Clever resumes USA captaincy role
Todd Clever resumes the captaincy role for the USA against Georgia on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
The USA will use the match against Georgia as final preparation for the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2019 Qualifiers against Canada.
Try-scorers against the Irish, Nick Civetta and John Quill earn rests in the build-up to the June 24 and July 1 Qualifiers as head coach John Mitchell looks to give every player in the 30-man squad playing time.
Nate Brakeley and Ben Landry are the lock duo. Chris Baumann also returns to the front row from last weekend's starting XV, with James Hilterbrand coming in at hooker between Austin Black and Tony Purpura.
Clever's last test for the Eagles – a try-scoring effort against Chile in February – was cut short due to an injury as the team went on to win the ARC. He will extend his record caps number to 74 on Saturday wearing number six alongside loose forwards Cam Dolan and Tony Lamborn. Since Mitchell took charge ahead of the 2016 campaign, the three have combined for 12 tries.
Vice captain Nate Augspurger moved from scrum-half to the wing when Shaun Davies entered the Ireland match as a substitute, and resumes the role out wide opposite fellow Men's Eagles Sevens representative Matai Leuta. Davies will take up the scrum-half position and Will Magie will slot in at fly-half, while Mitchell has opted to keep the threat of AJ MacGinty at inside centre, where he played against Uruguay in the ARC. Indiana University graduate Bryce Campbell will provide the hard running at outside centre in front of full back Mike Te'o.
Marcel Brache, Ben Cima, Peter Malcolm, Ryan Matyas, and Ben Tarr follow up starting-XV selections against the Irish with reserve nods for the Georgian matchup, while Dino Waldren could see his first action of the tour as a substitute.
USA: 15 Mike Te'o, 14 Matai Leuta, 13 Bryce Campbell, 12 AJ MacGinty, 11 Nate Augspurger, 10 Will Magie, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 Todd Clever (c), 5 Ben Landry, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 James Hilterbrand, 1 Tony Purpura
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Ben Tarr, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Matthew Jensen, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Ben Cima, 22 Marcel Brache, 23 Ryan Matyas
Date: Saturday, June 17
Venue: Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Kick-Off: 19:00 local (23:00 GMT)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Chris Assmus (Canada)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)