The USA Falcons are set for this coming weekend at the AF International Sevens in Manchester, mirroring last year's outing at the Silicon Valley Sevens in San Jose.
The tournament is a hugely important warmup for men's international sevens teams as they enter to HSBC Sevens World Series. This year's event, sponsored by Athlete Factory (a company USA assistant Phil Greening is associated with), will be held in Manchester, UK.
“These are the teams that play on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens circuit. We’ll have Olympians (and) World Cup medalists," Greening told Rugby World Magazine. “The teams will make use of our world-class facilities, including our cryotherapy chamber, and also engage with local schools to promote sport and exercise to children.”
The USA team has had to change somewhat as Matai Leuta, Stephen Tomasin, and Travion Clark all failed fitness tests and will remain in the USA. In addition, Garrett Bender has had to pull out for personal reasons.
All of the injured players are expected to be fit to play in a couple of weeks.
This is a relatively experienced team, in that USA captain Madison Hughes will lead the squad, and players such as Pat Blair, Naima Fualaau, Kevon Williams, Cody Melphy, and Chris Mattina — all capped by the Eagles sevens team — will be available.
However, this is more about getting time for some hopefuls, including Mystic River standout Chris Frazier, Saint Mary's star Vili Helu, Grand Canyon speedster Maceo Brown, Southern California HS standout Ryan James, Notre Dame College playmaker Marcus Tupuola, and Denver Barbarians star Eric Sykes.
This is a mix of players who have made their name in club, college, and high school.
Head coach Mike Friday had named an initial group of 16 but has now whittled this down to 12 because of the aforementioned injuries and Bender's unavailability. So no one ended up being cut.
Men's Falcons Roster
1. Pat Blair*
2. Chris Frazier
3. Vili Helu
4. Madison Hughes*
5. Naima Fualaau*
6. Cody Melphy*
7. Kevon Williams*
8. Chris Mattina*
9. Maceo Brown
10. Ryan James
11. Marcus Tupuola
12. Eric Sykes
*Senior Men's Sevens player
Men's Falcons Staff
Head Coach | Mike Friday
Assistant Coach | Phil Greening
Strength & Conditioning | Matt Long
Athletic Trainer | Alex Burke
Men's Falcons Schedule
vs Spain Sat, Oct 6 - 5:40 AM ET
vs England Sat, Oct 6 - 8 AM ET
vs Germany Sat, Oct 6 -- 11:40 AM ET
vs Ireland Sun, Oct. 7 - 5:20 AM ET
vs France Sun, Oct 7 - 8 AM ET
Final rounds begin with 5th place vs 6pth place on Sun, Oct. 7 at 11 AM ET.