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The USA Eagles played their first official test against Scotland at Murrayfield. It came nine years after hosting a ‘Scotland XV’ at Hartford. On that day the Scots did not award test caps as they ran out a mix of development players with established test veterans.
This was the first match of the USA’s five-game tour of the UK that included matches against a Scotland Development XV, Welsh club Cross Keys, and a Wales Development XV. The Scotland test took place on November 4 with the tour finale opposite Wales in Cardiff two weeks later.
Coming at the end of Duncan Hall’s first year in the charge, half the team had not taken part in Rugby World Cup 1999 under Jack Clark. SFGG prop Paul Still was the only new cap in the run-on side, standing in at tighthead for the injured incumbent Ray Lehner. Flanker Olo Fifita was winning his 4th cap in his first year of test rugby.
Also new to the side that year were flyhalf Grant Wells, center Philip Eloff, and wing Jovesa Naivalu. Of the new players only Fifita and Eloff would go on to feature at RWC 2003. Meanwhile Hall strangely ignored his bench entirely in the match while Scotland used all seven subsitutes.
Contrary to the team the Eagles would famously defeat in Houston nearly two decades later, this was a battle-hardened Scottish team with only three new caps. Simon Taylor was beginning a career that would include 66 caps and two Lions tours, while center Alan Bulloch and winger Jon Steel were given a trial run by Ian McGeechan.
Loosehead prop Tom Smith and flyhalf Gregor Townsend had been Lions test starters in 1997. Townsend is the current Scotland coach while second row Scott Murray has recently been appointed to the top spot at the San Diego Legion. Giant lock Richard Metcalfe, the tallest man in test history at 7′ (2.13m), would come in as a second half replacement.
SCOTLAND
1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 George Graham, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Stuart Grimes, 6 Jon Petrie, 7 Budge Pountney (capt.), 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Jon Steel, 12 John Leslie, 13 Alan Bulloch, 14 Cameron Murray, 15 Chris Paterson
Replacements: 16 Stevie Scott, 17 Gordon McIlwham, 18 Richard Metcalfe, 19 Jason White, 20 Duncan Hodge, 21 Craig Joiner, 22 Graeme Beveridge
USA
1 Joe Clayton, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Paul Still, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Philippe Farner, 6 Dave Hodges (capt.), 7 Olo Fifita, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Malakai Delai, 12 Juan Grobler, 13 Philip Eloff, 14 Jovesa Naivalu, 15 Kurt Shuman
Replacements: 16 Robbie Flynn, 17 Tim Kleumpers, 18 Matt Kane, 19 David Care, 20 Mose Timoteo, 21 Link Wilfley, 22 Andre Blom
Referee: Pablo Deluca (Argentina)
Attendance: 35,638
