Saturday is America’s 250th birthday and a huge national holiday but the US Eagles will be working. The men are in Denver, kicking off the World Rugby Nations Cup against Portugal, champions of Europe’s second tier. The women are in Johannesburg for the first of two games against South Africa, a double bill with the Springbok men facing England.
“I’m dual nationality,” said the women’s captain, Georgie Perris-Redding, who speaks with a Manchester accent but was born in Detroit and whose development included a stint at the American Pro Rugby Training Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, a groundbreaking operation that nurtured US women’s talent.
“I’m very proud of my group,” the Sale Sharks flanker continued, “and they are so passionate about our country and what we represent. We’ve been talking about it all week. Honestly, we’re trying to find a way to get some fireworks. That’s not looking too likely to me right now, but growing the game is what massively drives this group as well, and I think being able to do that on such an occasion at Ellis Park is arguably once-in-a-lifetime. So, yeah, I think we’re excited, the group have been working really hard, and it’s going to be a super special occasion.”
Coach Jack Hanratty is Irish but also fully appreciates both America’s national day and playing in a stadium where, if you think about it, a great American once lifted the Webb Ellis Cup. That was Matt Damon, as Francois Pienaar in Invictus, Clint Eastwood’s movie about Nelson Mandela, the 1995 World Cup and the making of modern South Africa. Among the great Americans running out on the Fourth of July will be Perris-Redding’s fellow flanker Kate Zackary, who played in England in the PWR final for Ealing Trailfinders last week then flew south – her Boeing buzzing Ellis Park, perhaps – to join the Eagles for her 50th cap.
“It’s funny because 50 is going to become normal soon,” Hanratty said, of the expanding horizons of the women’s game. “Kate’s only the third Eagle to do it. We were joking about this a while ago. Bella Vogel got her first cap [aged just 19, at fly-half] against New Zealand, and [25-year-old back-row crossover athlete] Hann Humphreys got their first cap against New Zealand. So we’re kind of thinking that in five years they could have 50.
“This is a lovely moment for Kate, especially after captaining the Trailfinders last Saturday. I think it’s a real compliment to the respect that the athletes have. What she’s doing off the field and on the field for this logo is pretty rewarding. We’re not going to make emotional decisions as staff. We need to make decisions that are high-performance decisions, and Kate’s earned another cap, and that one is number 50, and hopefully we’ll make some arrangements for her to lead the team out. Hopefully this program can continue to grow with leaders like that, who have laid such an incredible foundation.”
South Africa rank two places behind the US, 10th in the world to eighth. Hanratty expects a physical game and has chosen an experienced pack. As the coach pointed out, the Springbok women made the World Cup knockouts in England last year, and the US did not. That said, the US came out of the Pac Four in April with a win over Australia and encouraging aspects of defeats by Canada and New Zealand.
In Denver, the US men’s coach, Scott Lawrence, has worked with his team on what it means to play for their country, this week in particular.
“It was important for us to recognize the strength of the diversity of our country,” Lawrence said, of sessions including a talk from two US Air Force Academy cadets followed by a spot of competitive flag-folding.
“The Eagles are, have been and always will be a representation of the diverse nature of our country,” Lawrence said. “You don’t see that in a lot of other countries. They may have players that move there young and qualify after five years. That’s pretty common in international rugby. But the way our team comes together is much different. It looks like any classroom in the United States. We could have guys speaking French at one table, and two of the staff speaking Spanish, and that’s not any different than walking down the street and having a coffee here in Denver. But the thing we all unite behind is the values of the country.”
One French speaker is young back Perry Mayo, who plays for Nevers in Pro D2 and qualifies, like several teammates, through American heritage.
“He’s been good, he’s got X Factor, you know,” Lawrence said, “The French, they play differently. It’s always good to have another left foot in the back line in terms of the kicking game, and he’s played wing, he’s played full-back, so he gives us versatility, more options around whether you go 5-3 or 6-2 on the bench … he throws the ball around. It’s not in the American nature, but in the last year we’ve really needed to train and play messy at times, and he offers a bit of that.”
Last year’s first summer outing, against England in Washington, was more sticky than messy, a trudge through lightning delays in a swampy city, a loss by 40 with a deserved try at the end. Playing the Portuguese in the Denver mountain air – such is the size of Donald Trump’s planned DC fireworks display, it’s not impossible the smoke will reach the Mile High City – should offer chances to run and pass. Lawrence is under no illusion about the scale of the task. Portugal denied the US a spot at the 2023 World Cup, thanks to a draw in Dubai. Since then they’ve rebuilt, this year beating Georgia for the Rugby Europe Championship crown, long stored in Tbilisi.
Lawrence said: “They followed a proven recipe in our division, which is time together domestically, a focused team that has all the best internationals, not just says they’re internationally focused, domestically focused, but all the best [players] are playing in Seattle and Chicago and everywhere else, right?”
Most of the Portugal team play for Lusitanos in the Rugby Europe Super Cup, which supports second-tier national teams. Lawrence’s Eagles mostly play in Major League Rugby, which recently finished a six-team season after a major contraction. MLR aims to produce American talent but the one team solely devoted to it, Anthem RC in Charlotte, North Carolina, is set to disappear after three years backed by World Rugby. On the plus side, Lawrence is able to call on Europe-based pros including Jack Iscaro, a loosehead prop thriving in the Top 14 with Stade Français. AJ MacGinty, the vastly experienced fly-half who plays for Bristol in England, is still out with injury.
After Denver, the Eagles go to North Carolina to play Zimbabwe and Spain. The month of July, Lawrence said, “has always been our most challenging window, based on the way the European schedule maps out, and the teams that are coming in, and the momentum they have. So what does that mean for the Eagles? You got to do the big rocks first. You have to know your set piece, you have to know your kicking game. It’s those game-defining things that are really the basics of the game. And then you have to trust the talent.”
USA v South Africa and USA v Portugal are broadcast in the US on Paramount+.
Martin Pengelly writes on rugby in the US on Substack, at The National Maul.
