Congrats to Chris Parker and Hunter Leland.
BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced today the squad selections for the Men’s Collegiate All-Americans’ upcoming three-match tour in South Africa.
“It’s an exciting time to be a collegiate player or coach in the U.S. The quality of play continues to rise rapidly. The hard work high school programs have been doing over the last few years has been a good addition to the energy our collegiate players and coaches are putting in,” said All-Americans Coach Alex Magleby. “If we meet the All-American program objectives on this tour, we will have continued to evolve the elite of these students with many moving on to greater honors as determined, poised, and skilled Eagles.”
The Collegiate All-Americans will assembly in Glendale, Colo., in late July to prepare for the challenging tournament abroad. Forwards will arrive on July 23, with the backs arriving on Friday, July 24. The All-American athletes who make the final U.S. National Sevens roster for the World Games, which take place on July 24-25, will meet up with the rest of the team Sunday evening upon their return from Taiwan. The Team departs from Denver for Cape Town on Monday, July 27.
The first match scheduled for the tour includes the All-Americans taking on the South Africa Varsity Cup Students in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on August 1.
The Varsity Cup Students team is an all-star side that hails from the top eight university teams in South Africa, which include the vaunted University of Stellenbosch Maties and the University of Cape Town Ikey Tigers—two university teams that have produced numerous Springboks throughout their histories.
The Collegiate All-Americans will then take on the Argentina Jaguars on August 5 in Stellenbosch, before moving to the University of Cape Town to take on the Western Province Students on Saturday, August 8. The team will then depart Cape Town later that night after taking in the Tri-Nations match between South Africa and Australia at Newlands Stadium.
Many of the players from the SA Varsity Cup Students and the Argentina Jaguars are in each of their respective countries’ national team pipelines and will likely be pushing for international representative honors in the coming months and years ahead.
“This will be a tough tour, but it will be a quality experience for our All-Americans,” Magleby said. “Many of the players will return to the U.S. collegiate and club ranks with the challenges of this opportunity met; and with the next Rugby World Cup on the horizon, it’s a worth-while endeavor to expose these athletes to the benefits of international play.”
For information on how you can support the All-American Rugby Program, visit www.allamericanrugby.us or contact Head Coach Alex Magleby, @ amag@allamericanrugby.us.
The Squad named to the All-American Tour includes:
Backs (15)
Clark, Chad (St Mary’s College)
Engelbrecht, Keegan (University of California)
Grossheider, Kyle (Life University)
Harris, Ryan (University of California)
Hawley, Colin (University of California)
Kelm, Duncan (San Diego State University)
Leland, Hunter (Texas A&M University)
Lubbe, Dylan (Brigham Young University)
Mateialona, Benny (Life University)
McMaster, Aaron (Life University)
Muhn, Dustin (University of California)
O’Meara, Brendan (St Mary’s College)
Ross, Alex (San Diego State University)
Scully, Blaine (University of California)
Tiberio, Peter (University of Arizona)
Forwards (17)
Bester, Paul (Life University)
Biller, Chris (University of California)
Brown, Joey (Mesa College)
Dolan, Cameron (Life University)
Evans, Roland (Arkansas State University)
George, Mike (University of Wyoming)
Herbert, Richard (Cal-Poly State University)
Katzfey, Tom (St. Norbert College)
Lewis, Tony (University of Nebraska-Omaha)
McKenna, Eddie (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Parker, Chris (Texas A&M University)
Pasque, Tommy (University of Colorado)
Purcell, Brenden (San Diego State University)
Rock, Casey (Metro State College of Denver)
Silverman, Ross (UC – Santa Barbara)
St. Pierre, Steve (Brigham Young University)
Su’a, Mike (Brigham Young University)