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Seven MLR players named in USA Eagles XV to play Canada

Cam Dolan

Seven MLR players have made the starting XV of the USA Eagles team that is set to face Canada in the opening round of the Pacific Nations Cup.

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USA Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold named his match-day squad following a four-week preparation camp in Colorado, with the MLR taking the lion’s share of places on the team.

It’s positive news for the fledgling professional league, which in total in supplying 11 of the Eagles’ 23.

Two of the 23 play in the Gallagher Premiership, while three are from clubs in the GreenKing IPA Championship. Two are from the USA Sevens program while one is from the Top14, PRO14 and Global Rapid Rugby respectively. A further two are listed as ‘unattached’.

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The line-up however is relatively inexperienced with just 330 cumulative test caps between.

“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,” said Gold. “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.”

TEAM

1. Chance Wenglewski Rugby ATL
2. Dylan Fawsitt, Rugby United New York
3. Paul Mullen, Houston SaberCats
4. Ben Landry, Ealing Trailfinders
5. Nick Civetta, Unattached
6. Malon Al-Jiboori, Glendale Raptors
7. John Quill, Rugby United New York
8. Cam Dolan, NOLA Gold
9. Shaun Davies, Glendale Raptors
10. AJ MacGinty, Sale Sharks
11. Martin Iosefo, USA Sevens
12. Bryce Campbell, London Irish
13. Marcel Brache, Western Force
14. Blaine Scully, Unattached
15. Will Hooley, Bedford Blues

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Substitutes:

16. Kapeli Pifeleti, San Diego Legion
17. David Ainuu, Toulouse Rugby
18. Paddy Ryan, Rugby United New York
19. Greg Peterson, Newcastle Falcons
20. Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, Houston SaberCats
21. Ruben de Haas, Free State Cheetahs
22. Gannon Moore, Utah Warriors
23. Madison Hughes, USA Sevens

The tournament will be contested by Japan, Canada, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and USA over three rounds on 27 July, 3 August and 9-10 August 2019, offering teams a vital chance to fine tune their squads and scope out their opposition.

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AM 38 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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