United States national rugby union team

United States of America

Nickname(s)	Eagles
Emblem	American bald eagle
Union	USA Rugby
Head coach	John Mitchell
Captain	Todd Clever
Most caps	Todd Clever (68)
Top scorer	Mike Hercus (465)
Top try scorer	Vaea Anitoni (26)
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	17 (as of 21 November 2016)
Highest	14 (2007)
Lowest	20 (2008)
First international
United States 8–12 Australia (16 November 1912)
Biggest win
United States 91–0 Barbados (1 July 2006)
Biggest defeat
England 106–8 United States (21 August 1999)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (First in 1987)
Best result	Pool stage, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015
Medal record Olympic medal record Men's rugby 1920 Antwerp Team 1924 Paris Team

The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The national team is controlled by USA Rugby, which is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until sevens made its debut at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic champion in rugby, having won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.

As of 27 June 2016, the Eagles are ranked 17th in the world by the World Rugby Rankings.^[1] Their highest ranking, achieved ahead of the 2007 World Cup, was 14th; their lowest ranking was 20th, following a winless campaign in the 2008 Churchill Cup.

The highest profile tournament in which the Eagles play is the Rugby World Cup. The Eagles have played in all but one Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987. The United States has expressed interest in hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup.^[2]

The United States has competed in the Pacific Nations Cup every summer since 2013. Previously, the U.S. has competed in the now-defunct Churchill Cup and the Pan American Championship.^[3] In April 2015, USA Rugby announced the creation of a new, annual International Championship to be contested among the top-6 ranked rugby nations in the Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Uruguay and the United States. The contest has been named the Americas Rugby Championship and will begin in 2016.^[4]

Early history

Early years: 1872–1912

Informal football games such as rugby became popular in the United States in the mid-19th century. Rugby union was played as early as 1872 among rugby clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area composed mainly of British expatriates. On December 2, 1882, the first Californian representative rugby team to play an outside opponent, took on a group of rugby-playing ex-Britons, who called themselves the Phoenix Rugby Club of San Francisco. California lost to the Phoenix club 7–4.

The first recorded rugby game in the U.S. place in May 1874 when Harvard University hosted McGill University.^[5] The game sparked an interest on college campuses nationwide. In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which largely used the rugby code.^[6] In 1886 Harvard's Oscar Shafter Howard introduced these rules to the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.

American football was fierce, and as injuries mounted, the public became alarmed at its brutalities and President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to outlaw the sport.^[7] Beginning in 1906, rugby union became the game of choice at Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley and several other colleges in California.^[8] Rugby's popularity, however, was short lived, and the sport had died out by the outbreak of World War I.

A California student team toured Australia and New Zealand in 1910, and invited their hosts to return the visit.^[9] Australia obliged by touring North America in 1912, and the U.S. national team played its first international match on November 16, 1912 against Australia in Berkeley, California. The visitors won 12–8.^[10] A year later, the U.S. hosted New Zealand at the same venue on November 15, 1913, but the Kiwis ran away with the contest 51–3.^[9]

Olympic Gold: 1920 and 1924

Rugby union had not been played competitively in most of the USA for more than a decade before the 1920 Olympics. The U.S. Olympic committee decided that because "California is the only state playing Rugby in the US, the Committee will give sanction but no financial aid". The U.S. assembled mostly a California-based team, with six players from the University of California, Berkeley.^[11] The Olympic Games Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union paid the expenses to transport the team from California to the games in Antwerp.^[12] By the time the US Rugby team arrived in Europe, Czechoslovakia and Romania had withdrawn from the competition. France and the U.S. were the only teams left to compete. The USA won a shock 8–0 victory over France to earn the gold medal.

The stunned French suggested that the U.S. team tour France, which they did; winning three out of the four matches they played. Between 1920 and 1924, however, rugby union virtually disappeared once again in the U.S., as American football soared in popularity.

The 1924 Paris Olympics caused France to challenge the U.S. to defend its title. Once again, the U.S. Olympic Committee granted permission but no funds. Nonetheless, seven players of the 1920 team dusted off their boots, raised $20,000, found 15 new players including some American football players who had never played in a rugby union match. The assembled U.S. team was again based heavily from Northern California, with 9 Stanford alumni, 5 from Santa Clara, and 3 from Cal.^[11] The team headed for England to play some tuneup matches, where they were beaten four times.

The French Olympic Committee (FOC) had scheduled the rugby event to kick off the 1924 Paris Games at Colombes Stadium in Paris. Romania and the U.S. were expected to provide only token opposition for the European champions. On Sunday, May 11, the U.S. pounded Romania 39 to 0, including nine tries.

