De Haas gets his shot against Pumas
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Young scrumhalf Ruben de Haas will make his first start for the USA after impressing as a replacement against England and France.
Twenty-year-old De Haas, who replaces Shaun Davies, is one of three changes USA coach Gary Gold has made to his team for the Pool C match against Argentina in Kumagaya Rugby Stadium on Wednesday.
Second-row Greg Peterson and centre Paul Lasike will also start against the Pumas, replacing Nick Civetta and Martin Iosefo respectively. Iosefo drops to the bench with Davies and Civetta out of the matchday 23.
Flyhalf AJ MacGinty moved into second place on the all-time USA points scoring list in the Eagles’ 9-33 defeat by France. He leapfrogged Matt Alexander (286 points) with his third penalty to chalk up his 287th point, a distant second behind Mike Hercus on 486.
Captain Blaine Scully is also chasing a Hercus record as he captains USA for the 31st time, passing Dan Lyle into third place but remaining well behind Todd Clever (55) and Hercus (56) in the captaincy stakes.
Centre Bryce Campbell, making his second start of the tournament, is the only USA player to have scored a try at RWC 2019 with an 80th-minute consolation score against England.
Argentina cannot progress to the knockout stage following defeats by France and England. USA are seeking their first win at the Rugby World Cup since a 13-6 victory over Russia in 2011. The Eagles only other RWC wins came against Japan in 1987 and 2003.
United States: 15 Mike Te’o, 14 Blaine Scully (captain), 13 Bryce Campbell, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Ruben de Haas, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Ben Landry, 20 Ben Pinkelman, 21 Nate Augspurger, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Martin Iosefo.
Date: Wednesday, October 9
Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya City
Kick-off: 13.45 (00.45 USA Eastern time; 01.45 Argentina time; 04.45 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
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