The USA Rugby AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans will not be participants in this year’s World Rugby U20 Trophy following an aggregate defeat to Rugby Canada’s under-20 team last week in a two-match series north of the border.

The MJAAs met in Victoria for four days of intensive training and studying ahead of the first match at Shawnigan Lake School, in which flanker Hanco Germishuys and wing Ian Kinsley recorded tries in a 24-23 loss. One of 10 former Boys High School All-Americans, Germishuys opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Michael Engelbrecht’s team held its lead through full time, only to have the advantage relinquished by a penalty goal before the final whistle.

The one-point loss gave both teams hope going into the second match at Westhills Stadium, though the wet weather that plagued the initial clash returned for the second leg. The MJAAs took a third-minute lead from the boot of fly half Ben Cima, but it was quickly erased through a try from Reegan O’Gorman.

Much like the first leg, the return meeting was close through 40 minutes, with Canada leading, 13-6. Canada took control in the fourth half of the series, however, and outscored the MJAAs 28-0 to earn the 41-6 victory.

“The wheels kind of fell off a bit,” MJAA Assistant Coach Luke Gross said. “But no one stopped playing. Hats off to the boys; they continually worked hard.

“It was not due to a lack of effort. The bounces just went the Canadian way more often than it went our way. They played very well. They had a lot of breaks and the luck and it didn’t go our way. It’s not anyone’s fault; we were just outplayed.”

Canada emerged victorious from a two-match series with Romania the week prior to the U20 Trophy qualifiers, and the continuity showed as the neighbors had the better of the MJAAs in the lineouts and scrums.

USA Rugby’s men’s under-20 team has had success at World Rugby’s under-20 championships over the years, including a U20 Trophy victory on home soil in 2012 and a third-place finish last year. The U.S. has played in the U20 Trophy or U20 Championship in each of the last four years, 2010 being the last time the team has not played in one or the other.

While World Rugby’s under-20 tournaments offer invaluable experiences for potential Eagles and Olympians, it can be difficult to pull athletes from school for two to four weeks at a time. Those who were able to attend the assembly in Canada “did America proud,” Gross said, and will have more opportunities to compete against the world’s best.

“They were constant professionals,” Gross said. “The staff in the hotel kept complimenting what a well-behaved group it was. We gave them parameters and they followed them, and a lot of times they were better than what we asked. The coaching staff had meetings and the subunits would run their own meetings for themselves.”

Without the obligation of traveling to Portugal in May for the U20 Trophy, the MJAA program will undergo a comprehensive review, led by USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby.

“We need to better understand how this crucial age can best be identified for future international honors and developed towards that goal,” he said. “How can we better support these athletes and their peers without compromising the important scholastic experience?

“And, of course, for young athletes not in college, how can we better transition from the high-school game to senior honors? Is an under-20 full-time academy more productive? Do we need an under-20 age-grade team? How do we use the program to develop our coaches? It is crucial we are clear with the mission and connect with our stakeholders to assess and help improve the model.”

AIG Men's Junior All-Americans | v Canada U20
1. Darien Pickett
2. Gabriel Romero
3. James Gannon
4. Oliver Drew
5. Christian Wiessing (C)
6. Wesley Parker
7. Jacobus Germishuys
8. Maciu Koroi
9. Louis Mulholland
10. Ben Cima
11. Paula Hafoka
12. Fitou Fisiiahi
13. Ian Kinsley
14. Connor McRae
15. Scott Dean

AIG Men's Junior All-Americans | Reserves
16. Nick Kwasniewski
17. Valdemar Lee-lo
18. Austin Bush
19. Braeden Hood
20. Erik Thompson
21. Oisin Brady
22. Seth Halliman

Canada U20 | v AIG Men's Junior All-Americans
1. Cali Martinez
2. Patrick Finlay
3. Matt Tierney
4. Paul Cuilini
5. Reegan O'Gorman
6. Lucas Rumball (C)
7. Ollie Nott
8. Luke Bradley
9. Dan Joyce
10. Dylan Horgan
11. Karsten Leitner
12. Guiseppe du Toit
13. Mitch Santilli
14. Theo Sauder
15. Andrew Coe

Canada U20 | Reserves
16. John Shaw
17. Brendan Blaikie
18. Conor Young
19. Mitch Rothman
20. Tony Pomroy
21. Philip Berna
22. Brandon Waeyan

AIG Men's Junior All-Americans | World Rugby U20 Trophy qualifier series
v. Canada U20 - L 24-23
v. Canada U20 - L 41-6

LIEGE, Belgium – The Boys High School All-Americans won the second match of their JV Tour to Europe Saturday, a 31-8 defeat of Belgium’s under-17s at University of Liège.

The victory comes just four days removed from a tour-opening loss to France’s under-17s, in which a red and yellow card in the final 15 minutes allowed the host to embellish a 65-6 win.

“They were a better team, a polished group,” BHSAA Head Coach Salty Thompson said. “We expected that and that was the point in playing these guys.

“I think it was an eye-opener. It enlightens our kids to a level of rugby they’d never see domestically. By doing that it really benefits those that have the capabilities to move upwards.”

Thompson changed all but four players in Saturday’s starting XV, utilizing the 28-man travel squad that arrived in Paris a week ago. Both benches used an extended 26-player bench for the match.

“The focus is on development, so when you bring 28 players you want to give every kid the opportunity to show, to do his best,” Thompson said. “We believe that these players will get better given the opportunity or we wouldn’t have brought them, so we’re going to give them the chance to play.”

The BHSAAs, sponsored by Aircraft Charter Solutions, started the match slowly with unforced errors in wet conditions. Belgium took a 12th-minute lead with a penalty kick and shut down BHSAA attacks with multiple interceptions, and it was not until the final 10 minutes of the half the BHSAAs were able to control possession. Marcos Young gave his team its just reward in the 35th minute with a try.

Evan Holm kept the lead intact at the break with a try-saving chase and tackle. Substitutes at scrum half and lock propelled the BHSAAs to a dominant second half.

Leki Fotu’s try in the 49th minute, with Anton Grigoriou’s conversion, extended the lead to 12-3. Three additional changes before the 55th minute gave the BHSAAs an extra boost, resulting in tries from Holm and Ruben de Haas for a 24-3 lead.

Belgium scored its only try of the match in the 70th minute, and Mika Kruse capped the victory with a try two minutes from time to bring the final score to 31-8.

The BHSAAs finish their tour of Europe with a rematch against Belgium Tuesday, April 8.

USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans | Belgium
1. Dillon Shotwell (Dowling @ 62')
2. Maxwell Nail (Andrade @ 49')
3. Nathan Watts
4. Liam Jimmons
5. Leki Fotu
6. Jack White (Abbott @ 40')
7. Zach Keisterkamp
8. Sosefo Mailangi-Ray (Tavai @ 61') (Crilly @ 62')
9. Soh Nakayama (de Haas @ 40')
10. Marcos Young (James @ 73')
11. Sim Mander
12. Quinn Perry (Kruse @ 51')
13. William Vakalahi (Tonga @ 51')
14. Evan Holm
15. Anton Grigoriou

USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans | Reserves
16. Keanu Andrade
17. David Ainuu
18. Ian Abbott
19. Ian Crilly
20. Ruben de Haas
21. Sean Dowling
22. Beau Falco
23. Ryan James
24. Mikaele Kruse
25. Justus Tavai
26. Tomasi Tonga

LIEGE, Belgium – The Boys High School All-Americans finished their JV tour of Europe Tuesday with a 53-24 defeat of Belgium.

Salty Thompson’s under-17 group will return to the U.S. with a 2-1 record on tour, with Saturday’s 31-8 win against Belgium following an earlier loss to France in Marcoussis.