The final was played at Colombes Stadium on May 18 before an estimates crowd of 30,000 - 50,000 that had gathered to watch the rugby final and the awarding of the first medal of the 1924 Olympics.^[11][13] Bookmakers set the odds at five to one with a 20-point spread.^[14] However, the Americans were not intimidated, and the American captain Babe Slater wrote in his diary before the match "we are sure going to let them know they have been in a battle."^[11] Despite the odds, the U.S. team started well, led by captain Colby "Babe" Slater, and led 3-0 at the half. Heavy tackling by the Americans, derived from American football, intimidated and exhausted the French, as the U.S. scored four tries in the second half to defeat the French 17-3.^[15] Rare vintage film footage of the 1924 gold medal match was released in the documentary, "A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby".

Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed rugby union as an Olympic sport. Without the Olympic incentive, the sport's growth in America collapsed and the game remained dormant.

Modern history

The 1960s and 1970s

The sport then enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the United States in the international rugby community. The United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby) was formed in 1975 by four territorial organizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest, and East).^[16] The first Eagles match was played in Anaheim in 1976 against Australia, the Wallabies won 24–12.^[16]

The USA also performed well against France in Chicago, losing the game 33–14. The next season the Eagles played two internationals, one against England (XV-not capped) at Twickenham on their 1977 United States rugby union tour of England, which they lost 37–11, and the other against Canada, which they also lost, 17–6. The USA played the Canadians again in 1978, and defeated them 12–7 in Baltimore. They then travelled to Canada in 1979 and lost 19–12 in Toronto.

The 1980s

The U.S. national team came to further prominence during the 1980s, and from the start of the decade, were playing a notably larger number of games every season. They did however lose all three of their games in 1980, all at home. They could not muster up a win in 1981 either, losing 3–6 to Canada, and 7–38 to South Africa. In 1982, the U.S. drew Canada 3-3. They travelled to Australia in 1983 to play the Wallabies, and lost 49–3 in Sydney. The U.S. played its first-ever match against Japan in 1985, winning 16-15 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.^[17]

The U.S. participated in 1987 in the first ever Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. The U.S. were in Pool 1, alongside co-hosts Australia, England and Japan. The U.S. won their first ever World Cup game, defeating Japan 21–18 at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane, with fullback Ray Nelson scoring 13 points.^[18] The U.S. lost both subsequent matches; 47–12 against the Wallabies and 34–6 against England. The U.S. finished third in the pool, out of contention for the quarterfinals.

The Eagles first met Wales at Cardiff in November 1987 as the final match of their 1987 tour, where Wales, who had just finished third in the inaugural Rugby World Cup, enjoyed a 46–0 win. In 1988, the Eagles had mixed success in their tour of Europe, defeating Romania but losing to the Soviet Union.^[19]

The 1990s

The U.S. notched three consecutive wins from September 1990 to May 1991 — all against Japan — for the first three-match win streak in U.S. team history.^[20]

The U.S. made their way through a qualifying tournament to reach the 1991 Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom, pooled with defending champions New Zealand, hosts England, and Italy in a tough group. In their first match of the tournament, Italy defeated them 30–9. Next, New Zealand defeated them 46–6. Hosts England won 37–9 at Twickenham. The U.S. finished fourth in the pool.

In round one of the Americas qualifying tournament for the 1995 Rugby World Cup the U.S. defeated Bermuda 60–3 to advance to round two. Argentina defeated the Eagles twice in close games in the series to qualify, leaving the U.S. missing out on the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

The Eagles went close to beating a major rugby nation in a match against Australia at Riverside in 1993 when the U.S. lost 22–26.

The Eagles had a successful tour of Europe in 1998, beating Spain and Portugal.^[19] Also in 1998, the U.S. played Fiji for the first time, losing 9-18 in Suva.^[21]

The Eagles set out to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. In round four of the Americas qualifying tournament in Buenos Aires, the United States lost 52–24 to Argentina and 31–14 to Canada, but defeated Uruguay 21–16 in their last game to qualify for the 1999 tournament. The U.S. played in the 1999 Pacific Rim Championship, notching its first-ever victories over Fiji (25-14) and Tonga (30-10).^[21]

The Eagles entered the 1999 Rugby World Cup in pool E alongside Australia, Ireland and Romania. In their first game, the United States went down 53–8 to Ireland. They then lost to Romania 27–25. Australia defeated the Eagles 55–19 in their final game of the tournament, seeing the Eagles finish fourth in the pool. The Eagles, however, had the honor of being the only side to score a try against the eventual champions, Australia, during the entire tournament.^[22]

The 2000s

In qualifying matches for the 2003 Rugby World Cup the U.S. finished third in the Americas. The U.S. won the repechage and qualified for the 2003 tournament by beating Spain 62–13 and 58–13. The Super Powers Cup was first contested in 2003 between Japan, Russia and the United States.^[23] The U.S. then followed up with victories over Japan and Canada. This was the first time the Eagles had won four consecutive tests since making their international debut in 1976.^[20]

At the 2003 Rugby World Cup the Eagles finished fourth of five in their pool. In the first match against Fiji, the Americans led 13–3 early in the second half, but Fiji regained the lead and secured a 19–18 win, with the Eagles suffering their ninth consecutive World Cup loss. The U.S. then lost to Scotland. The Americans defeated Japan 39–26, behind 17 points by Mike Hercus, for their first win in a Rugby World Cup since 1987 (also against Japan).^[24] The U.S. closed the tournament with a loss to France, concluding the tournament with a 1–3 record.

