Warriors hooker Joe Taufete’e has been named in the United States Eagles squad for their forthcoming internationals in their defence of the Americas Rugby Championship.
Taufete’e, who has won 19 caps since he made his debut against South Africa in the 2015 World Cup is one of 10 Europe-based players in the 35 –strong USA squad.
Taufete’e will go into the five-match programme needing two tries to become the leading front row try-scorer in the history of international.
Former Ireland hooker Keith Wood currently tops the list but his 15 tries came in 63 international appearances.
USA, who are coached by former Warriors Director of Rugby Gary Gold, will play Chile in Santiago in their opening match of the tournament on February 2 and Argentina XV in Rio Negro seven days later.
They will end the tournament with successive home matches against Brazil in Houston (February 23), Uruguay in Seattle (March 2) and Canada in Seattle (March 8).
“This selection was one of the more challenging ones for us as a staff. In a World Cup year, it is important that we get the players we believe have the most probable opportunity to be selected for Japan, playing together to develop the cohesion that Gary Gold needs for the team to perform,” said Dave Hodges, General Manager of USA’s Men’s 15s Programmes.
“The competition marks the start of a critical period where we thoroughly test our players and processes for the World Cup while also focusing on delivering a successful ARC campaign.”