“I’ll provide the boys with formal evaluations and we’ll look to move on from here,” Thompson said. “This has been a very cooperative, excellent group of boys. They’ve done the U.S. proud. It’s a very respectful group, they worked well with each other, and they stayed on task. They’ve really come through.”

Wing Ryan James scored three tries in Tuesday’s win, which was much closer through 40 minutes than the full time score suggests. The BHSAAs capitalized on a five-meter lineout in the fourth minute of the match to open the scoring, as a driving maul pushed the team over the try line.

Evan Holm intercepted a pass in the sixth minute to extend the lead to 14-0, but Belgium put an end to the scoring streak with a converted try and penalty before the 20th minute. James’ first try of the match and a dot-down from Liam Jimmons bookended a second try from Belgium to bring the halftime score to 26-17.

“We really controlled possession in this game, something we were trying to achieve on this tour,” Thompson said. “We’ve been our own worst enemy at times and this was a great team effort.”

Thompson highlighted the play of several standouts on tour, but controlling the field for the BHSAAs was fly half Anton Grigoriou, who successfully converted five of eight tries in Tuesday’s match. Full back Patrick Madden, unavailable for Saturday’s match due to an injury sustained in training in Belgium, was also instrumental in controlling the backs.

The BHSAAs pulled away from the host with tries from scrum half Ruben de Haas and James and a Grigoriou penalty before Belgium’s next score, and Ian Crilly brought the final score to 53-24 with a try in the 73rd minute.

Even though a sizable loss opened the tour, the BHSAAs worked hard to prepare themselves for the two matches in Liege.

“The weather was dry, which helped,” Thompson said. “It had been wet and muddy and cold on tour up to this point, but I think the dry conditions favored us. We were able to gel.

“We saw some really good connections between our forwards and our backs and found a pattern that worked for us. I was quite impressed.”

The “varsity” BHSAAs, or under-18-eligible squad, will go on a tour this summer much like the tour in 2014 that saw Thompson’s team compete in the Rugby 4 Nations Cup in South America.

“There’s a core group of this team that has done really well and will contend for selection to the summer tour. Then we’ve got some returners who will be under-17s next year.

“There are more years of development for those boys.”

USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans | Belgium
1. Owen Duvall
2. Keanu Andrade
3. David Aniuu
4. Liam Jimmons
5. Leki Fotu
6. Beau Falco
7. Zach Heisterkamp
8. Ian Crilly
9. Ruben de Haas
10. Anton Grigoriou
11. Ryan James
12. Mikaele Kruse
13. Tomasi Tonga
14. Evan Holm
15. Patrick Madden

USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans | Reserves
16. Maxwell Nail
17. Dillon Shotwell
18. Sean Dowling
19. Ian Abbott
20. Sosefo Mailangi-Ray
21. Soh Nakayama
22. Marcos young
23. Quinn Perry
24. William Vakalahi
25. Jack White
26. Nathan Watts

BOULDER, Colo. – Following an extensive search of qualified candidates at home and abroad, USA Rugby announced Thursday the new coaching staff for the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans.

Gavin Hickie, former Aviva Premiership hooker and current Dartmouth Men’s Rugby head coach, will take over as head coach after working with USA Rugby national teams for the better part of three years. Hickie assisted his predecessor, Matt Sherman, as forwards coach in 2014 and held the same role for the AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans for two years, including the World Rugby U20 Trophy-winning campaign in 2012.

More on the revamped MCAA program >>

Additional coaching experience with the USA Rugby Selects, coupled with international playing experience for the Ireland under-19, under-21, A-side and sevens teams, has helped push Hickie through the U.S. coaching pathway. Hickie will focus on identifying front-row forwards in the collegiate ranks capable of future international play.

“It is a truly exciting time to be a young rugby player in the U.S. with more opportunities to learn and compete than ever before,” Hickie said. “My aim for the program is two-fold: to celebrate the outstanding collegiate rugby players along with identifying and developing future Eagles.”

Clemson Head Coach Justin Hickey and Yale Head Coach Greg McWilliams will join the coaching staff as forwards coach and backs coach, respectively. Hickey worked with Hickie during the MJAAs’ successful U20 Trophy assembly in Utah, while McWilliams has extensive coaching experience with Blackrock College, St. Michael’s College, Leinster’s under-19s, and Ireland women. Hickey will primarily focus on identifying future locks and loose forwards. McWilliams will focus on finding future Eagle halfbacks, centers, fullbacks, and wings.

Tony Pacheco, reappointed head coach of the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Sevens, will also serve as MCAA scouting director. He will oversee the Eagle Eye Scout Network at the collegiate level, and will also continue to focus on identifying athletes who can excel in the sevens version of the game through superior aerial skills, restart-kicking, evasive running, catch-pass, and tackling ability.

“Tony has done a nice job selecting students who have proved capable at the next level, with current Men’s Eagles Sevens examples Nate Augspurger, Pat Blair, Martin Iosefo, Aladdin Schirmer, and Brett Thompson evolving from his All-American teams,” Magleby said. “He has a demonstrated eye for talent. We look forward to working with him, along with Gavin, Justin, and Greg, as they continue their progressions from emerging to being elite-level coaches.”

Collaborating with the MCAA coaching staff are newly-appointed head scouts from each collegiate division. Five-time national champion coach and current Michigan Head Coach Brandon Sparks, American International College Head Coach Josh Macy, Minnesota-Duluth’s National Champion head coach, Jeramy Katchuba, and New England College Head Coach Jeremy Treece will manage scouts and player identification in D1A, D1AA, DII, and NSCRO play, respectively. The scouts will be part of the burgeoning Eagle Eye Scout Network and will enter into the Eagles Coach Development Program.

“Developing an effective Collegiate All-American program to identify, monitor, and help develop our student-athletes throughout the year is a vital step in the long-term progress of our national team as we look ahead to the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups,” Hickie said.

The Men’s Collegiate All-American Selection Committee was composed of USA Rugby Collegiate Director Rich Cortez, Magleby, international athlete representative Mike Petri, USA Rugby Coach Development Director Josh Sutcliffe, and Men’s Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin.

More information on the Eagle Eye Scout Network, the Eagles Coach Development Program, and summer All-American assembly dates will be announced shortly.

BOULDER, Colo. – Following an audit of the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans, USA Rugby announced Thursday an overhaul of the program, evolving from an end-of-season, single-assembly team to a year-round identification, monitoring, and development structure for future Eagles.

“There are a handful of quality institutions that have produced the majority of our Collegiate All-Americans over the years, and subsequently our senior Eagles,” said USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby. “And there is no wonder there--great coaching, superior DTEs, and in most cases some level of rivalry or parity in the local competition.”

The MCAA program will aim to help instill these ingredients where possible across the collegiate game by providing clarity on national team and All-American physical, technical, and tactical benchmarks; annual periodized training plans and technical development blueprints; and regular testing of potential All-Americans to measure continued growth.

Men's Collegiate All-American coaching staff announced >>

“College coaches across the country need to be more involved in this process--we will look to provide better information and tools for this to occur, together with the new All-American staff, to help deliver better training environments to these potential future Olympians and World Cup standouts,” said Magleby.

The identification of All-Americans at earlier stages of the season will be key to helping these athletes close the gap more quickly with the international game. All-American student-athletes will continue to be selected based on performance in conference play and national championships. Athletes will have the opportunity to prove their abilities in National Recruitment Camps throughout the country this May and June. Standouts will be placed in the All-American national training squad and afforded a chance to make All-American honors through the summer camp and tour program.

Athletes identified this spring and summer returning to college next year will be provided individual performance plans in line with their collegiate coaches, monitored through regular testing with their club coach, tracked through competition, and will have the opportunity to attend regional national training squad camps during the 2015 -16 cycle. Intake of new athletes to the All-American national training squad will occur again this fall and spring/summer 2016.