The 2004 Super Powers Cup saw the addition of Canada. The U.S. beat Russia in the third-place play-off. The U.S. toured Europe in November 2004, losing 55–6 to Ireland and 43–25 to Italy. The 2005 Super Cup took part between the U.S., Canada, Japan and Romania. The U.S. lost 30–26 to Canada but beat a Romanian team stripped of their France-based players 23–16 in the third place play-off.

The U.S. campaign to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup began in 2006. The U.S. lost 56–7 to Canada, resulting in a home/away play-off against Uruguay. The U.S. defeated Uruguay 42–13 in the first match and 26–7 in the second to send them through to the Rugby World Cup.^[25]

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the U.S. joined England, Samoa, South Africa and Tonga in Pool A. The Eagles, ranked 13th in the world standings, lost all 4 games in Pool A, scoring 1 bonus point in the game against Samoa. Coached by New Zealander Peter Thorburn, the Eagles started off with tough match against the defending world champions England, losing 28–10. The U.S. was then beaten by Tonga 25–15, lost to Samoa 25–21, and lost their final match to highly favored South Africa 64–15. The Eagles, however, had a major highlight in the South Africa match. After a Todd Clever interception and a pair of passes, Takudzwa Ngwenya sped down the sideline and outran the speedster Bryan Habana to score a try that received Try of the Year honors at the 2007 IRB Awards.^[26]

Following the resignation of Scott Johnson, on March 5, 2009 Eddie O'Sullivan was named the new national coach.^[27]

The Eagles finished a solid 2009 campaign at a mark of 4–5, with a 4–3 record in full internationals. In the 2009 Churchill Cup, the Eagles lost to Ireland and Wales, but defeated Georgia to take home the Bowl.^[28]

The 2011 Rugby World Cup cycle

The Eagles split a World Cup qualifying series with Canada, but lost on aggregate points. The Eagles then faced Uruguay in a two-game playoff. In November 2009, the United States booked their place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup with two wins against Uruguay, winning the home leg 27–6 in Florida.^[29]

The Eagles played 7 matches in 2010: 3 home matches in June at the Churchill Cup, finishing with a 1-2 record, and 4 matches in Europe in the Fall, finishing 1-3. In the June 2010 Churchill Cup, the US beat Russia 39–22, before losing to the England Saxons 32–9 and France A 24–10. For the November 2010 tests, the Eagles traveled to Europe. The Eagles defeated Portugal 22–17,^[30] but lost to Scotland A 25–0,^[31] and lost to Georgia 19-17.^[32] The Eagles finished 2010 ranked 16th in the world,^[33] and with a record in test matches of 2 wins (Russia, Portugal) and 1 loss (Georgia).

The buildup to the 2011 Rugby World Cup started in June with three matches in the Churchill Cup. The Eagles dropped their first matches to the England Saxons 87–8^[34] and to Tonga 44–13,^[35] before defeating Russia 32–25.^[36] 2011 was the final Churchill Cup.^[37] The Eagles finalized their 2011 Rugby World Cup preparations with three test matches in August.^[38] The Eagles lost to Canada 28–22,^[39] lost their second match against Canada 27–7.^[40] and lost to Japan 20–14. The Eagles had a 1–5 record in test matches for the year in their preparations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.^[41]

In their 2011 Rugby World Cup opening match against Ireland the Eagles defense initially held, before conceding their first try at the 39' mark. The final tally was 22–10.^[42] The Eagles came into the World Cup with their measuring mark for success as being a win over Russia. The Americans took a 10–3 lead into the half, and held on to win 13–6.^[43] For their third match, Australia dominated, leading to the final result of 67–5, the worst defeat a U.S. team has ever suffered to Australia.^[44] The final match saw the Eagles playing Italy for a third-place finish in Pool C. The Italians finished with a 27–10 victory.^[45] The defeat marked the end of the 2011 Rugby World Cup for the U.S.

The Eagles finished 2011 with a record of 2–7 in full tests. The performances in the Rugby World Cup showed improvement, and the win over Russia left the team with a 1–3 RWC record and feeling as a modest success. The World Cup also saw prop Mike MacDonald become both the most capped Eagle in World Cup play (11 caps) and the most capped Eagle of all time at 65 caps. Also notable was the performance of lock John van der Giessen, who achieved the most lineout steals of all players in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, despite appearing in only three matches.^[46]

