The United States have made two changes for their Rugby World Cup qualifying second leg clash with Canada in Edmonton on Saturday.
Following a 12-6 victory in last weekend's first meeting, the Eagles have named a nearly identical side, apart from the changes to the bench, in what marks the closest qualification between the duo in the past two World Cups.
The USA go into the second leg in Edmonton on Saturday with a slender six-point advantage over the Canadians, but currently sit five places lower at eighteenth in the rankings.
A win on Canadian soil will not only see USA become the first side to secure passage to Rugby World Cup 2011 through the qualifying phase, but, depending on the points, could also replace their hosts as the highest North American nation in the IRB World Rankings.
"We are ignoring the six-point spread," said Head Coach Eddie O'Sullivan.
"We are going into this match like it is any other and are concentrating on playing the best game that we can. We have to keep the intensity up and capitalize on the opportunities we make for ourselves. We will have to get into our zone and focus on the game at hand."
The U.S. holds a current record of 12-31-1 against the thirteenth-ranked Canadian National Team and the last time the Eagles and Canada met in a RWC qualifier on Canadian soil, Canada beat the Eagles 56-7.
That was, however, three years and two coaches ago, and although the U.S. Team isn't trying to think about its six-point advantage, the fact remains that the win last week allows for the States to tie or even lose to Canada (albeit by less than seven) and still keep its early qualification hopes alive.
A draw would not only secure the USA's place as Americas 1 in Pool A along with RWC 2011 hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and the Asian qualifier, but it would also see the Eagles climb two places to sixteenth at the expense of Russia and Georgia.
If the Eagles record back-to-back victories then they will rise to fourteenth with Canada sliding two places, the other beneficiaries being Japan.
However, if they were to win by more than fifteen points then the Eagles would end the weekend thirteenth with Canada falling to seventeenth - their highest and lowest positions respectively since the IRB World Rankings were introduced in October 2003.
"The USA/Canada match is always a battle," said captain Todd Clever.
"It always comes down to the last 10 minutes and we fully expect this to be like every other match against Canada - very tough.
"We will have to play with a lot of heart and play like we want it. We've had several matches this season to help build toward these tests against Canada, and we'll play hard for it on Saturday."
The teams:
Canada: tbc
United States: 15 Chris Wyles (Saracens), 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz), 13 Paul Emerick (Overmach Parma), 12 Roland Suniula (Pearl City RFC), 11 Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach), 10 Mike Hercus (Sunshine Coast Stingrays), 9 Tim Usasz (Nottingham) , 8 Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians), 7 Todd Clever (Golden Lions, captain), 6 Louis Stanfill (New York Athletic Club), 5 Hayden Smith (Saracens), 4 John Van der Giessen (Denver Barbarians), 3 Shawn Pittman (Bayside RFC), 2 Chris Biller (California), 1 Mate Moeakiola (Park City Haggis).
Replacements: 16 Joe Welch (Belmont Shore), 17 Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie), 18 Alec Parker (Gentlemen of Aspen), 19 JJ Gagiano (University of Cape Town), 20 Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club), 21 Ata Malifa (Belmont Shore RFC), 22 Salesi Sika (Castres Olympique).
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton
Kick-off: 13.30 (19.30 GMT)
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Javier Mancuso (Argentina), Federico Pastrana (Argentina)
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