The USA men's 15s team is still waiting for its new head coach to join the fold, but leadership isn't an issue for the Eagles in the interim, according to one of the squad's assistants.

Greg McWilliams, head coach at Yale and assistant coach in charge of attack for the Eagles in their recent fall European tour, said the players helped carry the banner of professionalism in games against Germany and Georgia, even though recently hired head coach Gary Gold isn't on the job yet and Dave Hewett was serving as a temporary head man.

“It was a terrific experience,” said McWilliams, who praised USA general manager Dave Hodges for the work he did in bringing the team together and getting them on the same page. “We had to hit the ground running [and] the players bought into it.”

While the coaching staff worked hard to get the players on the same page, McWilliams said it was up to the players in the end. The Eagles split their overseas trip with a 46-17 win over Germany in Weisbaden on Nov. 18 and a 21-20 loss to Georgia in Tbilisi on Nov. 25.

“When you think about bringing an international team together, and having two weeks total… I was really impressed at just how willing [the players] were for working, particularly away rom the field," McWilliams said. "A lot of video work and a lot of leadership they have to take on themselves. You have some really strong leaders there.”

See the full interview with McWilliams here:

That leadership will have just a few weeks to turn around and reassemble as the Eagles will play the Argentina XV in a non-test Americas Rugby Championship match on Feb. 3 at StubHub Center in Carson, CA. The USA hosts Canada in Sacramento a week later and plays Chile in Fullerton, CA, on Feb 17. 

The Eagles then hit the road to take on Brazil and Uruguay to round out the Americas Rugby Championship. Certainly not all of the players that went on tour in the fall will be available for the ARC, but, despite the coaching changes, this might be the most settled group to play in the tournament since it began in 2016.