USA Rugby Men’s Eagles XVs vs Canada Preview. Match on NBC Sports Gold

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USA Rugby Release…

GLENDALE, CO – The USA Men’s National Team XVs are set to face rival Canada in the opening round of Pacific Nations Cup 2019 this Saturday, July 27 at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO. It will be the final home game for the Eagles before the group departs for Rugby World Cup Japan in September. Kick off is set for 6 PM MT on NBC Sports Gold with tickets available at usarug.by/pnc2019.

QUICK LINKS   

TICKETS | LIVE STREAM | TOURNAMENT PAGE | HOW RUGBY WORKS | LIVE UPDATES

MATCH-DAY 23

Head Coach Gary Gold has named his match-day roster after a rigorous four-week preparation camp in Colorado.

The starting XV will see Chance Wenglewski earn his third cap at prop while Malon Al-Jiboori will claim his second cap at flanker.

USA Sevens players Martin Iosefo and Madison Hughes both earn selections with Iosefo suiting up at wing and Hughes ready to jump in as a reserve. Iosefo played his last test match in June of 2017 against Ireland while Hughes earned his last cap in XVs in July of 2017 when the Eagles defeated Canada to qualify for the upcoming World Cup.

The reserves will also see Paddy Ryan return for the first time since November of 2017 when the USA faced Georgia. Alongside him will be Houston SaberCats Jamason Faanana-Schultz who could make his national team debut from the bench.

Saturday’s full lineup features 330 cumulative test caps.

STARTERS

RESERVES

MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM XVs STAFF
General Manager | Dave Hodges

Head Coach | Gary Gold

Assistant Coach, Attack | Greg McWilliams

Assistant Coach, Set Piece | Shawn Pittman

Assistant Coach, Defense | Jaque Fourie

Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan

Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison

Assistant S&C and Analyst | Tom Kindley

Team Doctor | Mark Sakr

Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan

Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng

Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan

Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz

Team Manager | Chris Hanson

Assistant Team Manager | Mark Drown

LAST TIME ON THE PITCH AGAINST CANADA

In March, the Men’s Eagles concluded the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship with a dramatic 30-25 victory over their North American rivals. In the final minute, a crucial line break by Mike Te’o put the USA deep inside Canadian territory where Ruben de Haas dove over the tryline at fulltime to claim the lead and the win.

A back and forth battle through the first half allowed Canada to take a 12-15 lead at halftime, after which the Eagles rallied to come back despite a continuously competitive affair. The Canadians had managed to use Eagle penalties to maintain a favorable scoreline and put the game within two points with only minutes to spare.

The near 60-meter run by Te’o was a massive momentum change, leading the Eagles into the try zone before the Canadians held them up. It was then that a scrum allowed young scrumhalf Ruben de Haas to dummy his way around the defense and leap over the line to give the USA a closing that fans were screaming for.

FULL MATCH RECAP 

THE MATCHUP | UNITED STATES vs CANADA

Saturday’s matchup will be the first of two games the USA will play against Canada before Rugby World Cup. After a heavily contentious battle in March, fans at Infinity Park in Glendale can prepare for another game worth every minute of play.

The United States are currently ranked No. 15, where Canada sit at No. 21 in the World Rugby Rankings. Both teams have met 61 times in history with the Canadians owning a 38-21 advantage on the overall record and three matches ending in a draw.

As the opening round to Pacific Nations Cup 2019, the Men’s Eagles and Canada are equally anxious to get a winning start, knowing only two more games lay ahead in the competition.

Following Canada, the United States will face Samoa and Japan in Fiji.

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH GARY GOLD 

“We’ve had a very productive month from a training perspective and we know that we will see a really well-coached and prepared Canadian side on Saturday. We know that what we saw in Seattle was only a taste of what this Canada side can do and with Rugby World Cup in the forefront of everyone’s minds this match in Glendale will be no different. 

“It is absolutely critical that we remain disciplined through this game and continue to make the right decisions in tight situations. We are in every way focused on preparation for Rugby World Cup but, before that, we have four very important test matches and a responsibility to deliver a competitive performance in every one of them.”

CURTAIN RAISER
Saturday’s event will feature not one but two USA-Canada matchups with the Men’s Collegiate All-American XVs kicking off against All-Canadian University XVs at 3 PM MT. The game will mark the first time the United States and Canada have met at the collegiate level, with First, Second and Third team All-Americans announced after the two-part event. Both games — collegiates and senior national teams — will be broadcast LIVE on NBC Sports Gold.

WHAT IS THE PACIFIC NATIONS CUP?

The Pacific Nations Cup is an annual tournament hosted by World Rugby that features an expanded number of teams in Rugby World Cup years, when the United States competes. Featuring six teams for 2019, nations are split into two pools where each team faces the opposing sides in the opposite group to accumulate points after each matchup. The team who finishes with the most points at the end of its three games will win the title.

Pool A features the United States, Fiji and Tonga while Pool B features Canada, Samoa and Japan. The USA will face Canada first at home in Glendale, CO, followed by Samoa and Japan in Suva, Fiji to conclude its campaign.

POINTS STRUCTURE

• Win – 4 points

• Draw – 2 points

• Loss – 0 points

• Bonus
  Scoring 4 tries – 1 point
  Losing by less than 7 – 1 point

TICKETS
Tickets start at only $30 for general admission including access to the Men’s Collegiate All-Americans curtain raiser against All-Canadian University XVs at 3 PM MT. One ticket is valid for both games with VIP packages also available at usarug.by/pnc2019.

Follow @USARugby and use #PNC2019 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.