US Eagles take off without Hercus
The USA’s Churchill Cup campaign looks to have suffered an immediate setback ahead of their tournament opener against England Saxons on Friday night.
Veteran fly-half Mike Hercus, who has significant top-flight experience in the United Kingdom with Sale Sharks and Llanelli Scarlets, will miss the England game and could miss the entire competition through injury.
Hercus was hurt last weekend, and he might need to fly home for further treatment.
His absence would be a major blow for an inexperienced USA squad that is already without players such as scrum-half Chad Erskine (broken ankle) and centre Paul Emerick, who plays for Newport Gwent Dragons in a Heineken Cup qualifier on Friday.
In Hercus’s absence, Valenese Malifa of Belmont Shore takes the reins at number ten and Park City scrum-half Kimbale Kjar will captain the side that will face England in Stockport.
London Irish prop Neal Hatley, meanwhile, will lead the Saxons – a side that includes exciting young backs Ryan Lamb and Shane Geraghty.
The tournament also features Canada, New Zealand Maori, Ireland ‘A’ and Scotland ‘A’, culminating in finals day at Twickenham on June 2.
USA: 15 Francois Viljoen (Belmont Shore), 14 Chris Wyles (Nottingham), 13 Mike Palefau (Narbonne), 12 Albert Tuipulotu (San Mateo), 11 Vaha Esikia (San Mateo), 10 Valenese Malifa (Belmont Shore), 9 Kimball Kjar (Park City, captain), 8 Patrick Quinn (Denver Barbarians), 7 Todd Clever (OMBAC), 6 Louis Stanfill (UC Berkeley), 5 Mike Mangan (Denver Barbarians), 4 Hayden Mexted (St. Louis), 3 John Vitale (Chicago Lions), 2 Mark Crick (PAC), 1 Mike French (OMBAC).
Replacements: 16 Blake Burdette (NYAC), 17 Chris Osentowski (Belmont Shore), 18 Ben Wiedemer (Belmont Shore), 19 Tasi Mounga (SF Golden Gate), 20 Scott Peterson (Chicago Lions), 21 Andrew Osborne (Belmont Shore), 22 David Williams (Denver Barbarians).
Date: Friday, 18 May
Kick-off: 19:45 (18:45 GMT)
Venue: Edgeley Park, Stockport
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Phil Smith (Canada)
Assessor: Brian Leigh (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)
