USA play Uruguay
The USA Eagles face the Teros of Uruguay in the brand new Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, a large suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday.
From this match the Eagles will fly to Japan for two Tests against Japan.
The two teams have met nine times. The Eagles have won eight, the Teros one.
Neither side has been performing well of late. The USA was smashed by Canada and the Teros, just last weekend, by Buenos Aires who won 40-13.
The state of the art stadium was opened on 9 October this year and seats 20 000 with its stunning views of the Oquirrh and Wasatch Mountains.
The USA’s match against Uruguay is only their second match against another complete national side this year. After losing to Canada in the Barclays Churchill Cup in late June, the Eagles, find themselves ranked 20th in the International Rugby Board’s World Rankings. Uruguay is currently ranked 19th.
The Eagles’ Australian coach Scott Johnson said: “We expect Uruguay to be physical and have a strong set piece. We need to be respectful of their strengths, but mindful of ours and play to them.”
On his own side he said: “This is a good chance to see a couple players we haven’t seen before,” U.S. Men’s Coach Scott Johnson said. “Several players weren’t available for this match, but that gives us an opening to see some of the younger players we do have. It is a good opportunity for all and I’m happy to see the great physical strides made by a lot of these guys.
USA Eagles: 15 Chris Wyles (Saracens), 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz), 13 Paul Emerick (Parma), 12 Junior Sifa (Middleton), 11 Gavin DeBartolo (Eastern Suburbs), 10 Mike Hercus (IBM), 9 Mike Petri (NYAC), 8 Pat Quinn (Denver Barbarians), 7 Todd Clever (Xerox Lions), 6 Inaki Basauri (Agen), 5 John VanderGiessen (Denver Barbarians), 4 Hayden Smith (Saracens), 3 Matekitonga Moeakiola (Pukekohe), 2 Mark Crick (Potomac Athletic Club), 1 Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie)
Replacements: 16 Joe Welch (Cal), 17 Shawn Pittman (San Francisco Golden Gate), 18 Alec Parker (Gentlemen of Aspen), 19 JJ Gagiano (University of Cape Town), 20 Chad Erskine (Rotherham), 21 Valenese Malifa (Belmont Shore), 22 Salesi Sika (Beziers)
Uruguay squad: Rodrigo Sanchez, Carlos Arboleya, Juan Rombys, Mario Sagario, Nicolas Klappembach, Enrico Laitano, Ignacio Conti, Martin Espiga, Gonzalo Peyrou, Santiago Vilaseca, Matias Fonseca, Juan Campomar, Matias Arocena, Martin Llovet, Joaquin Pastore, Manuel Martinez, Francisco Bulanti, Leandro Leivas, Francisco De Posadas, Jeronimo Etcheverry, Nicolas Morales, Nicolás Brignoni, Alejandro Silveira, Luis Ara, Federico Colucci, Juan Miguel Alvarez
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Touch judges: Paul Bretz (USA), Tim Luscombe (USA)