The 2015 Rugby World Cup cycle

The Eagles played three matches in North America during the 2012 June international window. This was a regular series of international tests for the United States against Tier 1 (Italy) and Tier 2 (Canada, Georgia) opponents, as the Churchill Cup is no longer held. The highlights of the June tests were a win over higher-ranked Georgia, and a match against Italy at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston that drew a record crowd of 17,214.^[47] The Eagles also played three matches in Europe during the November 2012 tests. The Eagles finished their European tour with 2 wins (Romania, Russia) and 1 loss (Tonga) — the first time since 1998 that the Eagles had concluded a European tour with a winning record — and improved in ranking from 17th to 16th.^[19]

The USA played five matches during the June 2013 international test window, with one test match against Ireland and four matches as part of the 2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. The U.S. started with competitive matches against Canada (9-16), Ireland (12-15), and Tonga (9-18), but finished with double-digit losses against Fiji (10-35) and Japan (20-38), and sliding to #18 in the rankings. In August 2013, the U.S. played a home-and-away series against Canada as part of qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The U.S. lost both matches by an aggregate score of 20-40, meaning the U.S. must play Uruguay in 2014 as part of 2015 RWC qualifying. In November 2013, the U.S. lost 19-29 to the Māori All Blacks at PPL Park in Philadelphia before a sold-out crowd of 18,500.^[48]

Throughout late 2013 and early 2014, a number of U.S. players signed contracts to play professionally overseas. Of the players called into the U.S. national team in March 2014 for two home-and-away 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay, 14 of the 26 were playing professionally overseas, with 10 playing professionally in England.^[49] The Eagles defeated Uruguay 59-40 on aggregate over two tests during 2014 to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. During the June 2014 test window, the U.S. played competitive matches against higher ranked Scotland and Japan, and the test window culminated with a 38-35 victory over Canada. Subsequently in November 2014 the Eagles were defeated 74-6 by New Zealand in a match played in front of a crowd of more than 61,000 spectators at Soldier Field, Chicago.^[50]

The Eagles began a lengthy assembly in build up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup with the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup. On July 18, team USA dropped the opening PNC match 21-16 to Samoa.^[51] The team bounced back to upset Japan 23-18. The Eagles, however, fell to Tonga in the final preliminary match for the PNC 33-19. In the resulting fifth-place match, the Eagles edged rival Canada 15-13. The victory was the second consecutive over team Canada. Three weeks later, Canada and team USA met again in a World Cup warmup match. For the first time, team USA laid claim to a three-match win streak over team Canada after defeating the Canadians 41-23.^[52] Continuing on the road to the World Cup, team USA faced off against English Premiership side Harlequins, where the Americans fell to the visitors 24-19.^[53] The Eagles returned to Soldier Field to compete against the #2 ranked Australia Wallabies. The Americans trailed 14-10 at the half. In the second half, the Wallabies capitalized on American errors and pushed the match out of reach: Australia 47, USA 10.^[54]

The professional era

In November 2015, the Professional Rugby Organization (PRO Rugby) announced a USA Rugby-sanctioned professional rugby championship.^[55] Five teams — San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Denver, and Ohio — play at medium-size venues, with a 10-match schedule from April to July. Each PRO Rugby team has a centrally contracted squad, with quotas for overseas players and U.S. Eagles internationals.^[56] This could allow the U.S. to field a fully professional national team for the first time in 2016.^[57] The team included 14 professionals in the starting lineup for the June tests — six U.S.-based professionals and eight overseas professionals.^[58]

Recent results

The following table shows the results of the U.S. national team in official test matches during the previous 24 months, as well as upcoming fixtures.

Date	Opponent	Opp Rank	Result	Venue	Attend	Event	Top U.S. Scorer
2016-11-12	Romania	16	L (10–23)	Stadionul Arcul de Triumf		end-of-year tests	W. Holder (10)
2016-11-04	Māori All Blacks	N/A	L (7–54)	Toyota Park	18,700	end-of-year tests	T. Clever (5)
2016-06-25	Russia	20	W (25–0)	Bonney Field		mid-year tests	AJ MacGinty (20)
2016-06-18	Italy	14	L (20–24)	Avaya Stadium		mid-year tests	AJ MacGinty (10)
2016-03-05	Uruguay	20	L (25–29)	Estadio Charrúa	9,500	ARC	J. Bird (7)
2016-02-27	Brazil	42	L (23–24)	Arena Barueri	2,000	ARC	N. Kruger (8)
2016-02-20	Chile	24	W (64–0)	Lockhart Stadium	13,591	ARC	JP Eloff (19)
2016-02-13	Canada	19	W (30–22)	Dell Diamond	7,415	ARC	T. Clever (15)
2016-02-06	Argentina XV	N/A	T (35–35)	BBVA Compass Stadium	10,241	ARC	J. Bird (12)
2015-10-11	Japan	11	L (18–28)	Kingsholm Stadium	14,578	Rugby World Cup	AJ MacGinty (8)
2015-10-07	South Africa	4	L (0–64)	Olympic Stadium	54,658	Rugby World Cup	—
2015-09-27	Scotland	12	L (16–39)	Elland Road	33,521	Rugby World Cup	AJ MacGinty (11)
2015-09-20	Samoa	12	L (16–25)	Brighton Stadium	29,178	Rugby World Cup	AJ MacGinty (6)
2015-09-05	Australia	2	L (10–47)	Soldier Field	23,212	RWC warm-up	MacGinty / Petri (5)
2015-08-22	Canada	18	W (41–23)	Twin Elm Rugby Park	5,168	RWC warm-up	AJ MacGinty (16)
2015-08-03	Canada	18	W (15–13)	Swangard Stadium		Pacific Nations Cup	AJ MacGinty (15)
2015-07-29	Tonga	13	L (19–33)	BMO Field	9,600	Pacific Nations Cup	A. Durutalo (10)
2015-07-24	Japan	12	W (23–18)	Bonney Field	11,000	Pacific Nations Cup	AJ MacGinty (18)
2015-07-18	Samoa	9	L (16–21)	Avaya Stadium	10,017	Pacific Nations Cup	AJ MacGinty (11)

