2017 Saracens v. USA Islanders

Saracens Name Wyles Captain For Atlantic Cup Clash

Saracens Name Wyles Captain For Atlantic Cup Clash

Saracens names lineup to face USA Islanders. Chris Wyles captains.

Aug 9, 2017 by Alex Goff
Saracens Name Wyles Captain For Atlantic Cup Clash
Former USA Eagles player Chris Wyles will captain Saracens for Thursday's preseason matchup against the USA Islanders in Bermuda.

Wyles, who has previously captained the Eagles in 15s and in 7s, has been with Saracens since 2008. The North London club has been working through a preseason camp this week ahead of its faceoff with a team of U.S.-based players that have connection to Pacific and Atlantic island nations.

Several of the players are also former Eagles teammates of Wyles, who played over 50 times for the USA in 15s.

"It's very cool," Wyles told FloRugby ahead of the trip. "I really look forward to spending some time with these guys -- not looking forward to being hit by them if I'm honest." 

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The game will kick off Thursday at 7:30 PM local time (6:30 PM ET) at the Bermuda National Stadium. Coverage begins at 4:15 PM with the Liberty Conference taking on the Republic of Texas All-Stars. Both games are streaming live on FloRugby and are being held to benefit Beyond RugbyBermuda, a program run by John Layfield that helps at-risk youth.

Wyles will skipper Saracens in the game and start on the left wing. Wyles is joined by Matt Gallagher (full-back) and Mike Ellery in the Saracens deep three. At center, after a highly impressive Singha Premiership 7s, Tom Griffiths is named in the starting 15 alongside Nick Tompkins in the Saracens midfield. At halfback, England U20 flyhalf Max Malins will partner with scrumhalf Ben Spencer.

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Up front, Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Scott Spurling and Vincent Koch are the starting front row with returning England squad member Nick Isiekwe named alongside summer signing Dominic Day at lock. In the back row, Academy duo Jack Nay and Ben Earl will flank another summer signing Calum Clark, who will pack down at No. 8.

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Saracens team to face USA Islanders

15 Matt Gallagher
14 Mike Ellery
13 Tom Griffiths
12 Nick Tompkins
11 Chris Wyles (c)
10 Max Malins
9 Ben Spencer
1 Hayden Thompson-Stringer
2 Scott Spurling
3 Vincent Koch
4 Dominic Day
5 Nick Isiekwe
6 Jack Nay
7 Calum Clark
8 Ben Earl

Replacements: Christopher Tolofua, Richard Barrington, Kieran Longbottom, Mark Flanagan, Schalk Burger, Jackson Wray, Henry Taylor, Alex Lozowski, Tom Whiteley, Nathan Earle, Dominic Morris.