Identification of the 18,000-plus males playing collegiate rugby will be led by the All-American staff in collaboration with the Eagle Eye Scout Network. More information on the Eagle Eye Scout Network and dates and locations for the National Recruitment Camps and summer All-American assembly will be announced in due course.

Two of the biggest events in sports – the Rugby World Cup and Olympic Games – will both be held in the next 15 months. With Eagles training at the Olympic Training Center in southern California, in high-performance cultures around the world, and with members of the national team coaching staff, it is vital future national team players have the opportunity to progress through the player pathway.

Male athletes wishing to try out for a national team, from the Junior All-Americans through to the senior Eagles teams in sevens and XVs, can apply to attend a USA Rugby National Tracking Camp. Though athletes are not required to possess prior rugby-playing experience, prospective attendees must be (or become) registered members of USA Rugby.

“Outside of dominating in one’s respective competition, setting the pace at a National Tracking Camp streamlines an athlete’s inclusion into the national team radar,” USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby said.

“Our best Junior, Collegiate, senior club, academy, and crossover athletes need every chance to not only be identified but to be monitored as they progress to future Falcons, Selects, and Eagles inclusion.”

A similar camp held for the Men’s Eagles and Men’s Eagles Sevens at the Olympic Training Center earlier this year yielded a new Residency contract and two new caps on the World Rugby HSBC Sevens World Series circuit in Ahmad Harajly and Matai Leuta.

Following each NTC, national team coaches will place athletes identified as having the potential for future Olympic and World Cup success in the National Training Squad for their respective age group. USA Rugby’s Olympic Development Academies will also take on athletes hoping to train in an advanced high-performance environment.

“The NTCs are the second step towards a national team cap,” Magleby said. “First and foremost, dominate the competition you’re in. Then set the standards alight at an NTC. National Training Squad inclusion comes quickly after that, including All-American and Elite City Sevens honors.”

Interested athletes must be eligible to play for the United States according to World Rugby’s Regulation 8 and register as a member of USA Rugby. To register for an upcoming Camp and pay the one-time fee of $60, visit the online registration form. Coaches interested in shadowing a Camp may do so at no cost, but must pre-register to attend. Coaches will pre-register using the same online registration form as athletes. In the Rugby Information section, you can indicate you are a Coach Observing.

BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby has begun the hiring process for a new head coach of the AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans.

Following the departure of previous head coach Billy Millard earlier this year, long-time MJAA and Boys High School All-American assistant coach Michael Engelbrecht led the under-20 national team to an aggregate loss to Canada in a World Rugby U20 Trophy qualifier series.

The MJAA head coach will report to Alex Magleby, USA Rugby director of performance, in matters related to staffing, scouting, and coaching, as well as the planning and execution of the high performance calendar.

“The under-20 program is of vital importance to the national team pathway,” USA Rugby Coach Development Director Josh Sutcliffe said. “Across the world, it’s a breeding ground for future international players to prove themselves worthy of selection to a senior side.

“We are looking for someone to take USA Rugby back to the top of the World Rugby U20 Trophy and into the U20 Championship.”

Prospective candidates should have experience coaching elite-level rugby and nurturing the expectations of the elite-level rugby player. Applicants must also hold a USA Rugby Level 200 or higher coaching certification, as well as pass a background check in compliance with the United States Olympic Committee’s SafeSport program.

Applications for the MJAA head coach position will be accepted until June 5, 2015, via JotForm.

BOULDER, Colo. – The third annual USA Rugby High School Stars and Stripes Camp will be held at University of Northern Colorado in Greeley July 21-25, USA Rugby announced Friday. The camp, which gives top athletes from all across the country the opportunity to take part in elite competition, was made possible due to the generous grant obtained from the Daniels Fund.

One hundred young men and women will train with pathway coaching staffs and nationally-certified medical staffing and fitness and nutrition specialists for four days – one more than each of the previous two incarnations. The fifth day of Camp will be game day, with the genders split into Stars and Stripes teams.

USA Rugby scouts attending the Regional Cup Tournaments in Charlotte, N.C., Amherst, Mass., Pittsburgh, Denver, Bakersfield, Calif., Rockford, Ill., and Portland, Oreg., will nominate athletes from varsity and junior varsity teams for the Stars and Stripes Camp.

Players in attendance at Camp will get a taste of the high performance environment to which Eagles and professional rugby players are accustomed. In addition to the All-American coaches, national team selectors will be on hand to recommend athletes to the national team pathway, be it with the High School All-Americans, Junior All-Americans, Eagles Sevens or 15s teams, or one of the Olympic Development Academies.

Boys High School All-American Head Coach Salty Thompson and Girls High School All-American powered by ATAVUS Head Coach Farrah Douglas will lead the respective coaching staffs and the coach development program, which will see youth coaches from across the country apply to work with the national team coaches during the week.

“The Stars and Stripes Camp continues to develop as a pathway for both coaches and players,” USA Rugby Coach Development Director Josh Sutcliffe said. “From here, coaches have gone on to head coaching positions with top universities, and others have used the experiences they’ve gained from our development program to help their current teams and local unions grow the game.”

Seventeen female attendees at last year’s Camp were selected to the GHSAAs for the two sevens teams that competed at the 2015 Las Vegas Invitational, while seven boys who have attended a Camp were members of the AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans during their two-match series against Canada earlier this spring.

Richelle Stephens attended the first Camp in Greeley during her Fallbrook High School career and has since moved on to represent her country on the international stage at the 2015 NACRA Sevens Championships, where the Men’s and Women’s Eagles Sevens qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games.

“The Stars and Stripes Camps are the key stage where athletes begin to enter our national high-performance trainings squads,” USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby said. “It is an opportunity for the upper echelon of athletes at each age-grade level to be exposed to national team standards and subsequently for those athletes to then choose to commit to the behaviors required of their daily training environment back home to chase down future international honors.”

Coaches with aspirations to learn more about representative and select sides should apply to become an assistant coach at the Stars and Stripes Camp. A minimum Level 200 certification is required, as is a background check.

Rosters for the third annual High School All-American Stars and Stripes Camp will be announced following the culmination of the Regional Cup Tournaments. Details and invitations regarding the Men’s Junior / Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp, to be held in California, will be announced at a later date.

BOULDER, Colo. - USA Rugby announced Thursday the first annual Men’s Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog.

Athletes selected into the USA Rugby national high-performance training program will assemble at California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif., July 14–19, 2015, culminating with the inaugural Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes match at the week’s end.

The Camp, which integrates portions of the AIG Men’s Junior and Collegiate All-American programs for the first time, is in conjunction with the men’s senior national team assembly leading into the Eagles test match July 18 in San Jose.

“We have been working to integrate our men’s national teams from each age into one program over the last few months,” USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby said. “This is another exciting step in that direction. One team, one mission.

“Integration of the physical, technical, and tactical norms from the Eagles into our age-grade teams, coupled with helping to facilitate improvements at the local, daily-training-environment level, will help expedite our performances at the top in years to come.”

“The recent fast growth of rugby in the U.S. and the long tradition of rugby union excellence in Australia provides a unique opportunity to build further positive connections between the places where our customers, suppliers, and employees live and work,” said John M. Pope, Ph.D., president and CEO of WellDog. “We love rugby, the U.S., and Australia, and sponsoring these hard-working athletes allows us to support all of them at once.”

Athletes selected to the Stars and Stripes Camp have demonstrated through superior skill and work-rate in competition, and / or with standout performances in the USA Rugby National Tracking Camps, that they have the potential to be standout Eagles in future Olympics or Rugby World Cups.

Over the six-day assembly, the high-potential athletes will work with Chris Brown, Men’s Eagles Sevens residency program coach; the MCAA and MJAA coaches; spend a day with the Eagles coaches; members of the Eagle Eye Scout Network; and other guest coaches as part of the HP coach development program.

