USA Men's 15s head coach Gary Gold has named his lineup to face Canada Friday, Mar 8 at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, WA. 

Kickoff is set for 7 PM Pacific Time with the game broadcast LIVE on FloRugby.

Gold has made six changes to the starting XV and five to the bench from last week’s 32-25 loss to Uruguay. David Ainuu will start at prop, Ben Landry in at lock, and John Quill is back into a starting position at flanker. 

Scrumhalf Shaun Davies and wing Mike Te’o (pictured below) both return to the backs while Marcel Brache slots in at fullback. 

Glendale Raptor and former Men’s Eagles Sevens resident-athlete Malon Al-Jiboori will have a chance to make his second appearance with the Eagles (15s) as a reserve. Jiboori first debuted in the Americas Rugby Championship last year—scoring his first try off the bench—and spent the remainder of the season in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Seattle Seawolves Olive Kilifi has the opportunity to play on his home turf at Starfire Sports with a place on the bench while Greg Peterson, Ruben de Haas and Tadhg Leader may also suit up as replacements this weekend.

“Obviously we are hugely disappointed with the result last weekend, especially knowing how important it is for us to execute in a Rugby World Cup year. But, by no means does one loss, or even two losses take away from our ability to come back and have another good string of performances in this last ARC game and as the year continues,” said Gold. “We know what we need to do; and as a group, we are committed to one another, committed to our performance and together we’ll overcome this period of adversity."

“We have massive respect for Canada not only in the way they performed against Argentina XV last week but in how they themselves have evolved as a team," added Gold. "They’re a well-coached group with some very talented players whom we know will apply a lot of pressure on our guys this weekend, especially now that they’ve also qualified for Rugby World Cup. We’ll certainly be focused on putting our best foot forward on Friday as we know the Canadians will not make it easy for us.”

Despite a 23-39 loss to 2019 ARC Champions Argentina XV, Canada will be playing with some confidence after a strong showing against the Argentinians last weekend. The Canadians are currently fifth in the tournament standings with six cumulative points.

The Men’s Eagles currently sit in third place in the Americas Rugby Championship 2019, but have a chance to move up to 2nd if Uruguay struggles with Brazil. 

Tickets to see the United States face Canada this Friday in Seattle are available at usarugby.org/tickets. 

Men’s Eagles Starting Roster | vs Canada 

Men’s Eagles Reserves 

USA Men's Eagles Staff

Head Coach | Gary Gold

Assistant Coach, Backs & Attack | Greg McWilliams

Assistant Coach, Forwards | Shawn Pittman

Defense Coach | Jaque Fourie

Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan

Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison

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

Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng

Assistant Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan

Team Manager | Chris Hanson