Capped Eagle Inaki Basauri returned to his high school team, Maryland Exiles Youth Rugby, to run a practice session during his brief Christmas Holiday before returning to his professional rugby commitments in France. 

The veteran of two Rugby World Cups ran the team through several different kinds of warm up passing games and challenged the high school players to improve their passing under pressure.  For the second part of the practice, Basauri drilled the Exiles lineout and stressed the need to be quick and precise.

MDX Head Coach Dan Soso was pleased to see the growth of Exiles players: "This wasn't an easy group to work with.  Four of those kids are seeing a rugby ball for the first time in their lives.  Three of the kids practicing just came back from New Orleans playing with the Star Select XV.  But it was the perfect practice to expose new players to the game and challenge skilled players to improve."

MDX Forwards Coach Mark Cohen enjoyed working with Basauri and the Exiles players on reworking the Exiles lineout options: "He took what we already do and blended it with some things he has been doing with his team in France.  It really challenged us to think about what we do and why we do it."

Since his days representing the United States, Inaki Basauri has been a player/coach for Nantes Rugby in French Federal 2.  "It was fun working with these guys, and I can't wait to see what they accomplish during their season in the spring.