For Immediate Release
May 29, 2009
USA, Ireland Name Starting Lineups for Setanta Challenge Cup
SAN JOSE, CA. – The USA Men’s National Team and Ireland National Team have named their starting
lineups for the Setanta Challenge Cup on Sunday, May 31 at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The third annual Setanta Challenge Cup kicks off the Eagles international season as it faces the reigning
RBS 6 Nations and Grand Slam Champions, Ireland, and marks former Ireland head coach Eddie
O’Sullivan’s first match at the helm of the USA Eagles.
“It is an honor to face Ireland in my first test as Eagles Head Coach. It will be a little strange to face off
against a team that I know so well, but at the same time for me that will make the occasion even more
special,” Eagles Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan said.
The U.S. lineup will see a total of eight new caps, six of which will be in the starting 15. Led by the
USA’s 2007 Rugby World Cup prop Mike MacDonald, forward pack will see four players new to the
Eagles squad, including a new hooker and tighthead prop in Chris Biller and Will Johnson, respectively.
2007 RWC players John Van der Giessen will be joined by Hayden Smith in the second row, while 2007
RWC flanker Louis Stanfill is joined by flanker Peter Dahl and No. 8 Nic Johnson.
In the back line, the U.S. has a little more experience, as Kevin Swiryn and Roland Suniula are the only
two uncapped players named to the starting lineup, even they have been playing with the Eagles for
nearly a year now. Anchoring the experience in the backline is flyhalf Mike Hercus, while Mike Petri
returns at scrumhalf to captain the side. Junior Sifa, Justin Boyd and Chris Wyles all return as well to give
the back line a threatening edge.
“Despite the unavailability of a lot of our players, I believe we have still assembled a very competitive
squad, with a good balance of youth and experience. The fact that we don’t have quite a few of our usual
players, allows me the opportunity to get a good look at the depth of our squad,” O’Sullivan said. “With
seven games ahead in as many weeks we will get to see everyone in our Eagles pool play and although
Ireland is the start of this year’s campaign, our ultimate goal comes at the end of the summer and will be
qualifying for the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is coming off a test against Canada, which gives them an
advantage, but our players have to start somewhere and I’m confident they’ll give it their all in this first
test of the season.”
In both team’s first match of the season, Ireland beat Canada, 25-6, just a week ago at the University of
British Columbia. Although, that scoreline proved much closer than it had been previously, Ireland’s head
coach, Declan Kidney, has only made one change to the lineup set to play the USA this Sunday at
Buck Shaw Stadium. Tight head prop Mike Ross comes into the front row to make his first start after
coming off the bench last Saturday against Canada to win his first cap.
Ross’s inclusion means Tony Buckley moves from the right side of the scrum to loose head prop.
The reshuffle sees Tom Court move to the replacements to fill the vacancy made by Ross’s elevation
to the starting team.
The rest of the pack remains unchanged with Mick O’Driscoll named in the side despite picking up a
slight wrist sprain during the game last week. As a precaution, Leinster second row Devin Toner has
been called into the squad. Toner, who was also named in the Churchill Cup squad, will join up with
the team later today and will remain on with the other members of the senior squad who will be
taking part in the Churchill Cup in Denver which begins in early June.
Another addition to the squad is Alan Gaffney, who was involved with Leinster’s Heineken Cup win
on Saturday but will be now working in his Ireland capacity as backs coach for the remainder of the
tour and the Churchill Cup.
Coach Declan Kidney said: “We felt that after last weeks game against Canada that the players who
started deserved another chance to improve on that performance. We thought long and hard about
making further changes to the side, but with only two full training sessions under their belts before
the Canada game, we thought that it would be better to give an opportunity for the same players and
combinations to find their feet a bit more with some more sessions to work off.”
“This tour and also the Churchill Cup is all about building a base of experience with the national
coaches and it is particularly tough on the players not selected in the starting XV as they have been
training just as hard as the players picked and were pushing for inclusion this week. The majority of
those who do not start on Sunday or are not in the 22 will all have further opportunities in the
Churchill Cup.”
