Inside backs Volney Rouse, Max DeAchaval, and Milemoti Pulu head a list of promising backs tapped to play in next month's Americas Rugby Championship, but most of the forwards have been capped.
Thirteen of the 29 players contending for places in a pair of Toronto matches have already played for the Eagles, including starting hooker Chris Biller and backrow regular Lou Stanfill. The high ratio underlines the degree to which the ARC is being used for preparing the senior national team.
Though described as 'replacing the IRB North America 4 ... and intended to provide a competitive platform between domestic and international rugby,' the two-game series illustrates how representative rugby opportunities have shrunk over the past few years. Gone is the senior National All-Star Championship (nee Inter-Territorial Tournament), which involved nearly 250 players, while the NA4 initially offered a 5-game slate for 2 squads of 30.
In a press release, chief executive Nigel Melville talked hopefully of ARC expansion, but then too the NA4 was once expected to grow into a professional competition. Both are reliant on IRB funding, and the $500,000 allocation which USARFU once received for the NA4 has decreased to $150,000 for the ARC.
Canada has recast its premier league (analogous to the ITT) so that it precedes the ARC, but the fall timeline precludes American college players. Thus our younger talent, representing the game's largest demographic, is shut out.
Among the ARC forwards, there are players who were on the fringe of the spring-summer test season such as lock Samu Manoa and flanker/lock Dan LaPrevotte, and recalls for prop Chris Baumann and locks Brian Doyle and Ben Wiedemer, who figured in the Eagles' 2008 campaign. Fully 9 of the 17 are already full internationals.
In the backline, flyhalves DeAchaval and Rouse and inside center Pulu are 15s newcomers who have trained with the 7s team, as have two 'crossover' athletes, Leonard Peters and Dallas Robinson.
Two players are to be named later.
'Everyone will be able to play within the course of those two games,” Eagle coach O’Sullivan said in announcing the squad.
Thirteen of the 29 players contending for places in a pair of Toronto matches have already played for the Eagles, including starting hooker Chris Biller and backrow regular Lou Stanfill. The high ratio underlines the degree to which the ARC is being used for preparing the senior national team.
Though described as 'replacing the IRB North America 4 ... and intended to provide a competitive platform between domestic and international rugby,' the two-game series illustrates how representative rugby opportunities have shrunk over the past few years. Gone is the senior National All-Star Championship (nee Inter-Territorial Tournament), which involved nearly 250 players, while the NA4 initially offered a 5-game slate for 2 squads of 30.
In a press release, chief executive Nigel Melville talked hopefully of ARC expansion, but then too the NA4 was once expected to grow into a professional competition. Both are reliant on IRB funding, and the $500,000 allocation which USARFU once received for the NA4 has decreased to $150,000 for the ARC.
Canada has recast its premier league (analogous to the ITT) so that it precedes the ARC, but the fall timeline precludes American college players. Thus our younger talent, representing the game's largest demographic, is shut out.
Among the ARC forwards, there are players who were on the fringe of the spring-summer test season such as lock Samu Manoa and flanker/lock Dan LaPrevotte, and recalls for prop Chris Baumann and locks Brian Doyle and Ben Wiedemer, who figured in the Eagles' 2008 campaign. Fully 9 of the 17 are already full internationals.
In the backline, flyhalves DeAchaval and Rouse and inside center Pulu are 15s newcomers who have trained with the 7s team, as have two 'crossover' athletes, Leonard Peters and Dallas Robinson.
Two players are to be named later.
'Everyone will be able to play within the course of those two games,” Eagle coach O’Sullivan said in announcing the squad.
Americas Rugby Championshop squad
Forwards: Chris Baumann (Life Univ.), Chris Biller (Univ. of California), Peter Dahl (Belmont Shore), Patrick Danahy (Life Univ.), Brian Doyle (New York AC), Nate Ellis (Chicago Lions), Jason Englebrecht (Dallas Harlequins), Kevin Erskine (San Francisco Golden Gate), Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians), Dan LaPrevotte (San Francisco Golden Gate), Mate Moeakiola (Pearl City), Samuela Manoa (San Francisco Golden Gate), Shawn Pittman (Bayside), Jacob Sprague (Boston Irish Wolfhounds), Louis Stanfill (unattached), Phil Thiel (Life Univ.), Ben Wiedemer (Belmont Shore)
Backs: Maximo DeAchaval (Denver Barbarians), Nicholas Edwards (New York AC), Tai Enosa (Pearl City), Malanese Malifa (Belmont Shore), Benny Mateialona (Life Univ.), Leonard Peters (Gentlemen of Aspen), Milemoti Pulu (San Francisco Golden Gate), Dallas Robinson (unattached), Volney Rouse (San Francisco Golden Gate), Roland Suniula (Pearl City), Shalom Suniula (Pearl City), Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach)
I didn't realize Pearl City, Iowa was such a hub for Somoan-American rugby players.
Posted by: Just a D2 rugger | 11 September 2009 at 07:41
Yes, with the tropical climate and miles of beaches, Muscataine is an oasis in America's heartland. Naturally, players would be drawn to Pearl City RFC,,, dummy.
Posted by: Surf's up | 11 September 2009 at 07:59
Don't ask don't tell... and really don't care about the ARC.
Posted by: no interest | 11 September 2009 at 08:16
What happened to Todd Clever?
Posted by: TCS | 11 September 2009 at 08:58
Is that a typo or did Mate really move from Park City to Pearl City?
Posted by: Joe | 11 September 2009 at 09:00
I agree with 'no interest'. Why is this story even up?
The more Kevin Roberts and Nigel Melville want me to fall in love with rugby, the more I'm falling away from even caring about USAR and their teams. This from a long time member, player and fan.
Maybe its the foreign administration or the foreign fly-in Eagles, but I just don't care about USAR.
Posted by: new story pls | 11 September 2009 at 10:21
Without trying sounding like a broken record but jeez our selection process needs to be looked at. Good luck to those selected but this team is 10x worse than the last team we put out against Argentina.
Posted by: Jaguars by a lot | 11 September 2009 at 12:01
Todd Clever started for the Lions in Currie Cup last week. I would think everyone involved in USA Rugby would think that's more important than the ARC.
Posted by: Jason | 14 September 2009 at 08:01