Notes:

• Opponent rank is listed as of the date of the match.
• Green shading indicates a win or tie against a higher ranked opponent. Red shading indicates a loss or tie against a lower ranked opponent.
• Bolded attendance figures indicate the match is one of the top five highest attended home matches in U.S. national team history.

Coaches

• Head Coach: John Mitchell
• Asst Coach (Backs): Billy Millard
• Asst Coach (Forwards): Justin Fitzpatrick

Players

Current squad

America's 38-man squad for their 2016 end-of-year matches against Māori All Blacks, Romania and Tonga.^[59]

Head Coach: John Mitchell

• Caps Updated: 19 November 2016

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Hilterbrand, JamesJames Hilterbrand Hooker (1989-05-21) May 21, 1989 5 Sydney Rays Taufete'e, JoeJoe Taufete'e Hooker (1992-10-04) October 4, 1992 9 San Diego Breakers Baumann, ChrisChris Baumann Prop (1987-05-18) May 18, 1987 13 Wellington Fry, EricEric Fry Prop (1987-09-14) September 14, 1987 41 Saint-Nazaire Lamositele, TitiTiti Lamositele Prop (1995-02-11) February 11, 1995 20 Saracens MacLellan, AngusAngus MacLellan Prop (1992-08-24) August 24, 1992 2 Ohio Aviators Maughan, AlexAlex Maughan Prop (1995-04-24) April 24, 1995 0 Life University Waldren, DinoDino Waldren Prop (1991-07-11) July 11, 1991 0 Blackrock College RFC Brakeley, NateNate Brakeley Lock (1989-08-31) August 31, 1989 6 NYAC Civetta, NickNick Civetta Lock (1989-11-05) November 5, 1989 2 Newcastle Falcons Jensen, MatthewMatthew Jensen Lock (1992-04-21) April 21, 1992 0 Brigham Young University Mahoni, SiaosiSiaosi Mahoni Lock (1997-01-29) January 29, 1997 0 San Francisco Rush Manoa, SamuSamu Manoa Lock (1985-03-05) March 5, 1985 17 Toulon Blair, PatPat Blair Flanker (1990-01-27) January 27, 1990 1 Unattached Clever, ToddTodd Clever Flanker (1983-01-16) January 16, 1983 69 Austin Huns Durutalo, AndrewAndrew Durutalo Flanker (1987-10-25) October 25, 1987 15 Sunwolves Lamborn, TonyTony Lamborn Flanker (1991-07-31) July 31, 1991 3 Hawke's Bay McFarland, AlastairAlastair McFarland Flanker (1989-06-02) June 2, 1989 11 NYAC Barrett, DannyDanny Barrett Number 8 (1990-03-23) March 23, 1990 13 USA Sevens Dolan, CamCam Dolan Number 8 (1990-03-07) March 7, 1990 23 Cardiff Blues Haupeakui, LangilangiLangilangi Haupeakui Number 8 (1989-07-03) July 3, 1989 3 Glasgow Warriors Augspurger, NateNate Augspurger Scrum-half (1990-01-31) January 31, 1990 4 Old Blue Hughes, MadisonMadison Hughes Scrum-half (1992-10-26) October 26, 1992 2 USA Sevens Tomasin, StephenStephen Tomasin Scrum-half (1994-09-25) September 25, 1994 1 USA Sevens Holder, WillWill Holder Fly-half (1991-03-19) March 19, 1991 7 All-Army Cima, BenBen Cima Fly-half (1996-03-20) March 20, 1996 0 Rocky Gorge Eloff, JPJP Eloff Fly-half (1991-05-28) May 28, 1991 5 Ohio Aviators Suniula, ShalomShalom Suniula Fly-half (1988-06-05) June 5, 1988 18 Unattached Niua, FolauFolau Niua Centre (1985-01-27) January 27, 1985 17 USA Sevens Campbell, BryceBryce Campbell Centre (1994-09-21) September 21, 1994 1 Indiana Hoosiers Filikitonga, LemotoLemoto Filikitonga Centre (1993-05-25) May 25, 1993 1 Metropolis RFC Harajly, AhmadAhmad Harajly Centre (1994-01-20) January 20, 1994 0 Ohio Aviators Palamo, ThrettonThretton Palamo Centre (1988-09-22) September 22, 1988 17 Bristol Brache, MarcelMarcel Brache Wing (1987-10-15) October 15, 1987 1 Western Force Iosefo, MartinMartin Iosefo Wing (1990-01-13) January 13, 1990 2 USA Sevens Leuta, MataiMatai Leuta Wing (1990-07-20) July 20, 1990 1 USA Sevens Ngwenya, TakudzwaTakudzwa Ngwenya Wing (1985-07-22) July 22, 1985 36 Brive Scully, BlaineBlaine Scully Wing (1988-02-29) February 29, 1988 33 Cardiff Blues Te'o, MikeMike Te'o Fullback (1993-07-23) July 23, 1993 7 San Diego Breakers