Once finished with the Camp, each athlete will enter the USA Rugby High-Performance National Training Program, with annual periodization programs for their continued skill and physical development in conjunction with their collegiate or “home” club coach. This is an iterative process between the national team coaches, club coaches, and the athlete in order to better help the next generation reach their goals of performing in the Rugby World Cup or the Olympics.

“I am excited that we are once again having the age-grade players and programs dovetailing into a clear and intensive pathway towards the Men's National Team,” USA Men’s Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin said. “The efforts now are much more concentrated to identify, develop, and monitor emerging talent for the Eagles program.

“It has been productive working closely with Alex on revamping this process, and having the Eagles staff working with each team and its group of coaches and players will, further down the line, benefit all involved.“

Following the Stars and Stripes Camp, athletes will be selected to play with the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Sevens team at Serevi RugbyTown 7s — the final launching point for many current Eagles including Nate Augspurger, Pat Blair, Madison Hughes, Martin Iosefo, and Brett Thompson.

Others will be offered immersion scholarships in the 2015 Australia National Rugby Championship provided by WellDog or in the 2015 New Zealand NPC development season this September and October. Outstanding under-20-eligible candidates from the Stars and Stripes Camp will make the core of the 2016 MJAAs.

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About Stars and Stripes
USA Rugby's Stars and Stripes Camps, a key step in the elite player development pathway, is where athletes begin to enter the USA Rugby national high-performance training squads and is an opportunity for the upper echelon of athletes at each age-grade level to be exposed to national team standards.

NEW PLYMOUTH, New Zealand – Taranaki Rugby announced Thursday a new partnership with USA Rugby to help continue to grow rugby stateside and provide international opportunities for both organizations.

The partnership will see American players and coaches travel to Taranaki to immerse themselves in New Zealand rugby culture, with the first wave of players to arrive at the home of the reigning ITM Cup Champions, Port Taranaki Bulls, in August to work under the expert coaching structure of the Taranaki Rugby high performance team.

Players will be selected from USA Rugby Eagles or age-grade national teams; or athletes now entering the USA Rugby high performance training programs having had outstanding performance in club and collegiate competition this spring, at the National Tracking Camps, as well as the upcoming Men’s Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp.

More than 430 players were tested in the USA Rugby National Tracking Camps this season, enabling national team selectors to assess numerous young emerging-elite athletes who may project to become future Eagles and Olympians. The best of these players will be selected for the eight-week immersion with the Taranaki NPC Development team.

The partnership, which includes opportunities in the NPC development team for male athletes, as well as future opportunities in the women’s sevens provincial development team, will see players train at the world-class facilities offered at Yarrow Stadium and utilize the knowledge and experience of the Port Taranaki Bulls coaches. In addition to player exchanges, other areas to be covered include coach mentoring and development in both codes of rugby union: 15s and sevens.

“It is exciting to form this relationship with USA Rugby,” Taranaki Rugby Chief Executive Officer Michael Collins said. “Recent results suggest that USA Rugby is a growing force in sevens and 15s and it is great that Taranaki Rugby can assist in their development.”

“Full-time immersions in one of the rugby hotbeds will afford some of our best young athletes and crossovers an accelerated path into the professional game,” said USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby. “As the game grows stateside, it is important we continue to reach out and collect IP from the best rugby areas in the world to bring back home to augment the strength of the American scholastic-sport model and our other development pathways.”

USA Rugby’s representative on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the Men’s Eagles Sevens, won the first Cup in the union’s history at Marriott London Sevens. Less than a month later, the U.S. qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games at the 2015 NACRA Sevens Championships.

New Zealand made a sizable impact on the American rugby landscape last fall when the Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks played their first international test in the United States since 1980 with a sold-out crowd of 61,500 watching from the stands at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Eagles lost the match, but were pushed to improved performances during the remaining fall schedule, while a busy summer consisting of seven matches will set up the team for success at Rugby World Cup 2015 in England.

BOULDER, Colo. – Sixty-seven athletes will descend upon the California Maritime Academy campus in Vallejo, Calif., July 14-19 for the USA Rugby Men’s Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog.

D1A Rugby National Champion Saint Mary’s College and runner-up Life University have five representatives headed to the inaugural Camp, which will culminate with the Stars and Stripes Match Saturday, July 18, at 10 a.m. PT.

The Camp will be the first opportunity for the new AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American staff to work in a national team-assembly environment. Gavin Hickie, an experienced assistant coach with multiple USA Rugby All-American teams, was named head coach of the MCAAs earlier this year. Clemson University’s Justin Hickey and Yale’s Greg McWilliams have been tasked with assisting the Dartmouth University head coach.

“The All-American coaching staff is very excited to work with this year’s best junior and collegiate players in Camp,” Hickie said. “Working in unison with our Eagle Eye Scout Network and coaches from around the country, we believe we have assembled a formidable All-American pool.”

The Camp will run alongside the Men’s Eagles’ World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup assembly. The young athletes will work with members of the senior national team and its coaching staff as they prepare for the international tests against Samoa and Japan in San Jose and Sacramento, respectively.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity, really,” USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby said. “Many of our best under-20 athletes competing with our best collegiate students alongside the senior national team, with coaches from the Junior All-Americans, Collegiate All-Americans, and Eagles Sevens and 15s all converging together in one time and place to train with the same physical, technical, and tactical principles.”

Men’s Eagles Sevens Assistant Coach Chris Brown will also be in attendance following the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games to bring the renowned “YAKAYARD” fitness regimen to Camp. Brown and Head Coach Mike Friday, along with the remaining members of staff, improved the Eagles’ fortunes on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with a disciplined approach that will only benefit athletes seeking national team selection.

“I’m excited to see the potential at the Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog,” Brown said. “We’re looking for quality ‘YAKAYARD’ mongrels and athletic specimens that can play rugby or are coachable.”

WellDog, an energy-focused technical services company, signed on as presenting sponsor of the first Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp in June to assist in USA Rugby’s development at the age-grade level. Players from this Camp will be selected to play with the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Sevens team at Serevi RugbyTown Sevens in August, others will train with Taranaki Rugby in New Zealand, and overall standouts will be shortlisted for selection to MCAA and MJAA teams.

“The best athletes from the Camp, in certain key positions, will be given the opportunity to be immersed in the New Zealand NPC Development season with partners Taranaki, as well as opportunities for further elite play in Australia with help from WellDog,” said Magleby.

“We are fortunate an innovative company like WellDog sees the unconventional and fresh take in this approach to emerging elite player development.”

About WellDog
WellDog was founded in 1990 on the premise that innovative technologies can facilitate a future of sustainable energy resource development. Responsible, efficient exploration and production of energy has become a highly technical undertaking. Innovative technical services offer an unparalleled opportunity to improve that process, thereby reducing environmental impact, increasing safety and improving producers' speed and profitability. WellDog has built a reputation for adapting cutting-edge technology to create practical, easy-to-adopt technical solutions for key resource evaluation and production challenges. WellDog is an energy-focused technical services company that developed its own patented, proven Reservoir Raman chemical sensing systems to provide commercial reservoir analysis services for coal, gas, alternative and conventional resources. Building on the strength of those services and the company’s world-wide customer focus, WellDog now develops, sources, advances and manages a diverse set of innovative technical solutions. The company focuses on platform technologies that enable solutions to address the critical needs of today’s unconventional and alternative energy industries in a high volume, low cost manner.

About Stars and Stripes
USA Rugby's Stars and Stripes Camps, a key step in the elite player development pathway, is where athletes begin to enter the USA Rugby national high-performance training squads and is an opportunity for the upper echelon of athletes at each age-grade level to be exposed to national team standards.

BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced Wednesday that Astellas Pharma will be the title sponsor of the USA Men’s Eagles’ international test match against the Qantas Wallabies of Australia, set for Chicago’s historic Soldier Field on Sept. 5.

