Brother of double RWC winner included in USA squad
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: The brother of a Springbok World Cup winner is among four South Africans included in the USA Eagles’ alignment camp in preparation for the 2026 season.
Former Junior Bok, Bulls, Stormers and Lions centre Dan Kriel, brother of Jesse Kriel, is included in the Eagles’ squad alongside double Varsity Cup winner Marno Redelinghuys, Rhyno Herbst and Wayne van der Bank.
Kriel will only be available for the Eagles in 2027 after completing his five-year residency period in the USA as per World Rugby’s Regulation clause 8.1:
A player may only play for the senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team, the next senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team and the senior National Representative Sevens Team of the Union of the country with which the Player has a genuine, close, credible and established national link in which:
(a) the Player was born; or
(b) one parent or grandparent was born; or
(c) the Player has been registered exclusively with a Union or Rugby Body in the country for sixty months immediately preceding the time of playing; or
(d) the Player has completed ten years of cumulative Residence preceding the time of playing.
Head coach Scott Lawrence included 35 players in the first alignment camp of the season, consisting of 21 forwards and 14 backs.
With the Rugby World Cup 2027 schedule recently announced, seeing the Eagles face off against France in their opening pool game, and the countdown to the 2026 season edging closer, Lawrence commented;
“This pre-season development assembly is an opportunity to check in with current Eagles as well as get our hands on a group of pathway and 2027 Eagle-eligible athletes.
“The Eagles have some glaring positional needs to build depth.
“We’ve been following players closely who we think might meet or have enough development upside to achieve the positional requirements of the go-forward RWC 2027 game model.
“Getting to work with these athletes hands-on helps accelerate our decision-making in a critical year for 2027 cohesion building.”
USA Eagles training squad:
Forwards: Alex Maughan, Brandon Harvey, Cory Daniel, Jason Damm, Kaleb Geiger, Kalisi Moli, Karl Keane, Ma’ake Muti, Makeen Alikhan, Marno Redelinghuys, Nathan den Hoedt, Oscar Treacy, Paddy Ryan, Payton Telea-Italio, Rick Rose, Rhyno Herbst, Sam Golla, Seth Smith, Tevita Naqali, Wayne van der Bank, Will Sherman
Backs: Conner Mooneyham, Dan Kriel, Ethan McVeigh, James Rose, Joe Mano, Mark O’Keeffe, Max Schumacher, Michael Baska, Oliver Kane, Peyton Wall, Ruben de Haas, Rufus McLean, Tavite Lopeti, Tom Pittman
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