Warriors hooker Joe Taufete’e will win his 18th cap for the USA Eagles against Romania in Bucharest on Saturday.
Taufete’e helped the Eagles to their first-ever win over Samoa in San Sebastian in Spain last Saturday and he has retained his place in their starting XV against Romania.
Taufete’e scored his 13th international try against Samoa and needs only two more to equal Keith Wood’s record of most tries by a front row forward in international rugby. Wood the former Ireland hooker took 60 Tests and nine years to score 15 tries, Taufete’e only made his international debut three years ago.
USA, who are coached by former Warriors Head Coach Gary Gold, are 15th in the World Rugby Rankings.
“There is no doubt the Samoans gave us a good fight in every minute of our test last week,” said Gold.
“While we are happy to have achieved the result we did, we know there are many factors of our performance that must be tightened up against Romania this week. The Romanian crowd will be incredibly vocal for their home side and that in and of itself will present an added factor for us to overcome this Saturday.”