SUVA, Fiji—The USA Men’s National Team XVs team has been named to play Samoa Saturday (Fiji time), which is Friday night US time.

This is Round 2 of the Pacific Nations Cup, with all six teams in Fiji for this and the final round on August 10.

Five of the six remaining games will be played in Suva, with Tonga vs Canada playing in Lautoka August 10.

Following a pretty impressive 47-19 victory over Canada last Saturday, Eagles head coach Gary Gold has made nine changes as he looks to see what combinations work, and how players handle more minutes.

Hooker James Hilterbrand will start with Dylan Fawsitt moving to the bench. Lock Greg Peterson jumps in for Nick Civetta who continues recovery following a leg injury last week. 

According to USA Rugby, Civetta’s availability for Rugby World Cup will be confirmed in the coming weeks. 

Flanker Tony Lamborn is in for Malon Al-Jiboori with scrumhalf Ruben de Haas in for Shaun Davies. Center Paul Lasike returns from injury while Marcel Brache continues HIA protocol. 

Nate Brakeley, Ben Pinkelman, Nate Augspurger and Will Magie have all been named to the reserves with Pinkelman having an opportunity to earn his first cap in XVs. Augspurger last suited up with the Eagles in June of 2018 and has spent the last several test windows recovering from injury.

He was set to captain the USA against the Maori All Blacks in November, but picked up an injury during the captain's run, and Lamborn captained the team instead. Augspurger has not played for the USA since. 

The USA last played Samoa in November, and won that game 30-29. It was the USA's first-ever victory over the Samoans, although every game has been close.

Watch The Last Time They Met, USA vs Samoa November 10, 2018

“It was a long journey into Fiji but we’ve had some time now to get settled and back into the swing of things for a hugely physical game against Samoa," said Gold.

“Samoa are a very talented team and there’s no doubt about their ability to keep us on our toes as we saw in November last year and with their result against Tonga over the weekend. We’ve only got two more games left in this PNC campaign which means every minute counts if we’re going to contest for the title. It will be, as ever, important to keep our penalty count low and remain sharp in our attack so we create those opportunities crucial to scoring tries.

Full PNC Scores And Standings

“There will be considerable intensity and pressure throughout this game which we must learn to respond to if we’re going to remain competitive in our Rugby World Cup pool.” 

*Indicates uncapped player 

USA Lineup To Face Samoa

RESERVES

USA MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM XVs STAFF
General Manager | Dave Hodges
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Assistant Coach, Attack | Greg McWilliams
Assistant Coach, Set Piece | Shawn Pittman
Assistant Coach, Defense | Jaque Fourie
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Assistant S&C and Analyst | Tom Kindley
Team Doctor | Mark Sakr
Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan
Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng
Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager | Chris Hanson
Assistant Team Manager | Mark Drown