Opening Kick

Opening Kick is a segment devoted to bringing you all Eagles and USA rugby related news in one location.

Eagles:

USRugbyNZ has an excellent preview of Sunday's match against Japan. The game can be seen online on Universal Sports at 6 a.m. est/3 a.m. pst and then again on television at 5:30 p.m. est/2:30 p.m. pst.

Brian Hightower of Universal Sports says the Eagles are running out of time when it comes to building their team.

U.S.A. Press Manager Dallen Stanford, has pictures of the boys from their time in Japan.

An Irish Select XV, made up of mostly bench players for the national team, put up six tries on Connacht Thursday.

Canada has again taken steps to improve their programme. The city of Langford (near Victoria) has launched a multi-million dollar rugby complex. It will eventually have housing capabilities for 40 players.

7's/Clubs:

The Midwest has chosen to take a young team to the NASC. Many of their players are either still in University, or have not been out long.

The Boston Barbarians lost a close match to Dungannon 26-24 yesterday.

Youth:

You can support Youth and High School rugby by bidding on a signed U.S.A. Eagle's shirt. Click here for the details.

North Hempsted, New York has launched a new youth rugby initiative.

Tidbits:

Nutrition Columnist Heather Mason talks about the importance of a pre-game meal to chase away the butterflies. (Membership required)

The University of Louisville programme is slowly making progress.