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The USA will send a senior representative team to South Africa for two matches in October. A squad of domestic talent will take part in the Toyota Challenge with a game against the Cheetahs on October 14 and a friendly against the Pumas on October 21.
Dubbed the ‘National A’ side, the team will not be a true second-string ‘Falcons’ squad. It will instead be comprised of US-based test players preparing for November’s World Cup Repechage qualifiers and supplemented with talent from Major League Rugby on the fringe of Eagles selection.
Other international sides taking part are Italy ‘A’ and Emerging Ireland, who will each play three matches against South African provincial sides. All games are to be played at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein with a live stream to be provided by SuperSport.
USA Head Coach Gary Gold:
“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring players who have played MLR for the first half of the year, and this competition offers them the opportunity to get to play against some of the best provincial teams in SA. This experience will be unique to quite a few of the players who have not spent much time playing rugby outside of the US, let alone be able to play in a country where rugby is so popular.
“Some of these players will also join the USA National team in November in Dubai, so the experience will stand them in an excellent position of preparation. We are very grateful to have been invited by the Toyota Cheetahs, and hopefully, this can become a regular event and one where we can reciprocate.”
USA FIXTURES
Friday, 14 October 2022:
18:00 local / 12:00 Eastern / 09:00 Pacific – Toyota Cheetahs vs USA National A (Toyota Challenge Match)
Friday, 21 October 2022:
13:45 local / 07:45 Eastern / 04:45 Pacific – Airlink Pumas vs USA National A
A full fixture list can be seen here.