Recent callups

The following players were called into the June 2016 camp, but did not make the roster.

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Kilifi, OliveOlive Kilifi Prop (1986-09-28) September 28, 1986 19 Sacramento Express Orth, BrodieBrodie Orth Lock 4 Denver Stampede Schirmer, AladdinAladdin Schirmer Flanker (1992-12-31) December 31, 1992 2 Central Washington Davies, ShaunShaun Davies Scrum-half (1989-06-20) June 20, 1989 1 Ohio Aviators Mikesell, DeionDeion Mikesell Wing 1 Lindenwood Lions

Stadium and attendance

The Eagles do not have an official home stadium. The Eagles used to play several of their home games at Infinity Park in Denver, Colorado, but with the increasing popularity of the U.S. national team, the Eagles have not played there since June 2012. Since 2012, the U.S. national team has often played in larger Major League Soccer stadiums across the country. The Eagles have played a home match against a Tier 1 nation each June since 2012 before large crowds at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.^[60] Since 2012, the Eagles have played at other MLS stadiums, such as PPL Park in Philadelphia and the StubHub Center in Los Angeles. The Eagles play some of their less high-profile matches at minor league soccer stadiums.

The highest attended matches in the U.S. involving the U.S. national team are:^[61]

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date	Venue	Metro area
1	61,500	New Zealand	2014-11-01	Soldier Field	Chicago, IL
2	23,212	Australia	2015-09-05	Soldier Field	Chicago, IL[62]
3	20,181	Ireland	2013-06-08	BBVA Compass Stadium	Houston, TX
4	20,001	Scotland	2014-06-08	BBVA Compass Stadium	Houston, TX
5	18,700	Maori All Blacks	2016-11-04	Toyota Park	Chicago, IL[63]
6	18,500	New Zealand Maori	2013-11-09	PPL Park	Philadelphia, PA[64]
7	17,214	Italy	2012-06-03	BBVA Compass Stadium	Houston, TX
8	16,000	South Africa	2001-12-01	Robertson Stadium	Houston, TX[65]
9	14,000	New Zealand XV	1980-10-08	San Diego Stadium	San Diego, CA
10	13,591	Chile	2016-02-20	Lockhart Stadium	Ft. Lauderdale, FL[66]

Note: The international rugby match in the U.S. with the largest crowd didn't involve the United States national team; 62,000 watched Ireland defeat New Zealand 40–29 at Soldier Field On November 5, 2016.^[67]

Rivalry with Canada

The United States' biggest rival in rugby is Canada. The US has played more test matches against Canada than any other country. The two teams first met in 1977, and have played every year since then with the exception of 2010. As of September 2015, the two sides have met 54 times, with 15 wins for the U.S., 38 wins for Canada, and 1 draw.

The USA and Canada routinely play in each other in qualifying matches for the Rugby World Cup. They have met in the qualification stages for every tournament except for the 1987 tournament, for which teams were invited rather than going through qualification matches, and the 1995 tournament, for which Canada had automatically qualified by finishing as a quarterfinalist in the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

The USA has won their last three matches against Canada, with the most recent being a 41-23 victory in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match on August 22, 2015. This match marks both the longest winning streak against and the largest margin of victory over the Canadians. The first victory of the current winning streak ended a seven match winning streak by Canada that lasted from 2009 through 2013.

Tournament records

Honors

• 1920 Olympics – Gold Medal Winner
• 1924 Olympics – Gold Medal Winner

Rugby World Cup

The United States has qualified for every Rugby World Cup except the 1995 tournament. The best result that the U.S. has managed at a Rugby World Cup is to win one game, which it accomplished in 1987, 2003, and again in 2011.

