gilgronis	30
11. Mika Kruse	Wing	Utah Warriors	4
12. Tavite Lopeti	Center	Seattle Seawolves	3
13. Bryce Campbell	Center	Austin Gilgronis	37
14. Christian Dyer	Wing	USA Sevens	5
15. Marcel Brache	Fullback	Austin Gilgronis	27

Reserves
16. Dylan Fawsitt	Hooker	Rugby United New York	18
17. Matt Harmon	Prop	NOLA Gold	3
18. Paul Mullen	Prop	Utah Warriors	23
19. Greg Peterson	Lock	Newcastle Falcons (ENG)	33
20. Benjamin Bonasso	Flanker	Rugby United New York	Debut
21. Nate Augspurger	Scrumhalf/Wing	San Diego Legion	29
22. Luke Carty	Flyhalf	LA Giltinis	4
23. Will Hooley	Fullback	Unattached	16