GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

Young Eagles Selected for Uruguay

irish rugby tours

Young Eagles Selected for Uruguay

Ben Cima gets his first USA start. Charmaine Chitate photo.

USA Men's 15s Head Coach John Mitchell has named his lineup to face Uruguay, and it's a lineup with some new faces and the return of several old faces.

Wheeling Jesuit All American Peter Malcolm gets his first USA start at hooker, alongside Chris Baumann, and Anthony Purpura. Purpura was capped one time for the USA, against Russia in 2010, but remains an imposing figure at prop.

Nate Brakeley and Nick Civetta return in the second row, while the back row is a blast from the past of sorts - Al McFarland returns to the Eagles after playing for them in 2015, this time at No. 8. Todd Clever continues his string of test matches for Mitchell, and will add to his all-time USA record with this start, his 70th test match for the Eagles. And John Quill, who was slammed with injuries while playing 17 times for the USA gets his first cap since October of 2015.

The backline is an interesting one, with former Gonzaga HS star Ben Cima getting his first start at flyhalf. AJ MacGinty, who is available for this game only, will slot in at inside center. While center isn't his regular position, MacGinty is clearly being selected as a secondary flyhalf (a 2nd five-eighth). MacGinty partners with Bryce Campbell in the midfield, while Zack Test, Blaine Scully (captain, and Mike Te'o comprise the deep three.

Some potential first caps are on the bench, with former USA U20 captain Will Magie, BYU lock Matt Jensen, and Saint Mary's prop Dino Waldren all could get their first caps.

Sixteen of the players on the USA squad played college rubgy in the USA - from 15 different colleges (Maine, Wheeling Jesuit, Wyoming, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Nevada, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon, Indiana, Cal, Life, Saint Mary's, BYU - two players, and Davenport.

"We're getting closer to what our squad of 30 will be for June's Rugby World Cup Qualifiers, but there are positions up for grabs," Mitchell told USARugby.org. "The biggest area for development - and it doesn't happen overnight - is the development of a second and third scrum. We have nice group of young guys now but it's going to take time."

This game will kick off at 3pm CT on Saturday from Toyota Field in San Antonio. The game will be shown on The Rugby Channel behind the pay wall.

USA Squad to Play Uruguay
1. Anthony Purpura 
2. Peter Malcolm 
3. Chris Baumann 
4. Nate Brakeley 
5. Nick Civetta 
6. John Quill 
7. Todd Clever 
8. Al McFarland 
9. Nate Augspurger 
10. Ben Cima 
11. Zack Test 
12. AJ MacGinty 
13. Bryce Campbell 
14. Blaine Scully (C) 
15. Mike Te'o

USA Reserves 
16. James Hilterbrand 
17. Alex Maughan 
18. Dino Waldren 
19. Matthew Jensen 
20. Tony Lamborn 
21. Shaun Davies 
22. Will Magie 
23. JP Eloff

Uruguay Lineup 
1. Mateo Sanguinetti 
2. Facundo Gattas 
3. Juan Echeverría 
4. Ignacio Dotti 
5. Diego Ayala 
6. Rodolfo Garese 
7. Franco Lamanna 
8. Alejandro Nieto (C) 
9. Santiago Arata 
10. Germán Albanell 
11. Andrés Rocco 
12. Juan de Freitas 
13. Juan Manuel Cat 
14. Leandro Leivas 
15. Rodrigo Silva

Uruguay Reserves 
16. Diego Pombo 
17. Matías Benítez 
18. Felipe Inciarte 
19. Juan Diego Ormaechea 
20. Diego Magno 
21. Guillermo Lijtenstein 
22. Francisco Berchesi 
23. Gastón Gibertnau


Read more at https://www.usarugby.org/2017/02/cima-macginty-among-eagle-starters-for-...