USA coach reveals immediate focus ahead of Rugby World Cup return

The USA Eagles are focused on improving player performance as they continue to build towards Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, embracing each challenge and new opportunity to grow during the inaugural World Rugby Nations Cup.

Fly-half Chris Hilsenbeck was the hero for the USA in a 30-29 thriller against Portugal, slotting a long-range penalty at the death to snatch the win. But it doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles, who are preparing to face another World Cup-bound side this Saturday in Charlotte.

Zimbabwe are looking to bounce back from an opening round 10-point defeat to Tonga, in what will be their first-ever match against the USA. American Legion Memorial Stadium will host the historic fixture between the sides, scheduled for a 7:30 pm ET kick-off on Saturday.

California Legion backrower Jason Damm captains a side that boasts 201 Test caps in the First XV alone, and almost another 60 appearances between the eight players set to make an impact off the bench as replacements.

This will be the USA’s second of third back-to-back-to-back Nations Cup matches against World Cup-calibre opposition, with Spain up next in Cary. But as coach Scott Lawrence explained in a press conference on Thursday, the team is “focused on our performance more than anything.”

“The win was nice to get, it was nice to get on our Independence Day and in front of a home crowd. That piece is nice, it’s the cherry on top,” Lawrence told reporters.

“What we’re most pleased with is we set our stall out to get a bit of a gut check of where we are and did we find the right guys? We got an answer on that.

“The way that we’re approaching each game is that each of these teams provides a different performance challenge in and of themselves. If you look at Zimbabwe, they’re a very athletic, creative, they create a different unstructured game than Portugal.

“You get to see, like you do in a World Cup, you get to see different teams in the way that they prepare. We’ve put the games in locations that will mimic some of the temperatures that’ll be in the World Cup so you get to go through that preparation.

“Everything we’re doing is preparing to perform for the World Cup. We like wins but we like to get better more than we like wins right now.”

Coach Lawrence has named one debutant in the 23-man roster, with former HSBC SVNS Series star Lance Williams brought straight into the run-on side. Williams spent multiple seasons with the Utah Warriors before moving to California Legion ahead of the recent campaign.

The backrower has played 68 matches in Major League Rugby over five seasons, including a dozen starts in as many appearances for the Legion in 2026. California made it all the way to the big dance but were beaten by an undefeated Chicago Hounds outfit 35-17 on June 22.

Willams and Cory Daniel will pack down on either side of the scrum as the two flankers, with No. 8 Makeen Alikhan rounding out the loose forwards trio. Nathan Den Hoedt has been retained in the starting side after a recent debut.

“Lance has been knocking on the door for a really long time. He’s exciting, he brings some bang and some X-factor to the team that we think will make a difference,” Lawrence explained.

“It was important also for this group for Lance personally to see that when you do the right things and you keep showing up both in the environment and outside of the environment, that you’ll get your opportunities in life – not all the time, if you’ve got two left feet it doesn’t help.

“He’ll come out very excited and I think he’s going to offer us something on the edge.”