PURCHASE USA v AUSTRALIA TICKETS

This marks the second consecutive year that Astellas will be a key sponsor of a USA Rugby match in Chicago. As a global pharmaceutical company committed to improving the health of people around the world, Astellas recognizes the important role sports like rugby play in drawing attention to physical fitness and healthy living.

“After the success we saw with last year’s public health campaign around the All Blacks match, we knew we had found a winning way to engage consumers with a message about the importance of owning one’s health,” said Jim Robinson, president of Astellas Pharma US, Inc. “As the title sponsor of this year’s match against Australia, we now have an even bigger platform – and a bigger responsibility – to increase awareness for a critically important health issue, prostate cancer, and raise funding for prostate cancer research.”

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in males worldwide. According to the National Cancer Institute and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, more than 220,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and nearly 30,000 will die from the disease this year.

“1 in 7 American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer,” says Jonathan W. Simons, MD, president and chief executive officer, Prostate Cancer Foundation. “Raising awareness is vital for catching the disease early and saving lives. We are excited to join Astellas and USA Rugby in spreading the word to ‘get checked’ and to raise funding for new research that ends all deaths from prostate cancer.”

To help increase awareness about the disease and raise funds to further research, Astellas has partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and USA Rugby to champion the #pass4prostate challenge, a global social media campaign in which participants can show their support for a donation from Astellas to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and get the opportunity to win rugby-related prizes. The campaign officially launches Aug. 5 and more information can be found at www.pass4prostate.org.

“We are delighted that Astellas will be our title sponsor for the USA Eagles versus Australian Wallabies game,” USA Rugby Chief Executive Officer Nigel Melville said. “Astellas is a unique partner for us that frequently brings important public health initiatives to the global rugby community through their sponsorship activations. We know that the rugby community and the sports-mad city of Chicago will come along to support #pass4prostate and give both teams a special ‘send-off’ to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.”

The Wallabies hold an undefeated record against the Eagles in international play, including wins at each of the 1987, 1999, and 2011 World Cups. 10 Eagles from the last meeting in New Zealand have been named to the 50-man World Cup training squad and could grace the Soldier Field pitch come Labor Day weekend. This will be the Eagles’ final match prior to Rugby World Cup 2015 in England.

Tickets for the match presented by Astellas are available via Ticketmaster, starting at $30. Match kickoff time and broadcast details will be announced at a later date.

Having notched up their first win of this year's Pacific Nations Cup campaign against Japan in dramatic fashion, the Eagles will now set out to right the wrongs of November 15th 2014 for this final match of the competition.

On that day in Gloucester last year, Tonga took the spoils with a 12-40 win during the Fall Tour. It was the last meeting between the two sides, and with so many of their players that day set to feature at BMO Field in Toronto, the Eagles will hope the momentum from last weekend's victory will give them a timely boost.

Tonga, too, have reasons to be cheerful coming into this fixture. Like the Eagles, they tasted defeat in the opening round of the PNC, a 30-22 reverse to Fiji, but showed the resolve to bounce back with a satisfying 18-28 result against the Canadians.

Sealing that win saw Tonga move up in the World Rugby rankings - the only team to do so over the weekend - leapfrogging Japan into twelfth place. As the Rugby World Cup draws closer, it's worth recalling just how big a part the Tongans played in the tournament four years ago.

The "Sea Eagles" emerged from the South Pacific Ocean in 2011 to provide us with arguably the greatest upset in World Cup history, beating France 14-19 in an unforgettable display of control and endeavor. Such shocks have been few and far between in the ensuing seasons, but the Tongans have still been known to throw a curveball at rugby's hierarchy. Just ask Scotland.

A year after their heroics in Wellington, Tonga reveled in their physicality against the Scots on a narrow pitch in Aberdeen. That 15-21 win in 2012 was the last time the Sea Eagles upset the order of things, but we shouldn't rule out a similar result any time soon. After all, their squad is studded with some gems.

Captaining the Tongans from blindside is the ever-impressive Steve Mafi, who came to prominence at the Waratahs and then Leicester Tigers. In front of Mafi is former Northampton Saints loosehead prop Soane Tonga'uiha, who was once the bane of tightheads across England before settling in France.

Then there is wing Fetu'u Vainikolo, whose gas will be all too familiar to the Eagles after his score against them last year. Now delighting fans at Exeter Chiefs, Vainikolo's exploits are worth a watch on YouTube, and he can threaten to change a game from anywhere across the park.

A back-to-back victory for either side would mean a strong finish to this year's Pacific Nations Cup. For the Eagles, this represents the first of three matches before they head to the picturesque coast of East Sussex for their World Cup opener against Samoa, another of the Pacific Island nations.

One thing's for sure: the Eagles will be battle-hardened come Sunday 20th September.

BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced Monday the new coaching staff for the AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans, welcoming back Scott Lawrence to oversee the program as head coach.

Lawrence previously led the program from 2011 to its 2012 World Rugby U20 Trophy triumph in Salt Lake City, qualifying the U.S. for the following year’s U20 Championship.

“Scott is highly organized, a tremendous educator of young men, and has the ability to get others to buy into the vision,” said USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby. “The head coach of the Juniors needs to be able to relate to coaches, athletes, and parents in high school, college, and the club game. Scott has the versatility and proven ability to connect these disparate parts.”

For the first time, an MJAA sevens team will also be formed as part of a greater overhaul to the under-20 program. Paul Holmes of Tiger Rugby, a member of USA Rugby’s Olympic Development Academy, will coach the sevens squad under the direction of Lawrence and in collaboration with Eagles Sevens coaches Mike Friday and Chris Brown.

Holmes is well versed in the make-up of American rugby and has been instrumental in creating a multitude of training and touring opportunities for Tiger’s sevens teams, including helping to launch the international career of 2014-15 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Rookie of the Year nomination Perry Baker. Holmes will be assisted by Old Blue Sevens and Northeast Academy coach Stephen Lewis.

D1A Rugby Commissioner Kevin Battle will join the MJAA assistant coach pool as the MJAA academy coach, evaluating the long-term efficacy of a residency academy for junior athletes between high school and college.

Longtime age-grade assistant coach and interim head coach of the MJAAs this spring Michael Engelbrecht joins the MJAA assistant coach pool as the high school player personnel liaison for the team.

University of Notre Dame Sevens coach and former Eagle David Fee, along with current Lindenwood University Head Coach JD Stephenson, round out the MJAA assistant coach pool.

“The 2015-16 coaching pool provides a unique set of complimentary strengths, which will allow us to provide an enhanced development process to the athlete’s normal, daily training environment through cooperative development with coaches and the competitive pressure that representative play brings,” Lawrence said.

“Besides being excellent coaches with representative experience in their own right, Kevin brings consistency in approach from the Men’s Eagles and Michael provides an all-important link to rising HSAA athletes and access to trusted networks for identification as we build on the work of our predecessors.

“David and JD are members of an exciting group of young coaches who, through their efforts, continually drive the standard of play up in collegiate play. Both have the attention to detail we need and do well with young men at 19 and 20 in off-the-field habits required to compete internationally. The context of working with this age group daily is important as we have only measured minutes in our assembly time, and much of our ongoing dialogue will be done through three-way conversations with players and coaches remotely.”

Helping to push the careers of Eagles such as Cam Dolan, Mike Petri, Scott LaValla, Titi Lamositele, and Zack Test, the MJAAs serve young, aspirational rugby athletes at a critical juncture of their development and the national team pathway.

“MJAAs provide a unique opportunity to connect our growing high-school player pool to the Collegiate All-Americans and Selects—the last stages of our national team pathway,” said Magleby.

“If done right the program will propel better physically-able and technically-prepared athletes back into the university game or directly into the professional ranks.”

