The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy select team is on its way to Ireland after a couple of days training at the U.S. Military Academy's Anderson Rugby Complex in West Point, New York.

The EIRA team is preparing to face Ulster Academy U17s on Saturday, July 22, in Belfast; Leinster Academy U17s on Tuesday, July 25, in Dublin; and Ulster Academy once more on Friday, July 28, back in Belfast.

The Ireland trip is a homecoming for EIRA head coach Salty Thompson, who grew up in Belfast, and a new chapter for the EIRA program, which has previously only toured to Canada. An EIRA team already went to British Columbia last week, and another squad will make a trip to Ontario later this month.

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There isn't much overlap among the five EIRA teams, and at one point the coaches sincerely doubted whether they could find enough players to compete. So far, the returns have been good in West Point.

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This week, Thompson worked on attack with the EIRA players while Scott Bracken handled scrums and lineouts and kick reception. John Banarhall (who is an assistant coach at Army) instructed the visitors on defense, and EIRA had Culver Military Academy head coach Darrell Knowlton, a clinical psychologist in his day job, working on team building. The players got to learn a little about West Point history from Black Knights men's head coach Matt Sherman as well.



While the players went through a number of tactical and game-plan issues, they also focused on the basics. EIRA was founded on the idea that working the core skills will make better rugby players and rugby teams.

"All the systems in the world won't help if you don't have the skills," Thompson said. "That's still a big part of what we do."

The players had a full day on Monday and a half-day on Tuesday before flying out to Ireland. This EIRA group includes standouts from all over the country and a large number of players who impressed in the Boys High School Rugby National Championships or in the FloRugby Hot Lists. They worked within EIRA chapters around the country and are familiar with the Eagle Impact approach, if not each other.

It's going to be a new and challenging experience for this squad, but there are also some question marks for the teams EIRA will face in Ireland. Both Leinster and Ulster are preparing for later provincial competition, and their coaches are using the EIRA games to try out some combinations and see where they stand. And that's what it's all about for all of these kids.

First Name	Last Name	School Year	Ht	Wt	Position	Rugby Club	City	State
Tyren	Aljiboori	Jr	6'1"	187	Wing	Union High	Tulsa	OK
Austin	Arnett	Jr	6'2"	185	Flanker	Tribe Rugby	Athens	TN
Ayden	Augspurg	So	6'0"	225	Prop	Parkhill UTD	Kansas City	MO
Alexander	Cleary	Jr	6'0"	185	Lock	Chuckanut	Ferndale	WA
Nolan	Filteau	Jr	6'2"	245	Prop	Amoskeag	Bow	NH
Matthew	Freeman	So	5'9"	185	Hooker	Gonzaga	Silver Spring	MD
Mateo	Gadsden	Jr	6'4"	198	Wing	Back Bay	Costa Mesa	CA
Jasper	Green	Jr	6'4"	185	Fullback	St Paul's, London	San Francisco	CA
Kaipono	Kayoshi	Jr	6'0"	187	Lock	Granite Bay	Granite bay	CA
Isaia	Kruse	Jr	5'8"	155	Wing	Bullard	Fresno	CA
Russell	Lemaster	So	6'1"	210	No. 8	Royal Irish	Indianapolis	IN
Niklas	Lundqvist	Jr	6'0"	205	Flanker	Coastal Dragons	Encinitas	CA
Michael	Maafu	Jr	6'1"	220	No. 8	Tempe	Phoenix	AZ
John	McCrossin	Jr	6'1"	185	Flanker	Fort Hunt	Alexandria	VA
Christiaan	Mosconi	Jr	5'6"	150	Scrumhalf	Back Bay	Aliso Viejo	CA
Zachary	Neff	Jr	6'0"	187	Lock	C.K. McClatchy	Sacramento	CA
Sean	Nolan	So	6'2"	175	Flyhalf	Back Bay	Laguna Beach	CA
Gavin	Prentice	So	6'0"	240	Prop	Eastside Lions	Seattle	WA
James	Reid	Fr	5'11"	175	Center	Loudoun	Purcellville	VA
Cole	Semu	Jr	5'10"	190	Center	Chuckanut	Ferndale	WA
Quinn	Sheppard	Jr	6'3"	200	Lock	C.K. McClatchy	Carmichael	CA
Sidney	Shoop	Jr	5'6"	135	Scrumhalf	South Greenvill	Fletcher	NC
Adam	Tounkara	Jr	6'2"	270	Prop	Maryland Exiles	Rockville	MD
Alex	Vaca	Jr	5'8"	180	Center	Santa Monica	Santa Monica	CA
Jordan	Wander	Jr	6'3"	220	Flanker	Harlequin Colts	Richardson	TX
Inoke	Waqavesi	Jr	5'8"	180	Center	C.K. McClatchy	Sacramento	CA
Michael	Weir	Jr	5'10"	149	Flyhalf	Doylestown	Schwenksville	PA
Larry	Williams	Jr	5'11"	215	Hooker	Clayton	Clayton	NC

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