GRR: National Teams
One of the USA players who made his mark in last week's victory over the French Barbarians is a player quite familiar with the opposition—David Ainu'u.
The USA U18 men's team is assembling now in Amsterdam, set to play in the Corendon Summer Tour, and there are plenty of challenges ahead.
Beating the French Barbarians was most certainly a nice confidence boost for the USA team, but Head Coach Gary Gold has his eye on the major goal, and the major goal is not beating the French Barbarians, it's beating Chile.
Holding on desperately at the end, the USA managed to defeat the French Barbarians 26-21 Friday night at Aveva Stadium in Houston.
Perhaps the most mixed-up of the USA age-grade teams going to the Netherlands next week is the U20s.
Straddling the line between high school and college, the team has to be made into a unified whole using players of quite varied backgrounds and rugby experiences.