Eagle Impact Team To Tour Ireland, Atavus Supports

Eagle Impact Team To Tour Ireland, Atavus Supports

The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy is playing British Columbia's U16 and U17 teams on Thursday and Saturday in Vancouver, BC, but that's just part of the EIRA touring puzzle.

Jul 13, 2017 by Alex Goff
Eagle Impact Team To Tour Ireland, Atavus Supports
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy is playing British Columbia's U16 and U17 teams on Thursday and Saturday in Vancouver, BC, but that's just part of the EIRA touring puzzle.

The program is also sending U16 and U17 teams to Ontario later this July, and in between, a different group of U17 players are touring Ireland.

The plan, organizers say, is to use the program to close the gap between the USA and top-tier rugby nations.

The Ireland tour will see the EIRA squad base its operations at Campbell College, Belfast (one of the top private secondary schools in Ireland), and play two games against Ulster Academy in Belfast and one game against Leinster Academy in Dublin.

The squad will assemble in Newark, NJ, on July 16 and will commence training at West Point before leaving for Belfast on July 19. The tour will run through July 29. The squad of 28 players has been drawn from 15 states and will be coached by John Banarhall (West Point assistant coach), Darrell Knowlton (Culver Academy and Bethel College), Scott Bracken (High School All-Americans and the Claremont Colleges), and EIRA Director Salty Thompson. Anne Micinski of Indiana will serve as the trainer.

The team will face a demanding schedule and will also visit the Giant's Causeway and the Titanic Museum in Belfast.

While this is an Eagle Impact Rugby Academy tour, it has received verbal support from USA Rugby and also signals a spirit of cooperation between EIRA and Atavus. The Seattle-based company has sponsored two players who would have otherwise been unable to afford the trip, and Atavus is also sponsoring the Giant's Causeway and Titanic trips.

"We believe that cooperation like this between rugby entities in the U.S. is a very healthy thing, and we thank Atavus for their generous support," EIRA President Robin Reid said.

EIRA Squad to Ireland


First Last Year Ht Wt Pos. Team Town State
Tyren Aljiboori Junior 6'1" 187 Wing Union High Tulsa Oklahoma
Austin Arnett Junior 6'2" 185 Flanker Tribe Rugby Athens Tennessee
Ayden Augspurg Sophomore 6'0" 225 Prop Parkhill United Kansas City Missouri
Alexander Cleary Junior 6'0" 185 Lock Chuckanut Ferndale Washington
Nolan Filteau Junior 6'2" 245 Prop Amoskeag Bow New Hampshire
Matthew Freeman Sophomore 5'9" 185 Hooker Gonzaga Silver Spring Maryland
Mateo Gadsden Junior 6'4" 198 Wing Back Bay Costa Mesa California
Jasper Green Junior 6'4" 185 Full-back St Paul's, London San Francisco California
Kaipono Kayoshi Junior 6'0" 187 Lock Granite Bay Granite bay California
Isaia Kruse Junior 5'8" 155 Wing Bullard Fresno California
Russell Lemaster Sophomore 6'1" 210 Eight Royal Irish Indianapolis Indiana
Niklas Lundqvist Junior 6'0" 205 Flanker Coastal Dragons Encinitas California
Michael Maafu Junior 6'1" 220 Eight Tempe Phoenix Arizona
John McCrossin Junior 6'1" 185 Flanker Fort Hunt Alexandria Virginia
Christiaan Mosconi Junior 5'6" 150 Scrum-half Back Bay Aliso Viejo California
Zachary Neff Junior 6'0" 187 Lock C.K. McClatchy Lions Sacramento California
Sean Nolan Sophomore 6'2" 175 Fly-half Back Bay Laguna Beach California
Gavin Prentice Sophomore 6'0" 240 Prop Eastside Lions Seattle Washington
James Reid Freshman 5'11" 175 Center Loudoun Purcellville Virginia
Cole Semu Junior 5'10" 190 Center Chuckanut Ferndale Washington
Quinn Sheppard Junior 6'3" 200 Lock C.K. McClatchy Lions Carmichael California
Sidney Shoop Junior 5'6" 135 Scrum-half South Greenvill Fletcher North Carolina
Adam Tounkara Junior 6'2" 270 Prop Maryland Exiles Rockville Maryland
Alex Vaca Junior 5'8" 180 Center Santa Monica Santa Monica California
Jordan Wander Junior 6'3" 220 Flanker Harlequin Colts Richardson Texas
Inoke Waqavesi Junior 5'8" 180 Center C.K. McClatchy Lions Sacramento California
Michael Weir Junior 5'10" 149 Fly-half Doylestown Rugby Club Schwenksville Pennsylvania
Larry Williams Junior 5'11" 215 Hooker Clayton Copperheads Clayton North Carolina