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John Mitchell has made wholesale changes to his Eagles team to face Uruguay in the final round of the Americas Rugby Championship, to be played at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo on Saturday. The surprise defeat at the hands of Brazil has left the USA three points behind the Argentina XV, who will themselves face Os Tupis this weekend with a win guaranteeing a first place finish.
Todd Clever has made an immediate turnaround and returns to captain the side from the flank, with Titi Lamositele also flying in from England for his first taste of ARC rugby at tighthead prop. Mike Sosene-Feagai swaps shirts with Joseph Taufete’e to start at hooker, and Eric Fry starts in place of Demecus Beach at loosehead prop.
The musical chairs continues at scrumhalf with Mike Te’o handed a start inside James Bird, the only back retained from the team that started against Brazil. Chad London is recalled to the midfield along with 19-year-old Lorenzo Thomas, who wins his second cap after impressing against Chile on debut.
Also arriving from Lindenwood is another teenager, with winger Deion Mikesell set to make his senior international debut on the right wing. Tim Stanfill gets his first tournament start on the left wing, and JP Eloff moves to the unusual position of fullback having previously played exclusively as a flyhalf. Nate Brakeley also returns after missing last week, covering lock and loose forward from the bench.
The two sides have played 14 previous test matches, with Uruguay winning by a single point in 2002 and one 27-all draw, both in Montevideo during the World Cup qualifiers in August 2014. The two-match series as won by the Eagles via their 32-13 win on the return leg in Atlanta.
The match kicks off at 3:15pm EST and will be streamed live on ESPN3.
USA vs Uruguay
1 Eric Fry 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai 3 Titi Lamositele 4 Brodie Orth 5 Ben Landry 6 Aladdin Schirmer 7 Todd Clever (capt.) 8 David Tameilau 9 Mike Te’o 10 James Bird 11 Tim Stanfill 12 Chad London 13 Lorenzo Thomas 14 Deion Mikesell 15 JP Eloff
16 Joseph Taufete’e 17 Olive Kilifi 18 Demecus Beach 19 Nate Brakeley 20 Hanco Germishuys 21 Niku Kruger 22 Ryan Matyas 23 Jake Anderson
