Opening Kick

Opening Kick is a segment devoted to bringing you all Eagles and U.S.A. Rugby news in one location.

We're very excited to have Rugby Athletic on board as our new partner. In celebration of our partnership they are offering free shipping in May. Check out heir banner on the right hand side of the page.

National Teams:

Paul Emerick is well on the road to recovery. He was in Houston this last week promoting the U.S.A.-Ireland match and shared an update on his status.

Big news from the Carlin Isles camp. He has signed a sponsorship deal with Nike.

Jeff Hull from the Bleacher Report offers his take on Saturday's U.S.A. vs. Canada match.

The U.S. Women held a scrimmage at their camp in Colorado. The Stripes won 34-3.

College:

With the Army team suspended, Villanova has taken their place at the CRC.

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World Rugby Weekend Review

Heineken Cup

What a moment for Jonny Wilkinson. After suffering European heartbreak in the past the England legend came up with a big block on a drop goal attempt late in the match to give Toulon a 16-15 win over Clermont and the Heineken Cup. The match was tight throughout with both teams playing excellent rugby. Morgan Parra got things started early for Clermont with a penalty in the third minute, but Wilkinson matched ten minutes later. Napolioni Nalaga put Clermont up 8-3 in the 41st minute. Wilkinson would hit another penalty but Brock James would extend Clermont’s lead a few minutes later. After Parra hit the conversion Clermont led 15-6. Toulon then made a push. Wilkinson hit a penalty in the 60th minute and then Delon Armitage scored a try in the 63rd minute. Wiklinson made the conversion to put his team in front. Toulon then held firm to win the match.

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Checking In With Paul Emerick

 by Grant Cole

Paul Emerick was in Houston, TX this weekend promoting the upcoming USA v Ireland match. “The Cactus” looked to be in great spirits as he worked the crowd at the pre-match Fan Festival for the Houston Dynamo-New England Revolution MLS match. He also took the time to talk to us about him recovery.

Emerick injured his ankle in the Eagles’ November trouncing of Romania. He returned to the London Wasps afterward, but he did not regain form. In February, Paul had surgery in Denver. Currently, he conducts his rehabilitation and recovery efforts at Impact Sports Performance under the eye of Michael Keating. Paul says that he is “just putting in some base miles” through jogging to maintain fitness at his current stage of recovery. He has yet to start sprinting or cutting, but he quoted some sage advice by saying, “Slow and steady wins this race.” It seems to be working, because his doctor is happy with his recovery and thinks that Paul is progressing a bit ahead of schedule.

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Eagles Abroad: Weekend Review

While Scott LaValla got the starting nod and played well for Stade Francais, he and his team fell short against Leinster in the Amlin Challenge Cup final. Leinster jumped up early on Stade and took a 21-6 lead into halftime before eventually winning 34-13. It's a disappointing end to an otherwise stellar season for LaValla, who has become one of Stade's go to players. There wasn't much action elsewhere for overseas Americans as others have either finished their season or have the weekend off to prepare for a final next week.

Take the jump to read more.

Opening Kick

Opening Kick is a segment devoted to bringing you all Eagles and U.S.A. Rugby news in one location.

We're very excited to have Rugby Athletic on board as our new partner. In celebration of our partnership they are offering free shipping in May. Check out heir banner on the right hand side of the page.

National Teams:

The Eagles have learned which Irish players they will be taking on in Houston after Ireland announced their touring squad yesterday.

The Women Eagles only lost one match all weekend and took the Plate in Amsterdam. They finished fourth in the final Women's World Series standings.

Alex Goff shares his quick analysis on the Women Eagles performance. (Membership required)

The U.S.A. South Panthers are in the NACRA final after defeating Bermuda 24-14 on tries from Derek Wolfe, Kirk Swanner, and Ty Elkins.

The Northeast has announced leadership details for their new Olympic Development Academy.

College:

In a very tight match, Life got a big game from MVP Joe Cowley to come from behind and beat St. Mary's 16-14 for the DI-A title.

Former governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell says that rugby "has its head on straight."

Club:

Life held on to beat a tough Boston team on Sunday to advance to the final four. Check out this recap of the match as well as the other scores from Virginia Beach. You can also read more from day one at Virginia Beach here and here.

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Life Holds Off Boston To Advance To Final Four; Complete Virginia Scores

Life held off a strong Boston side to escape with a 20-18 win and advance to the DI final four. The Running Eagles once again rested some of their key players. Kris Headlee, Tom Katzfey, and Tui Osborne all started the match on the bench as head coach James Issacson wanted to keep them fresh for next week's Elite Cup final. That decision didn't seem to impact the match early on as Life got a quick try courtesy of Zach Simkins. Aza McMaster's conversion put Life up 7-0 just a few minutes into the match.

But Boston wasn't about to be pushed around. With a combination of physical play and smart decisions they by and large contained Life's movements and forced them into a number of penalties in poor spots. Boston fly-half took advantage of those poor penalties to hit two penalties to edge the score to 7-6. Life had numerous chances the rest of the half but were unable to convert anything other than one penalty as Boston continued to stay strong. Boston would equal that penalty to bring the halftime score to 10-9.

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Ireland Announce Roster For North American Tour

Ireland have named their squad for their upcoming tour of North America. Rory Best will lead the team that features only six new players. The team is withouth the service of it’s British and Irish Lions players, including Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearny, Jamie Heaslip, and Jonathan Sexton. Also not considered for the tour due to injury or other reasons are players like Stephen Ferris, Luke Fitzgerald, Luke Marshall, and Gordon D’Arcy.

The U.S. will play Ireland on June 8th in Houston. The two teams last met in the 2011 World Cup. Ireland came away with a 22-10 victory but the physicality of the U.S. surprised a few people, including the Irish. Considering that Ireland is taking a weakened squad and the U.S. looks to have it’s full squad healthy and ready to go for the Ireland match, it could be a closer than expected results. That said, Ireland’s tour squad features plenty of quality players. Paddy Jackson, Ian Madigan, Tommy O’Donnell, Andrew Trimble, and Simon Zebo are all in the squad and should give the U.S. plenty of trouble.

Ireland team: Rory Best (Ulster), Issac Boss (Leinster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Tom Court (Ulster), Declan Fitzpatrick (Ulster), Jamie Hagan (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Robie Henshaw (Connacht), Paddy Jackson (Ulster), Felix Jones (Munster), David Kilcoyne (Munster), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Paul Marshall (Ulster), Mike McCarthy (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster), Tommy O’Donnell (Munster), Stuart Olding (Ulster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Mike Sherry (Munster), Richardt Strauss (Leinster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster)