USA Rugby News: Men’s Junior All-Americans prep for Junior World Rugby Trophy with Canada Series

The USA Rugby Men’s Junior All-Americans (USA U20s) will take on Canada’s Under-20s on May 23 and 26 in Canada.  Thirty-two players headed north last week and are currently underway with preparations for the first match on Wednesday (May 23, 2012).

The USA Rugby JAAs will play the at Shawnigan Lake School (Shawnigan, B.C.) on May 23 and at the Canadian Center for Rugby Excellence in Langford, B.C on Saturday May 26.

The USA Rugby All-Americans will use the Canada tour as a tune-up before the Junior World Rugby Trophy – an eight-team international U20s tournament featuring the future stars of international rugby from the USA, Canada, Chile, Russia, Georgia, Japan, Tonga, and Zimbabwe – that will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah from June 18-30.

Gavin Hickie puts the U20s through their paces earlier in the year at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center

Eighteen USA Rugby JAAs hail from the collegiate ranks with the remainder playing men’s club rugby.  Four of the collegiate players took part in the USA Rugby Men’s College National Championships this past weekend and looked very sharp against the competition.

Angus MacLellan’s team, Davenport University, beat San Diego State (of which fellow JAA Kalei Konrad was a part) in the DI-AA National Championship and a day earlier, took out Dartmouth (Madison Hughes’s team) in the semifinal.

Head Coach, Scott Lawrence, will use the tour to fine-tune systems and also allow the team to grow in game situations.  Camps were held in various locations throughout the country this spring and last winter, giving the coach an opportunity to install some structures and the USA Rugby pre-JWRT tour will let the team put it all together against their North American rival, Canada.

USA Rugby Press Release 21 May 2012

See also: Gavin Hickie named USA Rugby Junior All-American Forwards Coach

LineoutCoach Guide to the Junior World Rugby Trophy

Gavin Hickie does some video analysis with USA Rugby U20s in camp in Canda ahead of the Junior World Rugby Trophy

USA Rugby Junior All-Americans Pre-JWRT Tour Squad

Player (Club)

Tanner Barnes (Central Washington)

Nick Barrett (Spearhead Academy)

Niklas Boyer (Cal)

Pierce Dargan (Trinity College – Dublin)

Iniki Famausili (Glendale Raptors)

Cameron Falcon (Louisiana State)

Alex Goff (Arkansas State)

Henry Hall (Auckland University)

Brendan Hardiman (San Francisco Golden Gate)

Madison Hughes (Dartmouth)

Casper Huizenga (Kutztown)

Pacefika Iosia (Belmont Shore)

Kalei Konrad (San Diego State)

Sione Letoi (Tempe)

Angus MacLellan (Davenport)

Will Magie (Leeds University)

Kingsley McGowan (St. Mary’s College – California)

Daniel Metcalf (Penn State)

Manu Moala (Titans – Hawaii)

George Naufahu (San Mateo)

Tim O’Hara (Santa Clara)

Aladdin Schirmer (Central Washington)

Zach Siemens (Spearhead Academy)

Khrys Speed (Bedford Academy)

Alexander Taefu (Tempe)

Noah Tarrant (Oceanside Hurricanes)

So’e Tatafu (Snake River)

Mike Teo (Belmont Shore)

Glen Thommes (Delaware)

Vei Tomasi (Oakland Warthogs)

Ekaptelisio Veamatahau (Spearhead Academy)

Travis Whitlock (Back Bay)

Gavin Hickie, USA Rugby U20s Forwards Coach, is a former Ireland, Leinster and Leicester rugby player now based in California and taking rugby to the USA. He writes for RugbyMag.com and other publications when not coaching for Belmont Shore and blogging on lineoutcoach.com #busy