usavjpn official program

8/12/2019 USAvJPN Official Program

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It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to StubHub Center for the USEagles’ opening game of the 2014 Paci c Nations Cup tournament and special welcome to our friends from Japan, one of the form teams in thisyear’s event arriving in Los Angeles on the back of a strong performanin Canada last weekend, winning 34-25. Now coached by former WallabCoach Eddie Jones, we know that the team will be well prepared and disciplined playing with great speed and intensity.

Last weekend the Eagles played Scotland in Houston in front of a 20,00passionate home crowd, but despite their support the Eagles lost 22-6 ina scrappy game that never quite measured up to the pre-match hype. TheEagles certainly put in a gritty performance and the game could have goneeither way before a late Scotland try sealed the game in Scotland’s favor.

The Eagles will be looking to bounce back tonight, learning lessons from Houston and converting them into actionsthis evening against Japan. In just over 12 months at the Rugby World Cup, the Eagles will meet both Japan andScotland in our group, so this month we are all getting an opportunity to size up the opposition. The Eagles nishedthe 2013 season with strong wins in Europe against Georgia and Russia, in the spring they beat Uruguay to qualify forthe 2015 Rugby World Cup and this month they have three home games to continue their development as a team.

Coach Mike Tolkin and his sta have already started to shape their Rugby World Cup squad, there is an increasingamount of competition within the squad for places and this will certainly prove a motivating factor for tonight’s gamefor the Eagles.

In the USA the game of rugby is growing at pace with vibrant youth programs starting to develop quality players whoare making their way into our National All-American High School and Collegiate teams. This has all been made possible by the commitment of our coaches and administrators who commit hours and hours of their time to supportthe development of these young players. In Southern California we have one of the strongest Youth programs in thecountry and I know many of them will be attending their rst Eagles game today. I would like to give them a speciawelcome and hope they leave today’s game dreaming of playing for the Eagles in the future.

Have a great evening and may the best team win!

Go Eagles!

Nigel MelvilleCEO and President of Rugby OperationsUSA Rugby

PRESIDENTLETTER FROM THE



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NICK WALLACE 9/28/1986 Seattle, WA Prop

PHIL THIEL 10/28/1984 Traverse City, MI Hooker @PhillipThiel

OLIVEKILIFI 9/13/1987 Davis, CA Prop @FryProp

SAMUMANOA 5/29/1985 Sacramento, CA Second Row @LouStan ll

SCOTTLAVALLA 4/10/1985 Sydney, AUS Second Row @Hayden_Smith

DANNYBARRETT 1/16/1983 Palm Springs, CA Flanker @ToddsClever

TODDCLEVER 4/4/1988 Olympia, WA Flanker

CAMERONDOLAN 3/6/1990 Ft. Myers, FL Number Eight @Cam_Dolan

MIKE PETRI 8/15/1984 Brooklyn, NY Scrum-half

SHALOMSUNIULA 6/4/1988 Auckland, NZL Fly-half @ShalomSuniul

TIMMAUPIN 1/26/1988 New York, NY Wing @Luke_Hume_

Rugby



SEAMUSKELLY 4/30/1982 American Samoa Center @Suni_3

FOLAUNIUA 5/30/1991 Queens, NY Center

BLAINESCULLY 2/29/1988 Sacramento, CA Wing @blainescully1

CHRISWYLES 9/13/1983 Stamford, CT Fullback @ChrisWyles

THOMASCOOLICAN 8/26/1988 Cleveland, OH Hooker

ERICFRY 10/16/1989 Bellingham, WA Prop @NICKtheWAL

TITI LAMOSITELE 2/10/1995 Bellingham, WA Prop @titilamo

LOUISSTANFILL 8/28/1980 San Diego, CA Lock @sole_uso

KYLESUMSION 3/23/1990 Paci ca, CA Wing @bookemshaaark

ie

CHADLONDON 1/27/1985 East Palo Alto, CA Center

THRETTONPALAMO 9/27/1988 Johannesburg, RSA Center

MILESCRAIGWELL

3/23/1989 Danville, CA Wing



MASATAKAMIKAMI 6/4/1988 Brave Lupus

LooseheadProp

SHOTAHORIE 1/21/1986 Wild Knights Hooker

KENSUKEHATAKEYAMA

8/2/1985 Suntory Sungoliath TightheadProp

SHOJIITO 12/2/1980 Kobelco Steelers Lock

LUKE THOMP

SON

4/16/1981 Kintetsu Liners Lock

JUSTIN IVES 5/24/1984 Canon Eagles BlindsideFlanker

MICHAELLEITCH C 10/7/1988 Brave Lupus Openside

Flanker

HOLANIRYU KO

LINIASHI

10/25/1981 Wild Knights Number 8

FUMIAKI TANAKA 1/3/1985 Wild Knights Scrum-Half

HARUMICHI

TATEKAWA12/2/1989 Kubota Spears Fly-Half

KENKIFUKUOKA 9/7/1992 Univ. of Tsukuba Wing



YU TAMURA 1/9/1989 Green Rockets Inside Center

MALESAU 10/13/1987 Yamaha Jubilo Outside

Center

AKIHITOYAMADA 7/26/1985 Wild Knights Wing

AYUMUGOROMARU

3/1/1986 Yamaha Jubilo Full-Back

HISATERUHIRASHI

MA

1/15/1983 Kobelco Steelers Front-row

TAKESHIKIZU 7/15/1988 Kobelco Steelers Front-row

HIROSHIYAMASHI

TA1/1/1986 Kobelco Steelers Front-row

SHINYAMAKABE 3/26/1987 Suntory Sungoliath

HITOSHIONO 5/6/1978 Brave Lupus

HENDRIK TUI 12/13/1987 Suntory Sungoliath

ATSUSHIHIWASA 5/22/1987 Suntory Sungoliath

TOSHIAKIHIROSE 10/17/1981 Brave Lupus



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n ice skates, CameronDolan would be a couple o

inches taller than his alreadytowering, 6- oot-6 rame.Luckily, ice hockey in Floridawas not as popular as it is now.

Dolan played hockey growing up inEstero be ore realizing it would bedifficult to become a pro essionalwhile playing in the Sunshine State. Hetested his developing athletic abilitieson the baseball diamond and American

ootball gridiron, but none o the sportsthe young Eagle played captured the

passion he elt when he irst went torugby practice.

“When I entered reshman year o highschool, it was my school’s irst year oexistence,” Dolan said. “Then they startedup a rugby team. I heard about it but

didn’t really play or anything or watchany o the games. Come junior year Ichecked it out and went to practice.“It was kind o like all o the sports I hadplayed put together. You’re able to beversatile, use your size, you had to bequick, you had to be athletic, you had tobe agile. It all took off pretty quickly romthere.”

Dolan proceeded through the USARugby All-American ranks with the U17s

– coached by Sean O’Leary – in 2007 andthe U18s a year later. During the spring

o 2008, his senior year o high school,Dolan reconnected with O’Leary at a

U18s camp.

“I saw Sean and I said, ‘Hey, I want to goto college, but I want to be able to playrugby,’” Dolan recollected. “’What’s yourtake on that?’

The current Notre Dame Rugby Coachtold Dolan he would recommend himto Li e University Director o Rugby ScottLawrence, who was overseeing excitinggrowth in the Marietta, Ga., school’s club

program. The Running Eagles won theDivision I National Championship that

year, prompting Dolan to get in conwith O’Leary.

Dolan took the all off, workingtraining with the club team, insteadbeginning his collegiate career. Withan undergraduate program, he was to travel to Kenya with the U20s inspring o 2009 or the IRB JuniorRugby Trophy. Dolan captained the teto a second-place inish in its irst ythe competition and returned home good news: ormer Eagle Dan Paynbringing an undergraduate program

Li e.

i’ll go ‘til the motor stopsDOLAN:

“ ”

“I saw Sean and I said, ‘Hey, I want to go to collegebut I want to be able to play rugby,’” Dolan



“He had good success at San Diego State,and he wanted to use the resources thatLi e had to our advantage as players andbring in young guys to give them a tasteo college rugby,” Dolan said. “It’s toughto be 18, a team o 18-year-olds playingmen’s club rugby; it just doesn’t happen.”

In 2011, Li e inished second in Division1A’s Mid-South Con erence with a5-1 record andplus-243 point-differential. It wasthe irst year othe rebrandedcompetition andLi e’s irst orayinto the nationalplayoffs.

E v e n t u a lc h a m p i o nUniversity oC a l i o r n i a ,Berkeley, endedwhat title hopesthe young programdid have in thequarter inal with a merciless, 43-10, winat home. The Golden Bears “spanked”the Running Eagles, as Dolan put it, butthe undergrads were just getting started.

In 2012, Li e wrangled the Mid-SouthCon erence title away rom ArkansasState with a per ect, 8-0 record. TheRunning Eagles took advantage othe higher seed and handily de eatedPennsylvania State University in thequarter inal. Another loss to an eventualchampion – this time Brigham Young

University – sent the Running Eagleshome in the semi inal.

Colton Cariaga captained the team,but Dolan was certainly a leader aferlearning rom some o the best in thecountry.

“[Colton] didn’t really know much aboutthe orwards,” he said. “I called lineouts

and played eight, so I was always at theback o scrums, calling scrum moves andstuff like that. He was more o a lead-by-example kind o captain; I was more o

the vocal guy on the ield, trying to lif theboys up, bring them together.”

It was not long until Dolan’s brie historywith rugby began a new chapter withthe national team, with a selection orthe 2012 Americas Rugby Championshipcalling rom Eagles Head Coach MikeTolkin.

No less than six current Eagles were inteam, but Dolan captained the Selectsmatches against Argentina, Canada, aUruguay, though they were all losses

“It was always the ultimate goal think it’s anyone’s ultimate goal in sport to play or your national team represent your country in a sport oninternational stage,” Dolan said.

When Dreturned to University oEagles camp early 2013, proved he eara spot in the trsquad or Eagles’ sum

lineup. Thohe did not plarole in the maday teams, Dprovided amcompetition the 23 players did go up aga

Ireland and Tonga. Tolkin rewarDolan with his irst internationalJune 19, when the Eagles visited Ja

or a match against Fiji.

Dolan started at number eight in placeTodd Clever, but did not eel as thohe was replacing the team’s captaholder o nearly 50 caps at the time.

“He’s one o the best players to everor the U.S.,” Dolan said. “I just try

my part as a team member. It’s a te

“It was always the ultimate goal...to play for your national teamand represent your country in a sport on an international stage,”

continued on page


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DATE OPPONENT TIME LOCATION

JUNE 29 Wales TBA Cardi , Wales, UK

JULY 2 England TBA Surrey, ENG, UK

JULY 6 England TBA Surrey, ENG, UK

AUGUST 1 Ireland 11 AM ET FFR Headquarters - Marcoussis 2AUGUST 5 Kazakhstan 7 AM ET FFR Headquarters - Marcoussis 2

AUGUST 9 New Zealand 12 PM ET FFR Headquarters - Marcoussis 2



game.”

Dolan inished the summer with substituteappearances in the Eagles’ match againstJapan in Tokyo and both legs o the IRBRugby World Cup 2015 Quali ier againstCanada, all losses.

The capped Eagle served as captain orone o the Selects’ three matches at the2013 Americas Rugby Championshipand was among the starting XV or the

Eagles’ highest-pro ile rugby match inyears against the New Zealand Maori AllBlacks. Dolan wore the number eight shirtwhile scoring a try in a Man o the Matchper ormance or the Eagles in the loss atPPL Park.

The Eagles continued their Fall Tourto Europe or matches against Georgiaand Russia with Dolan starting in bothvictories. The match against Russia washeld at Saracens’ Allianz Park in England,where the Eagles’ Chris Wyles plies histrade in the Aviva Premiership. In the win,Dolan shared try-scoring duties with SamuManoa, who was no stranger to AllianzPark afer signing with NorthamptonSaints in 2011.

A month afer the inal match o 2013,the Saints signed Dolan to a pro essionalcontract.

“I elt very honored and blessed to justhave that chance to go to one o the moreprestigious rugby clubs in the world withsome o the best players in the world,”Dolan said. “I always wanted to be apro essional athlete. It was very surreal,but it’s not the end goal.”

Dolan’s end goal? Being the best. In beingthe best, the Eagleo eight capswants to take thenational team upthe ladder withhim.

“I missed out onthe 2011 WorldCup,” he said. “I’min a better placenow, I’ve aged,I’m a little moremature physicallyand mentally asa player; that’s

de initely bene icial.”

The Eagles quali ied or the 201Cup earlier this year, de eating U just miles away rom Li e Universtough draw in the irst leg in MonBe ore the Eagles can set their sigEngland, however, they will host ScJapan, and Canada during the SumSeries, with the New Zealand Allwaiting or their American return atField in November.

“We have a strong team right now,”said. “When we’re clicking on all cywe can be one o the top 10 teamsworld. We’ve got to igure out wha

or us and just stick with it.”

It might be use ul to keep Dolanteam, then, as he holds one o the win percentages on the international albeit with just seven caps.

With a busy schedule ahead as the Eprepare or their seventh World Chis pro essional career at Northacontinues, Dolan is in line ornational team appearances.

“I’m gonna play as long as my bolet me play,” he said. “The game chevery year, so I’ve got to adapt to itat Northampton’s de initely going me be able to do that more easilymore efficiently than another place.

“I’ll go ‘til themotor stops.”



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Fan estivals, tailgating events, and an overall sense opro essionalism crept into Eagles international tests ondomestic soil. Facilities like In inity Park in Glendale, Colo., arugby-speci ic venue sel -titled as “RugbyTown USA,” becamecommon destinations or top-level rugby.

It did not happen overnight, however. Matches were scheduledor other venues, like Toyota Park, a Major League Soccer

stadium in Chicago, Ill., only to be told the match could not beplayed due to ear o tearing up the playing sur ace.

“The perception is we would just make a mess o the ground,and then you’re convincing the groundsmen to tell othergroundsmen across the country it’s all right. It was all a bit oa challenge.”

Getting into stadiums became easier with more exposure orthe Eagles. The 2007 World Cup helped players like Eaglescaptain Todd Clever become a ace or the Eagles “ ranchise,”but there were still a majority o rugby ans in the United States

unaware a national team was competing in multiple matchesat home each year.

“I I were a kid playing the game, I probably wouldn’t know whatthe Eagles were and I wouldn’t know what the World Cup was,”Melville said. “Now I think the kids get it. We’ve developed a

ollowing or the Eagles and the events and made them events.I you can broaden its appeal and make it look like it shouldlook, then people will aspire to be involved in it, be it a player

or a an.”

In 2009, Rookie Rugby, a program aimed at teaching the yoo the United States the basics o rugby in a sa e, non-co

orm o the sport, was launched. Five years later, with and more high school state championships held across thcountry and the creation o the Boys and Girls High SchooAmericans, the seeds o Melville’s plans have begun to lo

“A lot o these players coming up – every year they’ve playing longer,” he said.

“The youth programs in the UK started when I was a kid in1970s. There were six o us in it in my town. Now the progbeen going or orty years and they get 200 kids a week.thriving community they’ve developed. These were all overcountry and now we’re getting them here.”

The pathway rom youth rugby to the national team never been clearer. Young Eagles Scott Lavalla and Seam

Kelly have each played or one o the USA Rugby All-Amteams, while experienced veterans like Clever and Louis Stahave also represented USA Rugby at the under-20 level.

The 2014 Emirates Airline USA Rugby College NaChampionships were held in May at Steuber Rugby Stadion the campus o Stan ord University as part o USA RNational Championship Series, which also consists o CNational Championships and domestic sevens competitio



While the events are attracting a steadily-increasing number oans each year, the trend didn’t happen overnight.

“We realized our national championships weren’t going tobecome these huge events illing huge stadiums. That’s notwhat the NCS is about. It’s about players trying to get to thenational inals at different levels. We wanted to make theexperience o going to the national championships special tothose who go to the national championships and or the localmarket to see the games and ollow their teams, and have aplace to have un and have a good weekend.

“I’ve been here seven years. It’s more visible than it ever was,there’s more awareness, more television. As a result o that,we’re getting more high school players, we’re getting morecollege players. More and better.”

The Eagles have quali ied or seven o the eight World Cupssince the inaugural tournament in 1987, though they have

yet to make it out o the pool round. Despite the majority oplayers in the last Eagles domestic camp playing pro essionalrugby overseas and stronger, more visible opponents travelingto America, the Eagles are still ranked 18th in the IRB WorldRankings.

“You want instant success,” Melville said. “Everyone does. It’sso much easier that way.

“It’s like planting seeds in the ground. You’re growing and willhave to harvest it in a ew years’ time. It’s like wine, I suppose.You grow your vines; they don’t really ruit or three years. Now

there are kids coming through who have been playing or iveyears, but it also depends on good coaching, good re ereeing,good competition. They all take time.”

The ruits o Melville’s labor can be seen in attendance iguresor domestic and international competition, the amount o kids

picking up a rugby ball on a daily basis, and in the upcoming,marquee matchup with the All Blacks at Soldier Field.

For more in ormation on the Nov. 1 match at Soldier Field,please visit the event website at www.usavallblacks.com.

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