USA Men's 15s head coach Gary Gold has named 35 players to his squad for the Americas Rugby Championship, which kicks off February 2.

The Eagles are two-time defending champions, having won nine out of the last 10 games, and tying the other. Gold, who led the USA to a 5-0 clean sweep last year, has said he wants to use fewerr players overall in 2019 (in 2018 50 players received caps), as the Rugby World Cup is on the horizon.

All five USA games will be LIVE on FloRugby:

Feb 2 at Chile

Feb 9 at Argentina XV

Feb 23 vs Brazil at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX (near Austin) 7:10pm CT

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Mar 2 vs Uruguay at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA (near Seattle) 7:10pm PT

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Mar 8 vs Canada at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA (near Seattle) 7:10pm PT

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Regular captain Blaine Scully has been ruled out due to an injury he sustained while with the Cardiff Blues. Mike Te'o and AJ MacGinty are named to the squad despite having been out for some time due to injury. Gold said both players are close, but also stressed that MacGinty will need game time before he suits up for the Eagles.

Te'o sustained an injury that kept him out of both the Summer and Autumn test matches last year and is expected to make an appearance at some point during the tournament.

Like Te'o, Peter Malcolm is nearing complete recovery from injury and looks to return to the team during the home legs of the competition. With him is No. 8 Malon Al-Jiboor,i who returns to fifteens after earning his first cap in the Americas Rugby Championship last season and then continuing to make appearances in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Alongside the athletes who make long-awaited returns are a handful of newly capped players who add fresh depth to the veteran group. Among them are wing Gannon Moore and scrumhalf Nick Boyer, as well as props Chance Wenglewski and David Ainuu, who all made their Eagle debut in November of 2018.

With the tournament serving as a catalyst for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, three new players will have the opportunity to earn their first caps in Life University's Duncan Van Schalkwyk, San Diego Legion's Kipeli Pifeleti and New England Free Jacks' Tadhg Leader.

"This selection was one of the more challenging ones for us as a staff," said Eagles General Manager Dave Hodges. "In a World Cup year, it is important that we get the players we believe have the most probable opportunity to be selected for Japan, playing together to develop the cohesion that Coach Gold needs for the team to perform. The competition marks the start of a critical period where we thoroughly test our players and processes for the World Cup while also focusing on delivering a successful ARC campaign."

USA Men's Eagles Squad by the Numbers

35 athletes

19 forwards

16 backs

19 former All-Americans across the high school, junior and collegiate levels

14 played for a D1A rugby program in college

20 former American football players from an official program

10 former basketball players from an official program

11 average age athletes started playing rugby

20 age of the youngest player

34 age of the oldest player

14 average player cap number

3 uncapped players

5 matches (4 at the test level)

3 countries visited

USA Men's Eagles Squad 

*Unavailable due to injury: Blaine Scully, Nate Augspurger, Psalm Wooching, Eric Fry, Tony Lamborn, Dylan Audsley

USA Men's Eagles Staff

Head Coach | Gary Gold

Assistant Coach, Backs & Attack | Greg McWilliams

Assistant Coach, Forwards | Shawn Pittman

Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan

Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison

Team Doctor | Mark Sakr (Chile, Argentina Uruguay, Canada)

Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan (Brazil)

Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng

Assistant Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan

Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz

Team Manager | Chris Hanson

Americas Rugby Championship 2019 Schedule

LIVE on FloRugby in the United States

Saturday, Feb. 2

vs Chile | Time TBA

Santiago, CHL

Saturday, Feb 9

vs Argentina XV | 3 PM ET

Rio Negro, ARG

BYE WEEK

Saturday, Feb 23

vs Brazil | 7:10 PM CT

Dell Diamond, Austin, TX

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Saturday, Mar 2

vs Uruguay | 7:10 PM PT

Starfire Sports, Seattle, WA

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Friday, Mar 8

vs Canada | 7:10 PM PT

Starfire Sports, Seattle, WA

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