USA Men's 15s Camp and Scrimmage

Yes, the Stars started out as women's program. And yes, we are a touring rugby 7s team. But that does not mean that 15s isn't a big part of our lives as it's still the main form of action in the US. Now that we are introducing a men's Stars program, we should devote some coverage to the men's game as well.

While the Buffalo women hit the pitch at the Winterfest 7s tournament in the snow this weekend, our Florida and Louisiana Stars saw time on the 15s pitch as a part of Fort Lauderdale's Ruggerfest. Both FAU and FIU played with and against Ft Miami women, while coach Eyal stepped in as a flyhalf and outside center with The Willing touring side. Star Jessica saw action in the Mardi Gras tournament in NOLA too. We'll have plenty of Eyal's photos to share and reports from players later this week!

In the meantime, the USA Men's 15s side held a four day domestic player camp at Life University just outside Atlanta, in Marietta, GA. Life is one of the top overall programs in the country offering rugby scholarships to undergraduate men and women as well as fielding men's post-collegiate D1 and an Elite Cup/Super League side. The chiropractic school also offers psychology, business, and nutrition degrees amongst others; and it boasts one of the most beautiful training facilities and playing grounds I have seen in North America. With a coaching staff with former Eagles flanker and Men's 15s coach Dan Payne as the Director of Rugby and the talented Rosalind Chou guiding the new women's team.

I followed the game via Life's Twitter feed. Early on it seemed they were in clear control of the match as they jumped out to a first half lead. The 2nd half was a different story as the Eagles found their stride and dotted down several tries. It is worth noting that Eagles standouts like Todd Clever, Samu Manoa, Cam Dolan, Chris Wyles, Scott LaValla, Toby L'Estrange and Blaine Scully were absent from the scrimmage due to their professional contracts abroad.

Rugby Magainze put together a gallery of the camp here and  This is American Rugby put together a recap of the match:

Eagles Close Out Camp With Scrimmage Win Over Life

The Eagles closed out their domestic camp with a 43-20 win over Life earlier today. Head coach Mike Tolkin used the opportunity to not only give new players a chance to show what they have in a game environment but also to give players that haven't played much rugby since last November the chance to get their legs under them once again. For Life it was an opportunity to play a solid opponent prior to the start of their spring season.

Life were the aggressive team early on and even took a lead into the break. AJ MacGinty scored first for Life before Danny Barrett leveled to make it 7-7 12 minutes in. As expected due to rust and being a makeshift side the Eagles committed a number of penalties. MacGinty was quick to convert those chances making it 13-7 at halftime.

In the second half the Eagles turned it on and scored a number of tries. The first of those tries came just 10 minutes into the half  followed by a Tim Maupin try a few minutes later to make it 24-13. The Eagles would then run in two more tries to put the score at 36-13 with ten minutes left. Both teams then traded tries to end the match to make the final 43-20.

The Eagles will next assemble in March ahead of their World Cup qualifying series against Uruguay. That assembly will also be in Atlanta, which will host the return leg of that series. It is expected that they will once again scrimmage but this time the South Panthers. The next camp will primarily be domestic players once again at the start with the same goal of getting them matches. Overseas based players will join them after their club's matches. Although only 26-30 players will be called on for the World Cup qualifiers and many of those players are already set, Tolkin is keeping his eye on this summer when the Eagles will have three matches as well as next fall's Americas Rugby Championship.
Another brief write-up from Rugby Magazine:

USA and Life Players Enjoy Big Game

National Teams - USA Men

The USA domestic players faced off with Life University this past weekend to cap off the USA domestic camp. Forty-seven players took part in the scrimmage, and here's a photo of all of them. It's interesting to note, that the Life team was no team of patsies. At least ten of the Life players have been in the USA system either in age-grade, All Americans, USA Selects, or full Eagles. Others are very close to gaining that status. Here's the post-game photo. Back Row, left to right: Miles Craigwell, Brodie Orth, Demecus Beach, Garrett Lambert, Cathal Doyle, Chris Sullivan, Tim Maupin, non-player, Chris Chapman, Lou Stanfill, non-player, Matt Trouville, TC Elliott, Kyle Strohman, Dean Gericke, Tom Katzfey, Joe Cowley, Graham Harriman, Jason Davila, Dave Gannon, Zach Walker, Jake Anderson, Cornelius Dirksen, Jack Tracy, Kris Headlee, Zach Simkins, non-player, Adam Siddall, Danny Barrett, AJ McGinty Front Row, left to right: Olive Kilifi, Aaron Young, Mike Petri, Chad London, Zach Fenoglio, Shaun Davies, Derek Asbun, Kelly Kolberg, Tom Coolican, Calvin Nell, Glenn Maricelli, Kyle Sumsion, John Cullen seated in front of Paris Hollis, Harley Davidson, Benji Goff, Blaine McIlroy, Nick Wallace, Aaron McMaster, Shalom Suniula. Dennis D. Hawk photo.   Another Rugby Magazine piece: Scrimmage Caps off USA Domestic Camp (With Photos) National Teams - USA Men The USA Domestic Camp finished off with a scrimmage Sunday between the USA players and Life University. The unofficial score was somewhere in the neighborhood of 46-20 in favor of the domestic Eagles, but it was much closer in the first 40 minutes. Not surprisingly, the Life team was more together and more polished as a unit. As the USA campers go into the swing of things, they began to open up the game. And in case you are thinking that the players took it easy on each other because this was just a practice game, don't The Life players had plenty to prove on their side, and the USA hopefuls were the same. This was a pretty physical clash. Several players for Life were also under the scrutiny of USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin, including Shaun Davies, who was in the USA camp but started for his club side in the scrimmage, as well as flyhalf AJ McGinty, who becomes USA eligible in 2015. Lou Stanfill wins a lineout ball. Dennis D. Hawk photo. Halfback combos. Shaun Davies passes out to AJ McGinty while Mike Petri pesters him  and Adam Siddall watches. Flanker Benji Goff at right. Dennis D. Hawk photo. Kelly Kolberg on the charge. Dennis D. Hawk photo. Ollie Kilifi powers ahead. Dennis D. Hawk photo. Tim Maupin touches down for the USA players. Dennis D. Hawk photo. Assuming this is a ruck, we count as many as four infractions.  How about you?. Dennis D. Hawk photo. And finally, Curtis of This is American Rugby's contributed a piece to RugbyRugby.com with his post-camp picks to make the Rugby World Cup Qualifier team for their home and away series against Uruguay in March: 30 Tickets: Eagles RWCQ Edition With less than month to go before the Eagles World Cup qualifying series against Uruguay we thought it was a good time to share our latest 30 tickets. While the series normally targets the 30 players that will likely make the Eagles next roster this one is going to take a bit of a turn due to the Eagles only taking a squad of 26 next month. Prop: Eric Fry, Shawn Pittman, Nick Wallace, Titi Lamositele Over the last year the prop situation has essentially sorted itself out with Fry, Pittman, Wallace, and Lamositele being the main group. Each of their strengths and weaknesses but as a whole are the best available to the team. The biggest concern among the group is the health of Shawn Pittman but assurances have been made that he will be able to recover from his concussion symptoms in time. If Pittman can’t go then it’s likely that Oliver Kilifi will step in. Blake Burdette and Patrick Latu are considerations but Kilifi is the favorite at the moment. Hooker: Phil Thiel, Zach Fenoglio Thiel will be the starter against Uruguay barring something unforeseen. Fenoglio offers a lot of good qualities as a back-up but with a squad of only 26 there have to be cuts somewhere and Fenoglio may be it, especially if a player like Derek Asbun, who has played hooker in the past, makes the team as a back-row player. That said, he still makes our list. Lock: Samu Manoa, Tai Tuisamoa, Lou Stanfill A year ago lock was a position of deep concern for the Eagles and now it is one of their strengths. The emergence of Cam Dolan has allowed Manoa to play down in the second row. He was outstanding when paired with Tai Tuisamoa this last fall. Smith’s return complicates things. He is just getting back in the swing of rugby but brings a lot of skill and athleticism. The same goes for Stanfill who is now healthy. We think that only three locks will be on the side and it will be Manoa, Tuisamoa, and Stanfill. Smith would normally be there but this gives him time to readjust to rugby while with Saracens. Plus, he’ll have more time to adjust back to Eagles play during the summer. This means that Brian Doyle, Nick Civetta, and Graham Harriman will all be on the outside looking in after some strong player over the past year for the Eagles or their club. Back-row: Todd Clever, Scott LaValla, Cam Dolan, Peter Dahl, Derek Asbun This is another position which is fairly stacked. By our count there are five players all very capable of playing significant minutes for the team that won’t be on the roster. The starting three is evident with Clever, LaValla, and Dolan expected to get the nod after playing so well last fall. Who will play back-up is a better question. Peter Dahl was phenomenal against the Maori All Blacks but Danny Barrett and Derek Asbun have played well at times too. Then there are players like Matt Trouville, John Quill, and Inaki Basauri. It’s a tough call but we think that Asbun brings a lot of positive traits to the team in terms of leadership, work-rate, and his ability to play emergency hooker if needed. Dahl also gets the nod from us based on his recent form. The next closest would be Quill but he’s left off in a numbers game. Scrumhalf: Mike Petri, Robbie Shaw This is a position that head coach Mike Tolkin feels like there is room for improvement and that no one has nailed down the starting spot. Petri and Shaw have split time before but Shaw is the only one playing regularly at the moment. Shaun Davies has been the number three for awhile and could get his chance. We think that Petri and Shaw will have one more go together. Fly-half: Adam Siddall, Toby L’Estrange After L’Estrange went down with an injury against the Maori All-Blacks Siddall seized the position and looked strong. His kicking game in particular has been what the Eagles have needed for a long time. He will be one of the first names Tolkin puts on the team sheet. L’Estrange is back healthy and playing with London Welsh. He can play fly-half, center, and fullback, versatility that is valuable. Center: Folau Niua, Seamus Kelly, Andrew Suniula Andrew Suniula has been the constant on the team. When he’s been paired with either Niua or Kelly he has looked solid. Both Niua and Kelly have proven themselves over the past year and will make the team. Wing: Blaine Scully, Luke Hume, Tim Maupin, Brett Thompson Scully is an automatic selection. He has proved over this last year with the Eagles and with Leicester that he is an extremely valuable player. Maupin was one of the surprise players from last fall and has seemed to cement a place in the starting line-up at the expense of Luke Hume, who will still make the team but more as a reserve. Brett Thompson is our surprise selection. He has all the tools to be a successful international wing and has been known to be a target of Tolkin. This will be the perfect time to bring him in despite conflicts with the 7s team. Those on the outside looking in include James Paterson, who is dealing with injury, Miles Craigwell, and Taku Ngwenya, who is dealing with Biarritz’s poor position in the Top 14. Fullback: Chris Wyles Wyles is a no-brainer at this position. Back-ups will likely come from elsewhere on the field.