Eagles Quote Sheet: Tolkin, Clever, LaValla, & Stanfill

We were at the Eagles captain's run last night at the StubHub Center and caught up with head coach Mike Tolkin a few of the players to get their quick thoughts on tomorrow's match. They talk on the preparation for Tonga, what to expect from the match, and playing in front of a home crowd.

Mike Tolkin

On Rest: "Yeah, at this time when you are a few games in rest becomes the most important thing. We have an awesome medical team and they've really been taking care of the guys. The short week and the physical game Saturday put the guys under it but we're rested."

On the field: "Perfect. Beautiful. It's right up there with BBVA. This is spectacular."

Can fans expect any surprises?: "No. We're hoping we can put some tries in since there haven't been any of those the first two games. We're hoping to get our offense back on track and keep our defense strong."

Take the jump to read more from Todd Clever, Scott LaValla, and Lou Stanfill.
Todd Clever

On the field: "The surface is looking good. Hopefully we get a lot of butts in the seats cheering us on."

On Tonga: "We hope (open play) is allowed. Our style is to run and play good rugby so hopefully that is what happens tomorrow night."

Scott LaValla

On transitioning from the structure of Ireland to the more loose play of Tonga: "We're anticipating a more adventurous attack from Tonga. They are direct but they also tend to force the offload. They exploit the moments when the game isn't as structured so we need to keep our structure. When we kick we need to keep a good defensive line. When we have a lineout we execute our lineout."

What it would mean to get a victory in front of a home crowd: "Same thing it would have meant last week and the same thing it means any time we have a chance to get a test match victory. It would be a reward to fans of U.S.A. Rugby. People are waiting for us to succeed and its about time we give them a return on that."

Lou Stanfill

On expectations of Tonga: "A team that going to come forward and put in the hits and blood in our mouths early. We've been training really well all week and we're rested and recovered from the Ireland match. We have a good plan installed and I think we'll do well."

On not retaliating to Tonga's physicality: "It's just one of those things where you have to expect you are going to get a late shot or a high-tackle. As long as you expect it your able to react a little better when it happens. We hope it doesn't happen but if it does we're prepared for it."