Ireland Captain Rory Best said: “We need to lift our levels from the Canada game if we want to put
in a performance that can put us in a position to win. There was a little lack of cohesion in Vancouver
which was possibly down to the number of new combinations and the eight new caps we had. The
game on Sunday gives us a chance to build on last week and will require another huge effort in work
rate to allow us to compete with the USA team who will be a real challenge for us playing them at
home. The conditions have intensified with the heat a big factor as well as the physical threat that
the opposition bring to the game.”
The showdown between the USA and Ireland will begin at 1:00 p.m. (PST). Tickets start at just $20 and
are on sale at www.tickets.com or 1-800-225-2277.
U.S. Eagles Lineup:
15 – Chris Wyles (Saracens FC)
14 – Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach RFC)*
13 – Junior Sifa (Middleton RFC)
12 – Roland Suniula (Pearl City RFC)*
11 – Justin Boyd (Dallas Harlequins RFC)
10 – Mike Hercus (Sunshine Coast Stingrays)
9 – Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club) Captain
1 – Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie RFC)
2 – Chris Biller (California)*
3 – Will Johnson (Oxford University)*
4 – John Van Der Giessen (Denver Barbarians RFC)
5 – Hayden Smith (Saracens FC)
6 – Louis Stanfill (New York Athletic Club)
7 – Peter Dahl (Belmont Shore RFC)*
8 – Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians RFC)*
Replacements:
16 – Joe Welch (Belmont Shore)
17 – Matekitonga Moeakiola (Park City Haggis)
18 – Courtney Mackay (Counties Manukau)
19 – J.J. Gagiani (Univ. of Cape Town)
20 – Tim Usasz (Nottingham RFC)*
21 – Ata Malifa (Belmont Shore RFC)*
22 – Alipate Tuilevuka (Provo Steelers)
Not considered due to injury: (5)
Gavin DeBartolo (Eastern Suburbs) Matt Hawkins (Belmont Shore RFC), Valenese Malifa (Belmont Shore RFC),
Alec Parker (Gentlemen of Aspen), Rikus Pretorius (Olympic Club Rugby)
Considered but unavailable: (13)
Todd Clever (Golden Lions), Paul Emerick (Overmach Parma), Troy Hall (Old Blue RFC), Brian Lemay (Boston
Irish Wolfhounds RFC), Samu Mona (San Francisco Golden Gate RFC), Taku Ngwenya (Biarritz Olympic) Mike
Palefau (Las Vegas RFC), Thretton Palamo (San Francisco Golden Gate RFC) Euan Sadden (Old Blue RFC), Kort
Schubert (Olympic Club Rugby), Salesi Sika (Castres), Ben Weidemer (Belmont Shore RFC) Matt Wyatt (New York
Athletic Club Rugby)
Ireland Lineup:
15 - Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
14 - Barry Murphy (U.L. Bohemians/Munster)
13 - Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
12 - Ian Whitten (Ballymena/Ulster)
11 - Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
10 - Ian Keatley (Galwegians/Connacht)
9 - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
1 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) Captain
3 - Mike Ross (Harlequins)
4 - Bob Casey (London Irish)
5 - Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 - John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
7 - Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
8 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
19 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (London Wasps)
21 - Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
22 - Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)*
*denotes uncapped player
USA Summer Schedule:
USA v Ireland, Sunday, May 31, Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
USA v Wales, Saturday, June 6, Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
Churchill Cup
USA v Argentina Jaguars, Wednesday, June 10, Infinity Park, Glendale, Colo.
USA v England Saxons, Sunday, June 14, Infinity Park, Glendale, Colo.
Churchill Cup Finals, Sunday, June 21, Dicks Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.
USA v Canada, Saturday, July 4, Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, S.C.
USA v Canada, Saturday, July 11, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
For further information contact:
Sara John
USA Rugby Communications & Media Manager
T: 719-310-2606
E: sjohn@usarugby.org
Karl Richardson
IRFU Communications & Media Manager
T: +353 (0) 866477874
E: karl.richardson@Irfu.ie
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