The World Cup certainly starts now. USA Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan has picked basically his best available team to face Russia Saturday.

And Russia, of course, is in the USA’s pool in the World Cup. For the USA to play poorly in this match would only embolden an enemy they face again on a bigger stage in September. The Eagles aren’t completely full strength; key pros such as Taku Ngwenya, Chris Wyles, Hayden Smith, Mike MacDonald, Seta Tuilevuka and Samu Manoa are not available. While these absences are understandable, USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville told RUGBYMag.com today that he felt the Aviva Premiership denying the availability of Smith, who did not start a huge number of games for Saracens and was not in the 22 for the Premiership final, was somewhat churlish.

Almost the entire England Saxons team was made up of Premiership players, and yet Smith was not released for the USA.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk (or should we say spilt?). The USA will play the hand that’s dealt. They have had over a week to work on their execution difficulties, and have the added incentive of playing a ranking test against an opponent they will want to make an impression on. Following this match, it’s likely O’Sullivan will fold in the pros held out of June and establish what is close to his World Cup squad. He will need to finalize not only the squad, but how they play. And it all starts now.

There are a few selections of interest in the squad. First is the only true experiment in the starting 15. Blaine Scully was called up to replace Mike Palefau, and it seems only right to start him and see how he does. O’Sullivan will start Scully at fullback and see if he sinks or swims. Scully has been outstanding this season for Cal, and partners with his former Golden Bear teammate Colin Hawley, who plays win.

O’Sullivan has opted for Mike Petri at scrumhalf, a bit of a surprise because in recent selections the coach has usually preferred Tim Usasz. Could this be a sign that he’s changing his mind?

And questions remain as to who should be the No. 8, and Lou Stanfill, who played lock against Tonga, gets a shot.

There’s one more selection, though, that’s especially important: you.

This is a test match that carries much weight. A win and the Eagles win the Bowl of the Churchill Cup; they stop a four-game skid, and possibly turn the momentum in their performances. But it helps to have the fans behind you. They won’t have many in the stands, but maybe they have some back home.

RUGBYMag.com has a fairly simple comment system, which makes it easier for you to comment. We encourage you now to post your notes of support, of encouragement, of pride, for these men. It is not easy to do what they are doing, and they still have a huge task ahead of them with seven tough test matches over the next four months. Tell them you’re proud of them.


USA National Team lineup for Russia:
15 Blaine Scully (University of California - Berkeley)
14 Colin Hawley (Olympic Club)
13 Paul Emerick (Life University)
12 Andrew Suniula (Chicago Griffins)
11 Kevin Swiryn (Agen)
10 Nese Malifa (Glendale)
9 Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club)
1 Mate Moeakiola (Bobigny 93)
2 Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate)
3 Shawn Pittman (London Welsh)
4 John van der Giessen (Utah Warriors)
5 Scott LaValla (Stade Francais)
6 Inaki Basauri (L'Aquila)
7 Todd Clever (Suntory Sungoliath, captain)
8 Louis Stanfill (Mogliano)

Reserves:
16 Phil Thiel (Life University)
17 Eric Fry (Las Vegas Blackjacks)
18 Pat Danahy (Life University)
19 Nic Johnson (Unattached)
20 Tim Usasz (Nottingham RFC)
21 Roland Suniula (Boston Rugby)
22 Tai Enosa (Belmont Shore)

All photos by Ian Muir

Canadian coach Kieran Crowley knows his team faces a tough task to defeat the England Saxons in the Churchill Cup final.

And while injury and unavailability have limited some of his selection options, Crowley has picked a mix of muscle up front and experience out back which he hopes will get the job done on Saturday.

The squad to face the Saxons features eight players from the starting lineup that defeated Russia 34-18 and 12 starters from Canada's 26-12 win over Italy A.

“It's the best squad available to us and it's a matter of managing the players we have,” Crowley said. “They're ready to go. If we can match them around the set piece I believe we'll be right in this game.”

The Saxons enter the game as favourites, having won the tournament final five times in the last nine years, and Crowley knows their forward pack will be the launching pad for their attack.

“That is a massive challenge on Saturday,” he said. “England base a lot of their game around their scrum and they've scored four penalty tries in their first two games. We've got to work as a unit. We'll be up against a strong pack.”

Having said that, Crowley felt the Canadian forward pack handled itself well against Italy A and has named almost an identical lineup from one through eight, with the exception of the addition of Jamie Cudmore.

The front row sees the return of captain Pat Riordan to the starting lineup, bolstered by props Hubert Buydens and Jason Marshall.

Crowley gave praise to the front row, saying they were the men for the job.

“It's good to have the experience of Riordan back in the starting lineup,” he said. “Marshall has come on in leaps and bounds and Buydens has been on of the most improved players of the tournament.”

Erichsen returns to the starting second row after being left out of the squad against Russia and is joined by Cudmore, who returned to the Canadian jersey last week for the first since 2007.

Not surprisingly, the back row of Jebb Sinclair, Chauncey O'Toole and Aaron Carpenter retain their starting jerseys, as they have in all of their team's games this tournament.

The only forward in the squad unavailable for selection is Ryan Hamilton, who has been rested due too a strained knee ligament.

In the backs, both wing Justin Mensah-Coker and scrum half Ed Fairhurst have had to return home due to work commitments.

With that in mind, Sean White will return to the starting scrum half position, pairing with Ander Monro at fly half.

The remainder of the back line has been rejigged by Crowley, who feels added experience was necessary to deal with the impending threats from the Saxons.

For this reason, the centres pairing has changed back to Phil Mackenzie and Ryan Smith.

Crowley said he enjoyed the dynamic centres pairing of Conor Trainor and Mike Scholz, but that  Mackenzie and Smith were better fits for Saturday's game.

“The other two have done really well, but we feel with the way the English play, Smith and Mackenzie will handle it better,” he said. “Both Conor and Scholz are inexperienced. Smith and Mackenzie bring a few more assets at this level, but on the other hand Scholz and Trainor create things.”

Meanwhile, the back three sees James Pritchard moved to the wing, Ciaran Hearn on the other wing and Matt Evans at fullback.

“We're looking for our wingers to have more involvement,” Crowley said of the change. “Matt's a very good counter attacker and James has played both fullback and wing. Hearn's been playing well. He's really having a go and hopefully he gets an opportunity to show that.”

On the bench Crowley has opted for four forwards and three backs.

Andrew Tiedemann, Scott Franklin, Tyler Hotson and Nanyak Dala make up the forward replacements, while Jamie Mackenzie has been brought into the squad to back up the scrum half position, a fit Nathan Hirayama is in to bolster fly-half and Conor Trainor takes up the last bench spot.

As well as being a rematch of last year's Churchill Cup final and an opportunity for Canada to win the tournament for the first time, Crowley said Saturday's game will be a good indication of how well the team is building toward the Rugby World Cup in September.
“I think we've made massive strides in the level of our performances,” he said. “This game is going to be the biggest measurement in terms of where we are for the World Cup.”

Canada face the England Saxons in the Churchill Cup final at Sixways Stadium in Worcester on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (local time).

Canada vs England Saxons
Canadian squad Name-Club (Hometown) 1. Hubert Buydens - Prairie Wolf Pack/CRC (Regina, SASK) 2. Pat Riordan (Captain) - B.C. Bears/CRC (Burnaby, B.C.) 3. Jason Marshall - B.C. Bears/CRC (Vancouver, B.C.) 4.  Brian Erichsen - B.C. Bears/CRC (Vancouver, B.C.) 5. Jamie Cudmore - Clermont Auvergne/PRO (Squamish, B.C.) 6. Jebb Sinclair - The Rock/CRC (Fredericton, N.B.) 7. Chauncey O'Toole - The Rock/CRC (Belle Isle, N.B.) 8. Aaron Carpenter - Plymouth Albion/UK (Brantford, ON) 9. Sean White - B.C. Bears/CRC (Victoria, B.C.) 10. Ander Monro - Ontario Blues (Victoria, B.C.) 11. James Pritchard - Bedford Blues/UK (Parkes, NSW, Australia) 12. Ryan Smith - Prairie Wolf Pack/CRC (Caledon, ON)
13. Phil Mackenzie - Esher/UK (Oakville, ON) 14. Ciaran Hearn - The Rock/CRC (Conception Bay, NFLD) 15. Matt Evans - Unattached (Duncan, B.C.)
---

Replacements 16. Andrew Tiedemann - Prairie Wolf Pack/CRC (St. Albert, AB) 17. Scott Franklin – Prairie Wolf Pack/CRC (Regina, SASK) 18. Tyler Hotson - Plymouth Albion/PRO (Vancouver, B.C.) 19. Nanyak Dala - Prairie Wolf Pack/CRC (Saskatoon, SASK) 20. Jamie Mackenzie – Ontario Blues/CRC (Oakville, ON) 21. Nathan Hirayama – B.C. Bears/CRC (Vancouver, B.C.) 22. Conor Trainor - B.C. Bears/CRC (Vancouver, B.C.) --- Staff Coach Kieran Crowley. Assistants: Geraint John, Clive Griffiths, Neil Barnes. Video Analyst: Calum Ramsey. Manager; Rodger Swany.