After kicking off their summer tour with a big win over Canada in Ottawa on Saturday, Scotland have moved on to Washington DC where they will face the USA on Friday night (UK time).
We take a look at everything you need to know about the hosts ahead of that match.
State of the union
Scotland will be the USA’s second opponent of 2024. The USA Eagles fell 22-20 to Romania in Chicago this past Friday. Poor execution at key moments cost the USA dearly in that match. It was a disappointing start to the new year; a year which follows an underwhelming previous World Cup cycle.
Last August the USA were 31-17 winners over Romania in Bucharest in a World Cup warm-up match. The USA then suffered losses against Portugal and Georgia. The year ended on a high with two wins; the Eagles were 48-03 and a 42-22 winners over Brazil and Spain respectively.
In 2022, the USA defeated Chile in Santiago but Chile shocked the USA in Colorado. The aggregate outcome meant Chile qualified for the World Cup for the first time.
The USA entered repechage and came away with a 68-14 win over Kenya, a 49-7 win over Hong Kong and a 16-16 draw against Portugal.
The final result saw the USA eliminated and Portugal qualifying as the final team for the World Cup.
Match venue
Scotland’s second match of the July tour of the Americas will take place in Washington, D.C. at Audi Field. The stadium seats 20,000 people.
It is a new city for Scotland Rugby. Previous away test matches against the USA were played in San Francisco in 2002 and in Houston in 2014 and 2018.
USA's Rugby World Cup aim ahead of hosting
The USA did not qualify for Rugby World Cup 2013 and missed out despite having three direct opportunities. First, Uruguay defeated the USA on aggregate to qualify as Americas 1. Second, Chile won on aggregate to qualify as Americas 2. Third, the USA competed to a draw with Portugal which saw Os Lobos qualifying on overall points differential.
Chile qualified two months after World Rugby allocated the USA with hosting rights to Rugby World Cup 2031. Forthcoming changes to qualifiers will have South America and North America separated. Canada and the USA will join Samoa and Tonga in competing for three direct spots via the Pacific Nations Cup.
Chile and Uruguay’s progression have come with high-performance investments. Selknam, the Chilean professional team and the Uruguayan equivalent Peñarol have been able to act as a bridge to fast-track players from the amateur game to the test arena.
Unlike Super Rugby Americas, Major League Rugby (MLR) is not designed as a feeder for the national team. Nonetheless, it is hoped that more future stars to follow in the footsteps of America great Samu Manoa can be identified.
World Rugby badly want the USA to secure a spot in Australia 2027 and to attempt to replicate Japan’s progress in the two cycles leading up to Rugby World Cup 2019.
Professional rugby in USA
Professional rugby in the USA began in 2016 with PRO Rugby. The five-team league ceased operations in January 2017 and Major League Rugby (MLR) began in 2018 with seven teams. Continued expansion peaked at 13 in 2023. There are 12 teams in MLR 2024.
The New England Free Jacks, based in Boston, are the defending champions. The other cities with teams are, from east to west, Washington DC, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle.
The Toronto Arrows are a former team and the first international competitor. A team based in Monterrey, Mexico may join in 2025. The fees for an expansion franchise were US$4 million as of 2019.
USA caps and debutants
Head coach Scott Lawrence selected a 30-man roster, which became 34, to face Romania in Chicago last weekend and Scotland in Washington DC on Friday.
The most capped player is Cam Dolan with 67 caps. He is tied with Mike MacDonald for the second most caps in USA history. Former captain Todd Clever holds the record with 76.
Renger van Eerten and Erich Storti are among five uncapped inclusions. van Eerten and Seattle Seawolves scrumhalf JP Smith debuted against Romania. Smith previously represented South Africa at under-20 level. Anthem Carolina newcomer, Steffan Crimp covers fullback and fly-half. Seattle winger Conner Mooneyham is also uncapped.
Among the senior players on the injured or unavailable list are Toulouse prop David Ainu’u, Seattle hooker Joe Taufete’e, and Utah centre Paul Lasike. Uncapped Biarritz fly-half Christopher Hilsenbeck was also ruled out, along with Perpignan second row Nafi Ma’afu.
Versatile back Erich Storti is the only college athlete selected with his St. Mary’s teammate Dom Besag currently competing in the World Rugby u20 Trophy in Scotland.
USA players based in Europe
Head coach Scott Lawrence pared his list down from an original selection of 55 players, with all but six of the group currently based in MLR.