Athletes eligible for selection to the MJAAs include primarily those who have graduated high school in the spring of the next competition cycle, or who have been out of high school for one or two years with a birth date that falls in World Rugby’s under-20 age window. For 2016, that includes athletes born in 1996 and 1997. Additionally, 18-to-20-year-old, U.S.-eligible players competing at high levels in other countries may be considered for selection.

The program has begun to put the pieces in place to ensure it produces athletes capable of representing the Eagles within a two- to four-year window, while also focusing on the individual athlete for future success through academic support, job training, and life-skills acquisition.

The first Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp by WellDog was held in July at Cal Maritime Academy, where 12 athletes eligible for under-20 selection worked with the age-grade and senior national team coaches and an additional 55 athletes on track to wear the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American shirt. Additional under-20-eligible athletes performed at the High School Stars and Stripes Camp the following week.

Updates regarding MJAA assembly and tour dates will be released in due course. For further information on the MJAAs please contact:

2015-16 AIG Men's Junior All-Americans Schedule

DENVER – Twelve of this year’s finest collegiate rugby players have been selected to Tony Pacheco’s AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Sevens team for the Aug. 14-16 Serevi Rugbytown Sevens at Infinity Park.

The MCAAs took the Bowl at last year’s competition, sweeping the knockout round after losing out on a Cup berth in pool play. In 2013, the team beat the local Glendale Raptors in the Cup Final to win the $10,000 purse.

Pacheco, along with the AIG Men’s Junior All-American and MCAA staffs, as well as national team coaches from both the 15s and sevens programs, held the first Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog at Cal Maritime Academy last month. The five-day Camp served as one of the selection vehicles for the current assembly.

“The Camp allowed all the All-American staff to really get a good look at a broader range of players and to see – with [Men’s Eagles Sevens Assistant Coach] Chris Brown there – which guys have sevens skills and the skillset, and can possibly make a move onto the [HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series] circuit,” Pacheco said.

Capped during the 2014-15 Series, Central Washington’s Aladdin Schirmer will captain the MCAAs in his third appearance at the tournament. Schirmer, along with teammates Mason Baum of Davenport and Jack McAuliffe of United States Naval Academy, played for the USA Falcons developmental side in 2013.

Last year, the Wildcat wore the AIG-branded All-American kit before Brown called him up to the Falcons midway through the tournament.

“I’ll also be looking to guys like Jake Anderson, Alex Faison-Donahoe, and Cooper Maloney,” Pacheco said. “It’s a bit more of a mature team than we’ve had in the past – much more than last year, especially.”

The 2014 MCAAs included Montana’s Martin Iosefo and Saint Mary’s College’s Kingsley McGowan; the former appeared in six legs of the Series this past season and was a member of the team that qualified the U.S. for the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games.

The MCAA Sevens team does not assemble or tour but once a year, and the selected 12 are working with Pacheco to gain the continuity and understanding needed to hit the ground running once this weekend’s tournament begins.

“We just have to figure each other out and that’s what we’re going right now on the training pitch: trying to learn what each of us do well, what each of us struggles with,” Pacheco said. “That’s going to be key for us.”

Pacheco’s side will open the invitational tournament against the national team of the Bahamas before an evening matchup with Negro y Azul, a representative side from Texas. The full tournament schedule can be found on the Serevi Rugbytown Sevens website, which will also house the event’s live stream.

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi Rugbytown Sevens
Jake Anderson - University of California
Josh Anderson - Brigham Young University
Mason Baum - Davenport University
Josh Bower - Central Washington University
Alex Faison-Donohoe - Kutztown University
Seth Halliman - American International College
Wes Hartmann - Kutztown University
Ian Luciano - New England College
Cooper Maloney - Saint Mary's College
Keenan Mayfield - Arizona State University
Jack McAuliffe - United States Naval Academy
Aladdin Schirmer (C) - Central Washington University

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi Rugbytown Sevens
Tony Pacheco - Head Coach/Manager
Brian Green - Physiotherapist

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi Rugbytown Sevens
v. Bahamas - Friday, Aug. 14 - 3:12 p.m. MT
v. Negro y Azul - Friday, Aug. 14 - 6:08 p.m. MT
v. Serevi Selects - Saturday, Aug. 15 - 12:44 p.m. MT

DENVER – The USA Rugby AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Sevens left Infinity Park at Glendale without a trophy for the first time in the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament’s history Sunday following a 22-17 defeat to Atlantis in the Bowl Final.

The MCAAs’ 3-3 record is highlighted with shutout victories against the Bahamas national team and Stars Rugby 7s, a representative side composed of players from around the world.

MCAAs 38-0 Bahamas

(Match starts at 2:24:45)

Tony Pacheco’s team started well enough with a six-try showing against the Bahamas, but could not rebound from an extended lightning delay in the follow-up match against Negro y Azul Friday night.

MCAAs 33-7 Negro y Azul

(Match starts at 2:39:45)

Negro y Azul took a 7-0 lead before the MCAAs could touch the ball and a turnover meters from the MCAA try line gifted another try in the opening minutes. Capped Men’s Eagles Sevens player Ryan Matyas scored his team’s third, and Mason Baum dotted down with Negro y Azul playing with six men for a 21-7 halftime score.

The MCAAs could not capitalize on the remaining man advantage in the second frame, and Alex Faison-Donohoe’s sinning allowed Negro y Azul to see out the match with two additional tries for a 33-7 win.

The MCAAs and Negro y Azul both began Saturday’s action with a chance to reach the Cup Quarterfinals at 1-1 in Pool D. Before Negro y Azul could destroy the Bahamas, 40-5, the MCAAs ran onto the pitch against Serevi Selects.

MCAAs 7-31 Serevi Selects

(Match starts at 1:01:00)

The Selects, made up of more than a few members of Seattle Saracens’ 2015 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club 7s National Championship team, took an early, 5-0, lead and did not concede a single point to the MCAAs until after the 14-minute mark.

Though the MCAAs began the match with the ball, Serevi’s bigger bodies and clinical work in the breakdown set up a turnover and break from Kevin Swiryn and Miles Craigwell for an Emosi Bainivalu try. A second MCAA possession was ended with a penalty before Mike Palefau ran 50 meters to set up Rocco Mauer for the Selects’ second try and 12-0 halftime lead.

Three second-half tries preceded the only try scored in the match for the MCAAs, taken in-goal by University of California’s Jake Anderson. Anderson bumped off of Fiji international William Rasileka to change direction to the inside of the pitch for the score, bringing the final to 31-7 in favor of Serevi Selects.

“When we valued possession we were difficult to defend,” Pacheco said following the tournament. “Serevi and Negro y Azul did a great job of exploiting our errors in contact.”

MCAAs 31-7 Marines

(Match starts at 39:47)

The loss kicked the MCAAs down into the Bowl competition with the likes of Bermuda, Mexico, and the Navy and Marines sides. The Marines, who had already played four matches in the armed forces division, did not offer too much in terms of resistance in the Bowl Quarterfinal, as the MCAAs ended day two with a 31-7 win.

MCAAs 33-0 Stars Rugby 7s

(Match starts at 1:35:36)

The MCAAs appeared determined to reach a final in the Bowl Semifinal against Stars Rugby 7s. Jake Anderson dotted down less than 30 seconds into the match to put the MCAAs up, 7-0, and extended the lead a few minutes later with a try scored from his own half.

Stars failed to get much going with a finite amount of time on the ball thanks to a determined MCAA side. Saint Mary’s Cooper Maloney jumped on a loose ball after a Stars player lost it forward and made the turnover count with a trip to the try zone for a 19-0 lead at the half.

In the second half, Josh Bower took on three defenders and offloaded to Baum for a 26-0 lead before the referee showed a yellow card to a Stars player. The MCAAs’ quick passing and erratic movements on offense opened the space to draw the infraction, and proved instrumental in the final try, scored by Josh Anderson.

Atlantis Rugby finished third in Pool C and knocked off Bermuda and Navy in the knockout round to reach the Bowl Final against the MCAAs.

