Thorburn Selects His Players Hawks and the Falcons

by user BigPPup

U.S.A Eagles head coach Peter Thorburn has announced his selections for both the U.S Hawks and the U.S. Falcons.  These two teams will compete in the upcoming NA4 tournament used by both the United States and Canada as a final selecting ground for the teams each nation will use to represent themselves in the summer test matches, and the 2008 Rugby World Cup.

While both the Falcons and the Hawks want to do well in the two part tournament, winning it all is not the goal of the NA4.  The purpose of this tournament is the development of the American players, and for Eagles Coach Thorburn to find the best suited players for this summer.

The positions for the U.S.  Hawks which will be coached by Marty Wiggins and Kevin Battle are as follows.

Props

Loose Head

Mike French (OMBAC)

Tight Head

Matekitonga Moeakiola (Park City Haggis) John Vitale (Chicago Lions)

Hookers

Patrick Bell (Life College) Mark Crick (PAC)

Locks

Alec Parker (Aspen) Latu Puloka (OMBAC) Jake Stanfill (OMBAC) John Van Der Giessen (Santa Barbara)

Loose Forwards Flankers/No.8s

Inaki Basauri (Massy Essonne – Paris) Todd Clever (OMBAC) Jason Lett (Worcester) M.C. Laubscher (Chicago Lions) Dan Payne (OMBAC) Patrick Quinn (Denver Barbarians) Andrew Ryland (Belmont Shore) Louis Stanfill (OMBAC)

Scrumhalfs

Douglas Rowe (Old Blue – NY) David Williams (Denver Barbarians)

Flyhalf

Jason Kelly

Midfielders Inside/Outside Centers

Albert Tuipolotu (San Mateo) Riaan Hamilton (OMBAC) Nathan Rodgers (Life College)

Wings

Brian Barnard (Belmont Shore) Scott Jones (Chicago Lions) Kevin Mongold (Scioto Valley) Takudzwa Ngwenya (Dallas Athletic Rugby Club)

Fullbacks

Dom Mara (NYAC) Jone Naqica (Denver Barbarians)

The players selected to play for the U.S. Falcons and playing for coaches Adam Friend and Don Ferrell are as follows:

Props

Loose Head

Chris Moreno (Denver Barbarians) Brian Olmes (PAC)

Tight Head

Aaron Beuhring (PAC) Brian Lemay (Boston Irish Wolfhounds)

Hookers

Will Brazier (Old Blue - NY) Blake Burdette (NYAC) Owen Lentz (Maryland Exiles)

Locks

Adam Casias (Sacramento Lions) Mike Mangan (Denver Barbarians) Hayden Mexted (St. Louis) Ben Weidmer (Belmont Shore)

Loose Forwards Flankers/No.8s

Mark Aylor (Denver Barbarians) Jason Geurts (Fresno) Danny La Prevotte (SF Golden Gate) Travis Meidinger (Heidelburg – Germany) Tasi Mounga (SF Golden Gate) Rikus Pretorius (UC- Berkeley) Ron Rosser (Belmont Shore)

Scrumhalfs

Kimball Kjar (Park City Haggis) Mose Timoteo (SF Golden Gate)

Flyhalf

Chad Erskine (Waterloo) Andrew Locke (West Point – USMA)

Midfielders Inside/Outside Centers

Philip Eloff (Chicago Lions) Vaha Esikia (San Mateo) Alipate Tuilevuka (Park City Haggis) Wings

E. Jeff Hullinger (OMBAC) Mike Palefau (Narbonne – France) Chris Wyles (Nottingham/Northhampton – England)

Fullbacks

Andrew ‘Tui’ Osborne (Washington Rugby Club)

While the players on these two squads will make up the majority of the players selected to play for the U.S. Eagles it does not include everyone as some players are currently overseas for filling commitments, or they are resting injuries and will wait till the Churchill Cup to make this years Eagles debut.