English Premiership star AJ MacGinty is on the list but is no longer Eagles’ captain. Other selections based abroad are hookers Kapeli Pifeleti and Mike Sosene-Feagai, second-row Renger van Eerten, and scrum-half Ruben de Haas who plays for the Cheetahs in South Africa.
Ones to watch
The USA Eagles’ players to watch out for are arguably fly-half AJ MacGinty, centre pair Tommaso Boni and Tavite Lopeti and lock Greg Peterson.
MacGinty, who plays for Bristol Bears, is a former URC champion with Connacht and also formerly played for Sale Sharks. At international level, MacGinty kicked 6/6 for the Eagles in their famous win over Scotland in 2018.
Boni and Lopeti debuted for the USA in 2023 and 2021 respectively. 2023 saw them excelling together against Brazil, and Spain. This past Saturday they started together against Romania in Chicago. There is a lot to look forward to as a mid-field combination now and potentially in Rugby World Cup qualifiers and beyond.
Peterson is a tall and combative second row. He has over a decade of professional rugby under his belt. He has played for Waratahs, Bordeaux, Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, and in Scotland for the Glasgow Warriors.
Historic results against Scotland
The 2024 fixture will be the seventh USA vs Scotland meeting in a capped test match. Two of the prior six contests were at Rugby World Cups with Scotland winning by nearly identical scores in 2003 and 2015.
The first official test match between the USA Eagles and Scotland took place in Edinburgh in 2000. It came nine years after the USA hosted a ‘Scotland XV’ at Hartford. On that day the Scots did not award test caps - though these have been retrospectively awarded by Scottish Rugby.
Scotland’s most recent match against the USA was in 2018 when, in a historic upset, the USA won 30-29 in Houston.
It was the USA’s most recent win against tier one opposition; in fact, it was the USA’s first tier one victory in the modern era, and first win over a leading nation since defeating France at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.
- 2018: USA 30-29 Scotland (Houston, Texas)
- 2015: USA 16-39 Scotland (Leeds, England)
- 2014: USA 06-24 Scotland (Houston, Texas)
- 2003: USA 15-39 Scotland (Brisbane, Australia)
- 2002: USA 23-65 Scotland (San Francisco, California)
- 2000: Scotland 53-06 USA (Edinburgh, Scotland)
USA squad for July internationals
Props
Kaleb Geiger (New England Free Jacks, 2 caps)
Jack Iscaro (Old Glory DC, 6 caps)
Alex Maughan (RFC Los Angeles, 3 caps)
Paul Mullen (Utah Warriors, 34 caps)
Nathan Sylvia (San Diego Legion, 5 caps)
Jake Turnbull (Arnhem Carolina, 6 caps)
Hookers
Dylan Fawsitt (Chicago Hounds, 28 caps)
Kapeli Pifeleti (Saracens, England, 11 caps)
Mike Sosene-Feagai (Agen, France, 10 caps)
Locks
Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold, 67 caps)
Sam Golla (Dallas Jackals, 6 caps)
Greg Peterson (San Diego Legion, 43 caps)
Saia Uhila (Utah Warriors, uncapped)
Renger van Eerten (Brive, France, 1 cap)
Back-row
Benjamín Bonasso (Miami Sharks, 6 caps)
Jason Damm (RFC Los Angeles, 2 caps)
Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (Old Glory DC, 9 caps)
Vili Helu (San Digo Legion, 6 caps)
Paddy Ryan (San Diego Legion, 6 caps)
Thomas Tu’avao (Utah Warriors, 6 caps)
Scrum-half
Ruben de Haas (Cheetahs, South Africa, 31 caps)
Ethan McVeigh (Old Glory DC, uncapped)
JP Smith (Seattle Seawolves, 1 cap)
Fly-half/fullback
Luke Carty (Chicago Hounds, 15 caps)
Steffan Crimp (Anthem Carolina, uncapped)
AJ MacGinty (Bristol Bears, England, 36 caps)
Centres
Tommaso Boni (Old Glory DC, 5 caps)
Bryce Campbell (Chicago Hound, 45 caps)
Tavite Lopeti (Seattle Seawolves, 13 caps)
Erich Storti (St Mary’s Gaels, uncapped)
Back three
Nate Augspurger (Chicago Hounds, 42 caps)
Christian Dyer (Houston SaberCats, 15 caps)
Conner Monneyham (Seatle Seawolves, uncapped)
Mitch Wilson (New England Free Jacks, 7 caps)
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