World Rugby is now adopting the successful model of the Fijian Drua’s participation in the Super Rugby Pacific competition to enhance the standard of rugby in the United States. Alama Ieremia, a former All Blacks and Manu Samoa star center, is leading this initiative as the back and attack coach of the USA national rugby team. The team is set to face the Flying Fijians in the Pacific Nations Cup semi-final in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday at 10:05 PM.
Ieremia has also been appointed as the head coach of the Anthem Rugby Carolina franchise within the American Major League Rugby (MLR) competition. This team was announced earlier this year through a partnership with World Rugby, which is providing partial funding to establish the team in Charlotte.
Ieremia expressed enthusiasm for developing pathways for American players, stating, “I’ve got a lot of the academy players which I am passionate about bringing through.” He aims to focus on developing young American talent, drawing inspiration from the Fijian Drua model used in Super Rugby.
According to a statement from World Rugby, this new team is expected to significantly enhance the high-performance goals necessary for the USA men’s national team as they prepare for Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia and for hosting the 2031 edition in the United States. The partnership is modeled after the success achieved by Fiji, which reached the quarter-finals in the recent Rugby World Cup.
In addition to developing local talent, USA Rugby is also conducting a global recruitment campaign to find eligible US players. Ieremia has already reached out to several players based in New Zealand who could qualify to represent the Eagles in the future. He remarked, “We’re definitely casting the net to say, hey we’re out here now if you’re keen and have any American blood.”
While the process of integrating these eligible players into USA Rugby is still developing, USA Eagles head coach Scott Lawrence acknowledged the importance of attracting passionate players. “Do we look at that type of player? Yes, but they have to have a strong desire to play for the USA,” Lawrence noted. “They have to really want to do it, especially when they want to play for the USA which is an affair of the heart, not the wallet.”
After not qualifying for last year’s World Cup in France, the USA is focused on the upcoming tournaments in 2027 and 2031, marking the first time the Rugby World Cup will be hosted on the American continent. Lawrence emphasized their ambitious goals, comparing their aspirations to JFK’s 1962 moonshot declaration, stating, “In seven years from now we have a World Cup and we will be in a quarter-final. That’s our moon shot, that’s what we’re going to do.”