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USA make sweeping changes for Pacific Nations Cup third place play-off
By Philip Bendon
USA head coach Scott Lawrence has made nine changes to his match-day squad for their upcoming bronze-medal Pacific Nations Cup clash with Samoa.
Starting with a new look front row, Lawrence has replaced the injured Jack Iscaro with Jake Turnbull. The loosehead will be partnered with Kapeli Pifeleti at hooker and Alex Maughan at tighthead.
In the secondrow, captain Greg Peterson returns to partner Jason Damm, who moves from tighthead lock to the loosehead role.
Completing the pack changes, number eight Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz returns to the starting line-up in place of Thomas Tu'avao, who shifts to the bench.
At halfback scrumhalf, JP Smith and flyhalf Luke Carty will link up with Ethan McVeigh and Rand Santos, who will provide the backline cover from the bench.
Completing the starting changes, Mitch Wilson will replace last week's captain, Nate Augspurger, who is unavailable due to injury.
Focusing on Wilson's addition to the backline, Lawrence referenced the winger's physicality as a driver for his selection.
"Mitch has been playing a lot of on the right wing for New England this year, and he's a very good shutdown defender and a backfield operator. He's got a high work rate, so we liked what we saw from Toby last week.
"He's a big body in the backline, especially when it comes to countering a contestable kicking game, and we like his edge defence and communication. So, with Nate being out this week with an injury, it made sense, and Mitch was always going to come into the squad after resting him last weekend. It was always part of the plan to bring him back in, so it just happened to go that way."
Making his debut from the bench this week, loosehead Payton Telea was singled out as a player that head coach Scott Lawrence was excited to see as a ball-playing front rower. The 25-year-old San Diego Legion standout attended Saint Mary’s College of California from 2016 through his graduation in 2020. The team won the 2017 D1A National Championship, and he played for the USA Collegiate All-Americans against Canada in 2019. He also won the 2019-2020 Rudy Scholz Award as the best collegiate rugby player in the U.S.
Discussing Telea's role in the squad, Lawrence said, "Payton is another of the younger players we invited to see what we were working with and to start his journey to becoming a future Eagle.
"He's come along really well; he's done a lot of work with the team. He's four weeks more conditioned than he was when he came in, and that's a huge part of it.
"He's hung right in there at set piece, so I think when you look at Payton, I get excited by the potential of what he can offer. You have a ball-carrying ball-playing front row, and when you can add that into the mix next to a hooker, it opens up your attack and gives you options to do more things.
"So that part about Payton is exciting, and I think he'll go well tomorrow, and we'll be able to use that in the future."
The Eagles will face Samoa at 16.00 (08.00 BST) at the Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Higashiosaka. RugbyPass TV will stream the match live and for free.
USA Line-Up
1. Jake Turnbull, 2. Kapeli Pifeleti, 3. Alex Maughan, 4. Jason Damm, 5. Greg Peterson, 6. Paddy Ryan, 7. Cory Daniel, 8. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz, 9. JP Smith, 10. Luke Carty, 11. Mitch Wilson, 12. Dominic Besag, 13. Tavite Lopeti, 14. Conner Mooneyham, 15. Toby Fricker
Replacements
16. Sean McNulty, 17. Payton Telea, 18. Pono Davis, 19. Viliami Helu, 20. Tesimoni Tonga'uiha, 21. Thomas Tu'avao, 22. Ethan McVeigh, 23. Rand Santos
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