Augspurger to lead USA against Ireland
USA head coach John Mitchell has selected the 23-man squad for Saturday's opener against Ireland at the Red Bull Arena.
Captain Nate Augspurger will lead a starting XV boasting 115 international caps from the scrum-half position, with a further 49 caps and one debutant available in the reserves.
"We're focused on our purpose and we're getting back into the processes of our working week – which the players are now familiar with coming in to camp," Mitchell said.
"Camp does stress the athlete in terms of learning and work load, as well. The athletes have had a high work ethic with a healthy desire for competition.
"It's also a case of managing the athletes. We have the immediate short-term of dealing with and trying to out-fox Ireland, but we also have an eye on preparing for the end of the month and are holding back some athletes in order to manage their training load."
Augspurger's last three test appearances for the Eagles came at the wing position as the team secured the Americas Rugby Championship 2017 title in February and March of this year. In his ninth cap – and ninth consecutive start at the senior level – the number nine will partner fly-half AJ MacGinty, who last wore the U.S. jersey against Uruguay in the ARC.
The Irish-born Eagle scored eight points in that game from the inside centre position, which will be filled by Super Rugby player Marcel Brache Saturday. Ryan Matyas is also starting in the midfield, while the backs have the injection of sevens star Martin Iosefo and seven-try international Mike Te'o along the touch lines.
Young Ben Cima, joint-top point-scorer of the ARC in his first action with the Eagles, will be tested at the number 15 position by the world's fourth-ranked nation. Fellow All-Americans Peter Malcolm and Ben Tarr get the nod in the front row, leading the pack with Rugby World Cup veteran Chris Baumann in the Colorado native's 18th appearance.
With the June series continuing in Georgia and a set of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers against Canada slated in the next three weeks, several players miss out in the Irish game-day squad due to fitness concerns.
Luke Hume and Titi Lamositele were ruled out of camp altogether with injuries, with the prop replaced in camp by Newcastle Falcons professional Paddy Ryan. Ryan could make his international debut from the reserves.
USA: 15 Ben Cima, 14 Mike Te'o, 13 Ryan Matyas, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Nate Augspurger (c), 8 David Tameilau, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 John Quill, 5 Nic Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 Peter Malcolm, 1 Ben Tarr
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Joe Taufete'e, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Matthew Jensen, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Shaun Davies, 22 Will Magie, 23 Bryce Campbell
Date: Saturday, June 10
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Newark, New Jersey
Kick-off: 17:00 local (22:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Chris Assmus (Canada)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)