Tournament	Host	USA Win/Loss (Bonus Pts)[o 1]	USA Finish	USA Defeated	Leading US scorer
1987	Australia  New Zealand	1–2	3rd in Pool A	Japan (21–18)	Ray Nelson (24)
1991	England  France  Ireland  Scotland  Wales	0–3	4th in Pool A	—	Mark Williams (16)
1995	South Africa	US did not qualify
1999	Wales	0–3	4th in Pool 5	—	Kevin Dalzell (22)
2003	Australia	1–3 (2 BP)	4th in Pool B	Japan (39–26)	Mike Hercus (51)
2007	France	0–4 (1 BP)	5th in Pool A	—	Mike Hercus (26)
2011	New Zealand	1–3 (0 BP)	4th in Pool C	Russia (13–6)	Chris Wyles (18)
2015	England	0–4 (0 BP)	5th in Pool B	—	AJ MacGinty (25)
2019	Japan

Pacific Nations Cup

The Pacific Nations Cup has been played every year since 2006, and has been played in its current format since 2013, when the United States and Canada joined Japan, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Tournament	USA record	USA finish	Leading US scorer	USA Wins
2013	0–4	5th / 5	Chris Wyles (19)	—
2014	1–1	3rd / 6	Chris Wyles (32)	Canada
2015	2–2	5th / 6	AJ MacGinty (44)	Japan, Canada

Americas Rugby Championship

The Americas Rugby Championship pits the six highest ranked rugby nations in North and South America (Argentina XV, Brazil, Canada, Chile, United States, and Uruguay). It was first contested in 2016.

Tournament	USA record	USA finish	Leading US scorer	USA Wins
2016	2–1-2	2nd / 6	James Bird (32)	Canada, Chile

Summer Olympics

Main article: Rugby union at the Summer Olympics

Rugby was included an Olympic sport four times from 1900 to 1924, with the United States winning the last two of those tournaments — 1920 and 1924. After a lengthy absence, rugby will return to the Summer Olympics in 2016, albeit in the rugby sevens format.

Olympics	USA Finish	USA Record	Defeated
1900 Paris	(USA did not participate)
1908 London	(USA did not participate)
1920 Antwerp	Gold	1–0	France
1924 Paris	Gold	2–0	France, Romania

Defunct competitions

Churchill Cup

Year	Host nation(s)	USA Record	USA Finish / # Teams
2003	Canada	1–2	2nd / 3
2004	Canada	0–2	4th / 4
2005	Canada	1–1	3rd / 4
2006	Canada & United States	0–3	6th / 6
2007	England	0–3	6th / 6
2008	Canada & United States	0–3	6th / 6
2009	United States	1–2	5th / 6
2010	United States	1–2	4th / 6
2011	England	1–2	5th / 6

Super Cup

Main article: Super Cup

Year	Champion	Second	Third	Fourth	US Record (W–L)
2003	Russia	United States	Japan	N/A	1–1
2004	Japan	Canada	United States	Russia	1–1
2005	Canada	Japan	United States	Romania	1–1

Player records

Most caps

Previous record holders:

• Mike Purcell — 1980–1987, 14 caps (U.S. record co-holder at time of retirement), 14 starts, 4 tries. 2 tries at the 1987 Rugby World Cup.
• Kevin Swords — 1985–1994, 36 caps (U.S. record holder at the time of his retirement), USA captain, Barbarians (2).
• Chris Lippert — 1989–1998, 38 caps (U.S. record holder at the time of his retirement), USA captain (3), Barbarians (3).

Most tries

Most points

Previous head coaches

1. John Mitchell (2016–Present). 2 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw.
2. Mike Tolkin (2012–2015). 10 wins, 23 losses, 1 draw. 0–4 at the 2015 RWC.
3. Eddie O'Sullivan (2009–2011). 8 wins, 17 losses. 1–3 at the 2011 RWC
4. Scott Johnson (2008–2009)
5. Peter Thorburn (2006–2007). 0–4 at the 2007 RWC
6. Tom Billups (2001–2005). 12 wins, 21 losses. 1–3 at the 2003 RWC
7. Duncan Hall (2000–2001). 3 wins, 9 losses
8. Jack Clark (1993–1999). Most victories (16) among U.S. national team coaches.^[68]
9. Jim Perkins (1987–1991)
10. George Hook (1987)
11. Bing Dawson (dates unknown)^[69]
12. Ray Cornbill (1976–1983)
13. Dennis Storer (1976–1982)^[16] — first U.S. national team coach in the modern era

Last updated: February 14, 2016.

