Pacific Nations Cup | USA

Number of tournaments: (4) 2013-15,2019
Best finish: 2nd (2014)
Most points in a match: 47 (47-19 v Canada in 2019)
Biggest win: 28 (as above)
Did You Know? USA lost their first five Pacific Nations Cup games before breaking their duck in 2014.

Current form

World Ranking: 19
Form*: LLWWL

Key team info

Kit colour: White/Blue/Red
Nickname: Men’s Eagles
Known for: Fans dressed as Uncle Sam and chants of ‘USA, USA, USA

Head Coach: Scott Lawrence (USA)
Lawrence’s space-themed mission statement is design to take this Eagles team into another stratosphere. His passion for USA rugby knows no bounds having taken the home-grown route to the top, firstly as a number eight who won five caps for his country, and now as head coach.

Captain: Greg Peterson
Grew up on the beach in Manly, Sydney and is about the length of a surfboard. Standing 2.03m and weighing 117kg, Peterson is a colossus of American rugby and one of only a handful of players in the current squad to have 40-plus caps. Has a Japanese step-mum so will no doubt relish the opportunity to play more test rugby back there when the competition reaches the finals stage, having enjoyed her support at Rugby World Cup 2019.

Legend: Joe Taufete’e.
Taufete’e is the all-time record-holder for most test tries by a hooker with 23 from just 36 appearances – three more than All Blacks number two Codie Taylor. The total metreage for that impressive try tally probably amounts to no more than 23 metres as most have come from close-range maul tries, but like American wrestling idol, Hulk Hogan, Taufete’e is never happier than when getting up off the floor from under a pile of super-sized human bodies with a triumphant smile on his face.

In brief

Passing the ball backwards not forwards may still be relatively alien to large sections of NFL-obsessed USA but rugby in America has a proud history, particularly at College level. Heck, even former Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton have played it, and the wife of another POTUS, former First Lady Michelle Obama, recently congratulated the USA women’s sevens team on their historic bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games.

International success so far has been limited to the women’s game, and not just in sevens – USA were 15s world champions in 1991. But the potential for the Eagles to become a men’s rugby superpower is obvious given the amount of athletic talent there is in the vast country. Wins over Brazil and Spain last November saw them lift the La Vila International Rugby Cup, but PNC silverware may be beyond them unless they can seriously raise their game over the coming months.

Squad

Head coach Lawrence has named the following squad for the Men’s Eagles’ Pacific Nations Cup 2024 campaign.

Only two players included – Saracens hooker Kapeli Pifeleti and Cheetahs scrum-half Ruben de Haas – play their club rugby outside of the USA.

Forwards: Jack Iscaro, Jake Turnbull, Pono Davis, Alex Maughan, Paul Mullen, Sean McNulty, Kapeli Pifeleti, Cyrille Cama, William Waguespack, Greg Peterson (captain), Jason Damm, Viliami Helu, Cory Daniel, Paddy Ryan, Moni Tonga’uiha, Jameson Fa’anana-Schultz, Thomas Tu’avao.

Backs: JP Smith, Ruben de Haas, Ethan McVeigh, Luke Carty, Rand Santos, Bryce Campbell, Tavite Lopeti, Dominic Besag, Tommaso Boni, Nate Augspurger, Conner Mooneyham, Mitch Wilson, Toby Fricker, Chris Mattina.

*Tests only