Eagles 7s ready to defend home turf

The USA has named their strongest possible side to take part in their home leg of the HSBC Sevens Series at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas this weekend. Head coach Mike Friday has kept the faith in the group that traveled to Sydney, making only two changes with Garrett Bender returning from injury and Maka Unufe available again after missing the Pacific leg with family commitments. Thretton Palamo and Matai Leuta drop out of the squad to make room.

Madison Hughes continues to lead a powerful group that includes 2015 World Cup trio Zack Test, Folau Niua, and Danny Barrett. Top class flyers Perry Baker and Carlin Isles are both present, sitting at 4th and 5th respectively on this season’s try-scoring charts.

Series regulars Brett Thompson, Kevin Swiryn, and Nick Edwards are among those not considered. Thompson suffered an ACL injury in training ahead of the Wellington tournament while Swiryn suffered the same injury in action that weekend. Edwards broke his leg while making his test debut for the Eagles XVs in the Americas Rugby Championship against Chile last week. Also sidelined with injury are squad members Stephen Tomasin and Chris Turori.

The Eagles are currently in 7th place on the overall Series standings, trailing England by two points and five behind both Argentina and Australia. They are placed in Pool D in Las Vegas, along with Wales, South Africa, and North American rivals Canada. All matches will be streamed live on the official World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series website.

USA EAGLES 7s
Nate Augspurger, Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, Garrett Bender, Will Holder, Madison Hughes (capt.), Martin Iosefo, Carlin Isles, Folau Niua, Ben Pinkelman, Zack Test, Maka Unufe

POOL FIXTURES
Fri, Mar 4 – 16:57 PST, 19:57 EST – vs Wales
Fri, Mar 4 – 19:36 PST, 22:36 EST – vs Canada
Sat, Mar 5 – 14:35 PST, 17:35 EST – vs South Africa