Nov. 9, 2010
LONDON - Five former Golden Bear captains - Chris Biller, Eric Fry, Colin Hawley, Mike MacDonald and Louis Stanfill - are in London for a match Tuesday followed by contests in Lisbon, Galashiels (Scotland) and Tblisi with the U.S National Team for its fall tour. The USA Eagles play Saracens, Scotland A, Portugal and Georgia, the latter two counting as full international tests, between Nov. 9-27.
MacDonald, who takes 54 full international appearances into the tour, plays professionally for Leeds Carnegie in England, while Stanfill, with 15 full international appearances, is available to join the national team on leave from his Italian professional club, Mogliano.
Biller, who plays for San Francisco Golden Gate, embarks on the tour with six full internationals under his belt. Hawley has a chance again to face Georgia, his only previous full international experience, after scoring a try against the Lelos in June 2009. He plays domestically for the Sacramento Capitals.
Fry, unattached to any other team, played most recently in the Americas Rugby Championships for the U.S. Select XVs in Argentina, along with Biller. This will be an opportunity for Fry to play his full international test match.
The U.S. has qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the most widely viewed event in the world after the Summer Olympics and FIFA World Cup. It begins next September in New Zealand, with the Eagles taking on Ireland to open their Pool C play on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
In 2016, rugby returns to the Olympics at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
U.S. Men's National Team Fall 2010 Tour (all times local to venue)
USA vs. Saracens - Nov. 9, 3 p.m. - Hounourable Company's Artillery Garden, London, England
USA vs. Portugal- Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. - University Stadium, Lisbon, Portugal
USA vs. Scotland A -Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m. - Netherdale Stadium, Galashiels, Scotland
USA vs. Georgia - Nov. 27, TBD- National Stadium, Tblisi, Georgia
