The USA Men’s Eagles will complete a five-week assembly on Saturday when they run out against 11th ranked Georgia from Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi.
A team known for size and their forward pack, the Georgians will be the largest test for this developing USA group continuing to strengthen their core and cohesion. Head Coach Scott Lawrence and staff have selected the match day 23 that feature a few moves at the starting positions, and a nod to Saint Mary’s Freshman, Dominic Besag who will have the opportunity for his first cap. Should Besag sub in, he will be the second youngest Men’s Eagle to appear in an international test match. USA vs Georgia kicks off Saturday, August 19 at 11am ET, live and free on The Rugby Network.
Head Coach Scott Lawrence noted ahead of Saturday, “For the final match, the goal is again to play better than we did the previous match. The expectation within the squad is to be ourselves, the best version of ourselves, get out there and play better.”
Thomas Tu’avao and Chris Mattina will earn their first career starts on match day, while Ruben de Haas will also step into the starting scrumhalf role. Cam Dolan will notably shift to flanker as Sam Golla starts in the #4 shirt. Tommaso Boni will also return to the pitch as Mika Kruse departs for the States, recovering from a hand injury.
Capping off a wild ride across the USA Rugby system since last summer, Dominic Besag earns a roster spot and opportunity to debut. Besag was called up directly from the Men’s U20s World Rugby Trophy camp in Kenya before the traveling squad took off for Europe, spending the last three weeks engrained in the senior national team environment. First pulling on the USA shirt with the Men’s U18s last summer in Amsterdam, Besag could become the second youngest Men’s Eagle to ever debut at 19 years old, shortly behind Thretton Palamo’s debut in 2007.
Lawrence noted on Besag’s selection, “American’s need to play minutes, that’s how we develop. They need to play games; they need to play hard games under pressure. We hope Dom takes the experiences of this match and camp, and continues to get more gametime over time, making him and international player to be proud of.”
| Name | Club | Caps |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jack Iscaro | Old Glory DC | 4 |
| 2. Dylan Fawsitt | New York Ironworkers | 24 |
| 3. Kaleb Geiger | New York Ironworkers | 1 |
| 4. Sam Golla | Dallas Jackals | 2 |
| 5. Greg Peterson (C) | Unattached | 41 |
| 6. Cam Dolan | NOLA Gold | 65 |
| 7. Paddy Ryan | Coventry (ENG) | 2 |
| 8. Thomas Tu'avao | Utah Warriors | 2 |
| 9. Ruben de Haas | Free State Cheetahs (RSA) | 30 |
| 10. Luke Carty | Chicago Hounds | 13 |
| 11. Nate Augspurger (VC) | San Diego Legion | 38 |
| 12. Tommaso Boni | Zebra (ITA) | 1 |
| 13. Tavite Lopeti | Seattle Seawolves | 9 |
| 14. Christian Dyer | Houston SaberCats | 13 |
| 15. Chris Mattina | Chicago Hounds | 2 |
| 16. Peter Malcolm | Seattle Seawolves | 12 |
| 17. Jake Turnbull | Seattle Seawolves | 2 |
| 18. Paul Mullen | Utah Warriors | 32 |
| 19. Nate Brakeley | New York Ironworkers | 31 |
| 20. Luke White | Chicago Hounds | 2 |
| 21. Nick McCarthy | Leinster | 2 |
| 22. Dominic Besag | Saint Mary's College | Debut |
| 23. Lauina Futi | Seattle Seawolves | 1 |
Head Coach | Scott Lawrence
Assistant Coach - Attack | Alama Ieremia
Assistant Coach - Forwards and Defense | Nick Easter
Head of Athlete Performance | Alex Ross
Head Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Head Physiotherapist | Kristen Douhan
Assistant ATC | Ron Klingensmith
Sports Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan
Team Manager | Oscar Alvarez
Aug 5 | USA vs Romania | (W) 31-17
Aug 12 | USA vs Portugal | (L) 20-46
Aug 19 | USA vs Georgia | Tbilisi, GEO
Sep 17 | USA vs Stade Toulousain | Salt Lake City, UT
