Dialing in as the 2026 season approaches, USA Men’s Eagles Head Coach, Scott Lawrence and staff have confirmed the Extended Player Squad as the 2027 Rugby World Cup ticks past the 500 days to go milestone.
Preparations had already been underway for this 55-strong player group which has now been refined ahead of the upcoming summer series kicking off with the three Test matches that make up part of the World Rugby Nations Cup. The USA Eagles will get action underway celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country 4th of July in Denver when they take on Portugal,, followed by matches in Charlotte and Cary, North Carolina. Tickets are available at usa.rugby/tickets.
The greater player pool mixes seasoned veterans alongside 15 uncapped players fighting to put their hand up for a USA Eagles debut. Lawrence has also named players currently unavailable or on injury recovery, identified for future selection as their status changes to be integrated into the playing pool as the team progresses towards Rugby World Cup 2027.
“The next 495 days is about developing 33 players to put on a plane healthy and World Cup ready with another 12 working at home in reserve in 2027.” commented Lawrence, “This group will comprise most of that 45 man roster. We have a mountain of work to do to accomplish that task and we look forward to working with this group and those who may still play their way in over the next 4 weeks”
The USA Men’s Eagles squad will undergo a further round of refinement ahead of the squads next assembly in Denver where they will launch final preparations for their first Test against Portugal, before taking on Zimbabwe and Spain subsequent weekends.
USA fans can get closer to the action with USA Eagles Experiences at https://usaeagles-experiences.com. All match action can be caught live on Paramount+
| EXTENDED PLAYER SQUAD | |
|---|---|
| Player Name | Team |
| Payton Telea-Ilalio | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Ezekiel Lindenmuth | Seattle Seawolves |
| Jack Iscaro | Stade Francais |
| Ma'ake Muti* | California Legion |
| Faka'osi Pifeleti | Chicago Hounds |
| Alex Maughan | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Tonga Kofe | California Legion |
| Maliu Niuafe | New England Free Jacks |
| Paul Mullen | Old Glory DC |
| Mason Pedersen* | Seattle Seawolves |
| Kaleb Geiger | New England Free Jacks |
| Kapeli Pifeleti | Provence Rugby |
| Shilo Klein | Zebre Parma |
| Sean McNulty | Seattle Seawolves |
| Rhyno Herbst* | Seattle Seawolves |
| Nathan den Hoedt* | Chicago Hounds |
| Rick Rose* | Old Glory DC |
| Will Sherman* | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Jason Damm | California Legion |
| Sam Golla | Anthem RC |
| Brandon Harvey | Chicago Hounds |
| Tevita Naqali | Old Glory DC |
| Marno Redelinghuys | Seattle Seawolves |
| Viliami Helu | Kurita Water Gush |
| Tomas Casares | Chicago Hounds |
| Lance Williams* | California Legion |
| Makeen Alikhan | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Cory Daniel | Old Glory DC |
| Aidan King* | Old Glory DC |
| Paddy Ryan | Seattle Seawolves |
| Nafi Ma'afu | Union Sportive Montalbanaise |
| Benjamin Bonasso | Old Glory DC |
| Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz | Racing Club Narbonnais |
| Ruben de Haas | Chicago Hounds |
| Zion Going* | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Ishma-eel Safodien* | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Ethan McVeigh | New England Free Jacks |
| Michael Baska | Chicago Hounds |
| Luke Carty | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Chris Hilsenbeck | Chicago Hounds |
| Rand Santos | University of California |
| Tom Pittman | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Cassh Maluia* | California Legion |
| Tavite Lopeti | Chicago Hounds |
| Dominic Besag | St. Mary's College |
| Julian Roberts* | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Erich Storti | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Joey Mano | California Legion |
| Peyton Wall* | Chicago Hounds |
| John Rizzo* | Old Glory DC |
| Conner Mooneyham | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| Mark O'Keeffe | Chicago Hounds |
| Perry Mayo* | USON Nevers |
| Mitch Wilson | New England Free Jacks |
| Steffan Crimp* | California Legion |
| Returning to Play | |
|---|---|
| Player Name | Team |
| Christian Poidevin | California Legion |
| AJ MacGinty | Bristol Bears |
| Ryan James | California Legion |
| Oscar Treacy* | California Legion |
| Rufus McLean | Seattle Seawolves |
| David Ainu'u | Stade Toulousain |
*Uncapped Player
July 4th | USA vs Portugal
DICK’S Sporting Goods Park, Denver, CO - 10:00pm ET
July 11th | USA vs Zimbabwe
American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, NC - 7:30pm ET
July 18th | USA vs Spain
First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC - 7:30pm ET