Overall record and rankings

World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 5 December 2016[70]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	94.78
2		England	89.84
3		Australia	86.97
4		Ireland	84.62
5	1	Wales	82.55
6	1	South Africa	81.79
7		Scotland	80.67
8		France	80.13
9		Argentina	79.91
10		Fiji	76.46
11		Japan	74.22
12		Georgia	74.14
13		Italy	72.47
14	1	Tonga	71.94
15	1	Samoa	71.25
16		Romania	69.36
17		United States	64.66
18		Canada	63.95
19		Russia	63.25
20		Namibia	62.78
21		Uruguay	60.66
22		Spain	60.17
23		Kenya	59.28
24		Germany	58.99
25		Portugal	56.97
26		Belgium	56.87
27		Hong Kong	56.50
28		South Korea	55.50
29		Chile	55.08
30		Netherlands	54.93
*Change from the previous week
United States's historical rankings
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 14 November 2015[70]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a United States national XV at test level up until 19 November 2016.^[71]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	8	0	8	0	0%	119	247	-128
Argentina XV	1	0	0	1	0%	35	35	+0
Australia	8	0	8	0	0%	78	368	-290
Australia XV	1	0	1	0	0%	22	26	-4
Barbados	1	1	0	0	100%	91	0	+91
Bermuda	1	1	0	0	100%	60	3	+57
Brazil	1	0	1	0	0%	23	24	-1
Canada	55	16	38	1	29.09%	840	1284	-444
Chile	3	2	1	0	66.67%	112	43	+69
England	5	0	5	0	0%	52	253	-201
England XV	2	0	2	0	0%	11	96	-107
England Saxons	4	0	4	0	0%	29	194	-165
Fiji	6	1	5	0	16.67%	97	143	-46
France	7	1	6	0	14.29%	93	181	-88
France XV	1	1	0	0	100%	8	0	+8
Georgia	4	3	1	0	75%	109	75	+34
Hong Kong	7	3	4	0	42.86%	152	191	-39
Ireland	8	0	8	0	0%	82	306	-224
Ireland XV	1	0	1	0	0%	7	32	-25
Ireland Wolfhounds	2	0	2	0	0%	22	74	-52
Italy	5	0	5	0	0%	74	154	-80
Japan	23	13	9	1	56.52%	655	526	+129
New Zealand	3	0	3	0	0%	15	171	-156
New Zealand XV	1	0	1	0	0%	6	53	-47
Māori	1	0	1	0	0%	6	74	-68
Portugal	2	2	0	0	100%	83	22	+61
Romania	8	6	2	0	75.00%	199	99	+100
Russia	7	7	0	0	100%	218	97	+121
Samoa	5	0	5	0	0%	85	117	-32
Scotland	5	0	5	0	0%	66	220	-154
Scotland XV	1	0	1	0	0%	12	41	-29
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0%	9	13	-4
South Africa	4	0	4	0	0%	42	209	-167
Soviet Union	1	0	1	0	0%	16	31	-15
Spain	3	3	0	0	100%	169	29	+140
Tonga	9	1	8	0	11.11%	134	241	-107
Tunisia	1	1	0	0	100%	47	13	+34
Uruguay	15	12	2	1	80.00%	463	240	+223
Wales	7	0	7	0	0%	86	315	-229
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0%	18	24	-6
Total	229	74	152	3	32.31%	4440	6253	-1813

Record against Tier 1 teams

The following table shows the USA's best results against Tier 1 opponents.^[72]

Pts Diff	Result	Opponent	Date
+14	W (17–3)	France	1924-05-18
+8	W (8–0)	France	1920-09-05
–3	L (26–29)	Argentina	1996-09-14
–3	L (12–15)	Ireland	2013-06-08
–4	L (8–12)	Australia	1912-11-16
–4	L (20–24)	Italy	2016-06-18

Other U.S. national teams

USA Selects

Americas Rugby Championship

Year	Champion	USA Result
2009	Argentina Jaguars	4th
2010	Argentina Jaguars	3rd
2011	Not held due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2012	Argentina Jaguars	4th
2013	Argentina Jaguars	2nd
2014	Argentina Jaguars	2nd
2015	Not held due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup

The USA Selects is a second national rugby team for the United States. The USA Selects is a developmental team, usually fielding younger players looking to break into the U.S. national team, and sometimes including amateur domestic U.S. national team players who need more high-level matches.

The USA Selects participates in the Americas Rugby Championship, a tournament featuring the "A" sides for Argentina, Canada, the United States, and Uruguay. The ARC is an annual tournament that has been played every year since 2009 (except for Rugby World Cup years), and replaces the North America 4 competition. The USA Selects best result in the ARC was in 2013, when the USA Selects beat Canada A to take second place.^[73]

Women's national team

The U.S. women's national team, officially formed in 1987, has been an international powerhouse since its inception, although more recently have fallen behind other powerhouses such as England and New Zealand on the world rankings. The Eagles won the first official World Cup in 1991, and finished second in the two following World Cups (1994, 1998). The Eagles have set a high standard for international competition, leading an ensuing wave of women's rugby growth and game development worldwide. The US finished 7th in the 2002 tournament. The women's national team traveled to the United Kingdom in January 2006 to play Scotland, Ireland and England, winning all three games. The 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup was held in Edmonton, Canada.

See also

• Rugby union in the United States
• USA Rugby

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USA national rugby union team.

• United States national rugby sevens team
• United States national under-20 rugby union team
• List of United States national rugby union players
• Rugby Super League
• Rugby World Cup

Notes and references

External links

• USA Rugby Official Site