O'Sullivan had to 'dig deep'
Eddie O’Sullivan had to dig deep into his back-up talent pool when he named the United States Select XV for the second annual American Rugby Challenge (ARC) next month in Cordoba, Argentina.
With the World Cup less than a year away, every opportunity to get players international experience is golden.
The US Select XV will play Tonga A, Canada Selects, and the Argentina Jaguars in three rounds of action.
The tournament kicks off on October 5.
For O’Sullivan and the USA seeing how players respond to the competition and how they cope with the international tournament format will be critical in the evaluation of players moving towards the World Cup.
“Selecting a pool without calling on our overseas professional players certainly forces us to dig deep on the depth chart,” O’Sullivan said.
“At the same time, this is a great opportunity for those players who have made the ARC Pool to stake a claim for a place on the tour to Europe [in November] and of course, the pool that will travel to New Zealand for the RWC 2011 in less than a year.”
Several players named to the squad are familiar with the demands of international rugby.
Nic Johnson, Matt Hawkins, Anthony Purpura, Nese Malifa, Chris Biller, Phil Theil, Pat Danahy, John Van der Giessen, and Dan LaProvette all competed in the Churchill Cup this year.
Also, a handful of All-Americans, Eric Fry, Ross Silverman, Gareth Jones, Duncan Kelm, and Zac Test continue on the international pathway with selection to the Argentina-bound Select XV.
ARC Schedule:
Round One: Tuesday, October 5 – USA v Tonga, Argentina v Canada
Round Two: Sunday, October 10 – Argentina v USA, Canada v Tonga
Round Three: Friday, October 15 – Canada v USA, Argentina v Tonga
US Select squad:
Forwards: Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate), Pat Danahy (Life University), Brian Doyle (New York Athletic Club), Tala Esera (Hawaii Rugby Club), Eric Fry (Unattached), Matt Hawkins (Belmont Shore), Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians), Tom Katzfey (New York Athletic Club), Dan LaProvette (San Francisco Golden Gate), Via Notoa (Hawaii Rugby Club), Anthony Purpura (Boston Rugby Club), Ross Silverman (Unattached), Phil Theil (Life University), John Van der Giessen (Unattached).
Backs: Tai Enosa (Belmont Shore), Troy Hall (New York Athletic Club), Gareth Jones (Young Munsters RFC), Duncan Kelm (San Diego State University), Nese Malifa (Glendale Raptors), Benny Mateialona (Life University), Mile Pulu (San Francisco Golden Gate), Volney Rouse (San Francisco Golden Gate), Andrew Suniula (Chicago Griffins), Shalom Suniula (South Brisbane), Pate Tuilevuka (Old Puget Sound Beach), Zac Test (Loughborough University).
Unavailable due to injury: Mark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians), Cameron Dolan (Life University), Ata Malifa (Glendale Raptors), Jacob Sprague (New York Athletic Club).
Considered but unavailable: Marco Bernard (Blue Bulls), Colin Hawley (Unattached), Mike Palefau (Las Vegas Blackjacks), Leonard Peters (Gentlemen of Aspen), Tommy Saunders (Belmont Shore).
Unavailable due to study commitments: Thretton Palamo (Utah), Don Pati (Utah), Ryan Roundy (Brigham Young University), Blaine Scully (California), Brendan Thompson (Life University).
