The Rugby Weekend clash between the USA and the Maori All Blacks will be a difficult challenge for the Eagles, as only once in the history of the two teams have the Americans been able to maintain the defensive wall.
Keeping the Maori All Blacks away from the tryline is the key work-on for the USA, and
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Prop
This could well fall on Eric Fry, but the message goes to Paul Mullen, Olive Kilifi, and Dino Waldren. It's all about defense at the maul. The Maori All Blacks scored several times off mauls two years ago, and like to lull opponents into the false idea that these New Zealanders are only about the champagne rugby.
Yes, they like the throw it around, but it's the forward effort that really stuck it to the Eagles in 2016. The job of the USA props will be to form a unified defensive front again mauls, and to work quickly to get back onside and drive the Maori All Blacks back.
Center
The Eagles are not deep at center at the moment, with Dylan Audsley perhaps still questionable after leaving the third game of the Americas Pacific Challenge with an injury. Marcel Brache is not yet 100%. Bryce Campbell, we hope, will be available for Chicago, but Paul Lasike (who gets a ton of work done in the rucks) won't be.
So ... who plays center? Might we see Ryan Matyas at center, or perhaps another player not yet named? Whoever it is, that player cannot afford to be caught out of position defensively. Running and passing? Lovely, do that. But we're going to need someone in a #13 jersey play some aggressive and dogged team defense.
Flyhalf/Fullback
We combine these two because the job here is about kicking. Will Hooley and Will Magie will probably fill these positions, and they have to kick effectively. This means:
Make touch when you want to
Kick so chasers have time to get there
Don't kick a line drive straight to a Maori All Black
When you do make touch, kick it to the stands so there's no quick lineout
These are crucial issues. If the USA kicking game is poorly executed, it hands momentum right back to the visitors.