CHULA VISTA, CA. – Head Coach Mike Friday and the USA Rugby Men’s Sevens squad find themselves ready to travel up the pacific coast highway on Thursday, from Chula Vista to San Jose for the Silicon Valley Sevens weekend at Avaya Stadium.

With a first match kick off scheduled for 12:50pmPT on Saturday, the United States Men’s Sevens will take the field for the first time since finishing a record best 5th place in the 2016-17 HSBC World Sevens Series last May. 

While not a World Series tournament, Head Coach Mike Friday refuses to dilute the competition, “We are under no illusion how tough a tournament like this will be. With the quality of countries that are attending it will provide exactly the test we need, as we move closer to Dubai.”

The United States falls into Pool C, squaring off against Tonga, New Zealand and Chile. 

USA Rugby Men’s Sevens | Pool C Schedule | Saturday, November 4th, 2017
United States v Tonga – 12:50pmPT
New Zealand v United States – 4:28pmPT
United States v Chile – 8:00pmPT

“We have had a good week’s preparation so far, which has been very intense for the squad as well as competitive.” Continued Friday, “This is an experienced squad with a sprinkling of new players who have performed well this pre-season and earned an opportunity to play.”

USA Rugby Men’s Sevens | Silicon Valley Sevens
1. Malon Al-Jiboori
2. Ben Pinkelman (C)
3. Joe Schroeder
4. Matai Leuta
5. Ryan Matyas
6. Anthony Welmers
7. Folau Niua
8. Maka Unufe Jr.
9. Stephen Tomasin
10. Chris Mattina
11. Kevon Williams
12. Martin Iosefo
13. Madison Hughes

USA Rugby Men’s Sevens | Silicon Valley Staff
Mike Friday – Head Coach
Chris Brown- Assistant Coach
Brian Green- Physio
Paul Goulding- Team Analyst
Sarah Sall – Team Manager

Fresh faces coming out camp include Chris Mattina and Joe Schroeder who impressed during the pre-season. Schroeder’s development has been recently showcased as part of The Rugby Channel feature, Homegrown, where the former collegiate cheerleader discusses his transition back to rugby. 

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/IjHTxbLmPmY”]

Ultimately, the Men’s squad looks forward to a pre-series challenge of the highest caliber and most importantly, competition on home soil. “As always, we as a team want to perform, especially when playing in front of our home crowd,” concluded Friday, “we will be going all out to try and win every game we play in.”