MCAAs 17-22 Atlantis Rugby

(Match starts at 26:50)

The All-Americans lost possession on the opening restart with a knock, but stole it back via the scrum. Josh Anderson touched down on the wing for a 7-0 lead before Jack McAuliffe was held up in-goal following an extended MCAA possession. Atlantis quickly cut into the deficit with a 90-meter try down the wing from Conroy Smith, who set up Akinola Raymond for the team’s second try for a 12-7 halftime score.

Jake Anderson leveled the match at 12-12 after Faison-Donohoe won the second-half restart, but two quick tries from the opposition put Atlantis ahead, 22-12. Much like his match-ending try against Serevi Selects, Jake Anderson eluded tackles late in the Final to set up Baum for the team’s final try of the weekend, but the whistle blew after the conversion to signal Atlantis’ 22-17 Bowl victory.

“We were Jekyll and Hyde all weekend,” Pacheco said. “Maintaining pressure was our downfall on the weekend. I think, certainly, the lack of time together makes it difficult to maintain consistency.

“I think the standard of this tournament has improved from year to year. More of these teams are together all summer, so their consistency and trust is higher than ours.”

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi RugbyTown Sevens
Jake Anderson - University of California
Josh Anderson - Brigham Young University
Mason Baum - Davenport University
Josh Bower - Central Washington University
Alex Faison-Donohoe - Kutztown University
Seth Halliman - American International College
Wes Hartmann - Kutztown University
Ian Luciano - New England College
Cooper Maloney - Saint Mary's College
Keenan Mayfield - Arizona State University
Jack McAuliffe - United States Naval Academy
Aladdin Schirmer (C) - Central Washington University

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi RugbyTown Sevens
Tony Pacheco - Head Coach/Manager
Brian Green - Physiotherapist

AIG Men's Collegiate All-American Sevens | Serevi RugbyTown Sevens
v. Bahamas - W 38-0
v. Negro y Azul - L 33-7
v. Serevi Selects - L 31-7
Bowl QF v. Marines - W 31-7
Bowl SF v. Stars Rugby 7s - W 33-0
Bowl Final v. Atlantis Rugby - L 22-17

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The first Men’s Eagles Sevens High Performance Camp of the 2015-16 cycle has begun at the United States Olympic Committee’s Olympic Training Center.

Eleven young athletes traveled to southern California to join 11 residency players and members of the World-Class Athlete Program, as Eagles Head Coach Mike Friday and Assistant Coach Chris Brown look to prepare for the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Captain Madison Hughes returned from school commitments at Dartmouth College Wednesday, while several players invited to camp will be in form due to several summer sevens tournaments. The residents not in attendance include five selected to the Rugby World Cup 2015 squad, named earlier this week.

Will Holder and Ben Leatigaga were in the Elite City Sevens Cup Final in Malvern, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 30. The combined Armed Forces side defeated San Diego earlier in the tournament, a team that included Pat Blair, Nic Edwards, and Stephen Tomasin.

Martin Iosefo was a revelation for the Eagles during the 2014-15 Series, making his international debut and appearing in six legs of the international competition. The University of Montana student also helped the U.S. qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games at the 2015 NACRA Sevens Championships in Cary, N.C.

22 guys received an invite to train at the OTC this week with the Eagles 7s. Ranging in age from 18-mid 20s, making the most of their opportunity to take their game to the next level. #workforit

A photo posted by USA Rugby (@usarugby) on Sep 2, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

Iosefo will not only see familiar faces in the OTC residents, but also the three players that played alongside him as AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans at the August Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament in Glendale, Colo. Alex Faison-Donahoe, Seth Halliman, and Ian Luciano wore the MCAA kit, falling one match short of a second consecutive Bowl championship at Infinity Park.

Connecting the age-grade programs to the national team will be AIG Men’s Junior All-American Sevens Head Coach Paul Holmes. The Tiger Rugby academy director – with the help of Brown and Friday – will put 12 under-20 athletes to the test in the first MJAA-specific sevens camp.

Cecil Rich attended the first Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog at Cal Maritime University, the first national team assembly for many athletes, while several players from College 7s National Champion Lindenwood University will also try their hand at the infamous ‘YAKA YARD’ in Chula Vista.

The 2015-16 Series kicks off in December, with additional High Performance Camps scheduled prior to the opening round in Sydney.

Men's Eagles Sevens High Performance Camp | Sept. 1-5
Nate Augspurger - Northeast Academy
Perry Baker - Men's Eagles Sevens / Tiger Rugby
Garrett Bender - Men's Eagles Sevens
Pat Blair - Men's Eagles Sevens / ATAVUS
Colton Cariaga - Life NDA
Aaron Davis - Tiger Rugby
Nic Edwards - Men's Eagles Sevens
Alex Faison-Donahoe - AIG Men's Collegiate All-American
Seth Halliman - AIG Men's Collegiate All-Americans
Will Holder - World-Class Athlete Program (Army)
Madison Hughes - Men's Eagles Sevens
Martin Iosefo - AIG Men's Collegiate All-Americans / Tiger Rugby
Carlin Isles - Men's Eagles Sevens
Ian Luciano - AIG Men's Collegiate All-American
Peter Malcolm
Jack McAuliffe - World-Class Athlete Program (Navy)
Gannon Moore - Denver Sevens
Ben Leatigaga - World-Class Athlete Program (Army)
Mattie Tago
Stephen Tomasin - Men's Eagles Sevens
Maka Unufe - Men's Eagles Sevens
Anthony Welmers - World-Class Athlete Program (Army)

Men's Eagles High Performance Camp | Invited but unavailable
Moto Filikitonga
Ahmad Harajly
Jobe Motokana
Ben Pinkelman

Men's Eagles Sevens High Performance Camp | Injured
Matai Leuta
Chris Turori

AIG Men's Junior All-American Sevens Camp | Aug. 31 - Sept. 3
Malon Al-Jiboori - Lindenwood University
Ian Crilly - University of Arizona
William Fifita - Rangeview High School / Rocky Mountain Rebels
Travis Heer - Lindenwood University
Michael Islava - Life University
Kyle Makaiwi - Utah Valley University
Deion Mikesell - Lindenwood University
Conner Mooneyham - Life University
Cecil Rich - Wheeling Jesuit University
Cristian Rodriguez - Lindenwood University
Austin Taefu - Tempe Rugby Club
Dante Weeks

Sports compression wear leader SKINS has partnered with USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby in America, as an official supplier of compression product. Through this partnership, SKINS will provide USA Rugby men’s and women’s national teams with compression garments for training, travel and recovery.

SKINS compression garments have been engineered to apply the greatest amount of compression at the extremities. This graduated profile enhances circulation, helping to move blood back to the heart more efficiently. The enhanced blood flow also helps remove lactic acid and other metabolic wastes. Playing a big part in recovery, the improved oxygenation reduces the effects of delayed onset muscle soreness and accelerates muscle repair.

“Rugby is a very important channel for SKINS, with SKINS the official compression supplier for many national teams heading into the 2015 Rugby World Cup that kicks off this week. “The true essence of Rugby epitomizes everything we stand for at SKINS, which is why partnering with USA Rugby was a natural fit”, said SKINS North America General Manager, Johnny West. “The organization shares our vision in upholding the true spirit of competition and represents the relentless and never complacent attitude that we adopt. We are thrilled to partner with USA rugby and the support the team in their journey through the 2015 World Cup and beyond.”

Headquartered in Boulder, CO, USA Rugby is charged with developing the game on all levels, overseeing four national teams, multiple collegiate and high school All-American sides, and an emerging Olympic development pathway for elite athletes. Its partnership with SKINS, which began July 2015, follows a desire from USA Rugby and its elite roster of active members to have compression wear leader, SKINS, available to assist in performance and aid recovery for players who are continually training, competing and traveling throughout the season.

“USA Rugby partners with like-minded brands whose values and overall mission mirror our own, and SKINS couldn’t be a better fit,” said Nigel Melville CEO of USA Rugby. “The product, like the brand, was created with integrity and maintains the highest standard of quality providing our national teams with world class products that will support their continued improvement on the field of play."

SKINS – It’s equipment, not clothing.

In 1996 a keen Aussie skier had a bold ambition – to develop a garment that would improve sports performance and aid recovery. Consulting with NASA scientists and other experts, it took five years of design, testing and finessing before the first pair of SKINS tights were launched in Australia in 2002.

Word spread fast that SKINS help you perform better and recover faster. Basically, they make you feel like a super hero – and look a bit like one too. Pro athletes were the first to get into them and before long amateur athletes joined the party.

The company has grown rapidly over the last decade, and continues to lead the innovation of the sports performance category it created, but our attitude has not changed a bit. SKINS’ mission is simple: to radically improve the world of sport, one pair of tights at a time. Let’s face it, when you’ve got a product that’s scientifically proven by numerous independent studies, you just say it how it is. No hype required. Check out skins.net for detailed information.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Interim Head Coach JD Stephenson and the coaching staff of the AIG Men's Junior All-Americans have called on 52 under-20-eligble athletes to attend the Winter Camp at Casa Grande Academy Saturday, Dec. 19, through Tuesday, Dec. 22.

The MJAAs will play Canada's under-20 representative in Austin, Texas, Feb. 13, 2016, alongside the Men's Eagles' home Americas Rugby Championship match against the border rival's senior side. The winner of the one-off match will qualify for the World Rugby U20 Trophy, set for Zimbabwe in April.

Scott Lawrence was hired as head coach of the MJAAs in August, and stepped down from the position upon promotion in his work duties. The former head coach, who led the MJAAs to a U20 Trophy victory when USA Rugby hosted the tournament in Salt Lake City in 2012, is still assisting the program as technical director.

"Coach Lawrence has been great with information sharing and building of an online database of videos, images, and documents that will assist in continued remote development of players," Stephenson, director of rugby and head coach at Lindenwood University, said. "We are also fortunate enough to be able to utilize BridgeAthletic to ensure that the strength and conditioning component will be spot on and that players can interactively report their testing results, coaches can monitor their progression, and there is responsibility and accountability on the player to do the right thing."

Familiar names on the attendees list for the Winter Camp include Nick Kwasniewski and Darien Pickett of Grand Canyon University, who wore the red, white, and blue in the two-match Trophy Qualifier series north of the border earlier this year. Pickett, along with University of Arizona's Steven Branham, University of Colorado's Evan Clark, and American International College's Jihad Khabir, also attended the first-ever USA Rugby Men's Junior and Collegiate Stars and Stripes Camp presented by WellDog.

Eleven athletes have progressed through the national team pathway from the Boys High School All-Americans in the past 17 months, competing with Salty Thompson's squads against the likes of the under-18 teams of Argentina, Italy, and Uruguay, as well as sevens specialization at Rosslyn Park Sevens and the Las Vegas Invitational.

A number of under-20-eligible players invited to Arizona were unable to attend the Winter Camp due to conflicting schedules with school and the holiday season, as well as a few injuries, but will be considered for the camp in January prior to the final assembly in Texas ahead of match day.

Joining the players at Camp is an extensive coaching staff, including Michael Engelbrecht and Justin Goonan, who have coached high school athletes in the national team pathway at the Stars and Stripes Camp. Following training sessions Monday, Dec. 21, the coaching staff will split athletes into three teams for three 40-minute matches Tuesday, Dec. 22.

As an assistant coach at Lindenwood, Stephenson helped lead the rugby program in St. Charles, Mo., to a Division II National Championship in its inaugural season. Following the 2012-13 season, in which the Lions fell in the D1AA National Championship Final, Stephenson was promoted to head coach and director of rugby operations. Lindenwood moved to D1A Rugby's Mid-South Conference and has reached the Playoff Semifinals in both years of competition, and won the College 7s National Championship in 2015. Stephenson has also aided the age-grade national teams as a specialist coach at multiple assemblies in the past five years.

"The coaches have a diverse skill set to meet the needs of our identification piece in a limited time span for our assembly," Stephenson said. "We will therefore look to utilize our coaches' experience and expertise to take the lead in different areas, culminating in a match on the last day of camp to ensure we have seen all facets of the players' games."

The final assembly roster will be selected following the camp in January, with the location of said camp to be confirmed.

AIG Men's Junior All-Americans | 2015 Winter Camp

AIG Men's Junior All-Americans | 2015 Winter Camp Coaching Staff
JD Stephenson - Interim Head Coach / Attack Coach
Scott Lawrence - Defense Coach
Michael Engelbrecht - Backs Coach / Manager
Paule Barford - Forwards Coach
Kevin Battle - Skills Coach
Justin Goonan - Strength and Conditioning Coach
Dennis Greenhill - Physiotherapist / Trainer

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – The USA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans, supported by Aircraft Charter Solutions, completed a four-day Winter Camp at the tail end of the 2015 calendar year at Casa Grande Sports Academy.

Home to the renowned Real Salt Lake Academy and considered one of the best training venues in the country, the Academy hosted 111 high school players between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. More than 90 percent of the Camp attendees were recruited from last summer's Regional Cup Tournaments, as well as returning BHSAA selections from the 2015 Las Vegas Invitational and Stars and Stripes Camp.

Kicking off alongside the tail end of the USA Rugby AIG Men's Junior All-Americans' Winter Camp at the same complex, BHSAA Head Coach Salty Thompson's Camp began Sunday, Dec. 27, with fitness testing, and progressed to skill development, unit work, and team preparation.

Twenty-one members of staff, including counselors, trainers, managers, and coaches, provided a 5:1 player-to-staff ratio across the 58,000-square foot training center. Athletes received hands-on attention to detail from the staff in regards to performance, education, and recovery, with the latter buoyed by the therapy pools at the Academy.

The high school-aged players also took part in a seminar on preparing for college with the assistance of Karen Fong Donaghue, a current referee and former All-American. Adding to the educational portion of the Camp, the coaching staff also mentored and engaged players in the evaluation and performance review process.

"Players arrived fit and focused to perform," Thompson said. "Expectations and standards were set before Camp and the staff did an exceptional job providing a quality experience."

The BHSAAs will next take to the pitch in the sevens code of the game at the 2016 Las Vegas Invitational, where Thompson's charges won two Cups and a Plate across the 2013 and 2014 tournaments and finished runners-up last year. Additional competition opportunities include a sevens tournament north of the U.S.-Canada border and 15s matches in Canada, all scheduled throughout the summer.

Boys High School All-Americans | 2015 Winter Camp

Boys High School All-Americans | Winter Camp Coaching Staff
Jack Arnold - Camp Counselor
Jacob Banarhall - Camp Counselor
John Banarhall - U16s Head Coach
Jeff Bonnett - U16s Assistant Coach
Scott Bracken - U17s Assistant Coach
Sean Duffy - U17s Assistant Coach
Cameron Frater - U18s Assistant Coach
Justin Goonan - Strength and Conditioning Coach
Brendan Keane - U17s Head Coach
Paul Keeler - Camp Consultant
Janie Kluempers - Certified Trainer
Tim Kluempers - U16s Assistant Coach
Darrell Knowlton - Manager / Video Analyst
Cindy Kramer - Certified Trainer
Rachel Larson - Strength and Conditioning Coach
Anne Micinski - Head Certified Trainer
Sean O'Leary - U18s Consultant Coach
Chris Oosthuizen - Camp Consultant Coach
Michael Reid - Camp Counselor
Moses Similai - Back-line Consultant
JD Stephenson - U18s Assistant Coach
Salty Thompson - Camp Director / U18s & U19s Head Coach