Grit, sand,
and glory.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Kalei Konrad was selected for the USA Under-20s’ May 2012 Canada tour while at San Diego State. He later appeared on the USA Selects’ non-traveling reserve list for the 2017 Americas Pacific Challenge. His club career included OMBAC, the San Diego Breakers and Terenure College RFC before a return to OMBAC. Terenure’s August 2020 first-person interview confirms both his club history and his fly-half/inside-centre positions. Santa Monica’s contemporary report records a try and eight conversions for OMBAC in their April 2015 meeting.

First recorded national service: 2012 USA U20 touring selection. The 2017 Selects list explicitly identifies non-traveling reserves; no tournament appearance is inferred. The photograph is club action, not USA international action.

National service & the OMBAC connection

John McKittrick coached the USA men’s sevens team from 2001 to 2005, as recorded in OMBAC’s November 2010 appointment announcement. The club named him head coach for its 2011 and 2012 seasons, with responsibility for the Division I and Division III teams and Chris Lippert assisting with the forwards. His later international coaching work included the Tsunami East Africans: Hong Kong Football Club’s 2026 tournament program names him as their head coach and a former USA and Cook Islands coach.

Included for national coaching service, not player caps. The source’s coach photograph includes two people; the complete frame is preserved without assigning individual positions.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Justin Eilman was an OMBAC player invited to USA sevens selection camp in March 2007.

USA Eagle #367 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Chad Erskine represented the USA in both sevens and fifteens. The national sevens archive identifies him as an OMBAC player at Wellington and Los Angeles in February 2006, with a named team photograph. He earned ten fifteens caps between 2006 and 2008, starting all four USA matches at the 2007 World Cup. His first XV appearance was against Canada on August 12, 2006.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Derek Dahlen represented the USA sevens team in 2000 and is explicitly identified as an OMBAC player in the Holyland and Budapest touring archive. His later San Diego Strike Force biography records OMBAC service from 1995 to 2009 and four national club sevens championships, including the 2000–2002 three-peat. He continued coaching football and youth sport in San Diego.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Tim Omi is recorded as an OMBAC player in the USA’s February 2006 sevens squads for Wellington and Los Angeles. A named team photograph preserves his national touring service. Cal’s 2007 OMBAC preview independently identifies him among the club’s centers and as a teammate of national sevens captain Riaan Hamilton.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jarvis Albury entered the USA sevens programme as an Arkansas State All-American in 2005. The national touring archive records him at the World Games and subsequent Wellington and Los Angeles tournaments. Its 2007 roster explicitly identifies Albury with OMBAC, and named photographs place him in those Eagles squads.

USA Eagle #354 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jeff Hullinger made his USA fifteens debut in the 2006 Churchill Cup and joined the national sevens side later that year. He appears in the explicitly captioned Bangkok team photograph from October 2006. Cal’s February 2007 OMBAC preview identifies the BYU graduate among the club’s wing and fullback options and notes his try-scoring contribution to the 2006 Eagles.

Five XV appearances are supported by separate match records below, including the historically USA-recognised Ireland A fixture. They enter the ledger as a documented minimum (5+), not a claimed exhaustive career count. The alumni register also reports five.

USA Eagle #289 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Eric Reed played for OMBAC from 1997 to 1999 after becoming a collegiate All-American at Miami University. His USA Rugby alumni interview dates his wider Eagles involvement to 1996–2003. The archived career table records seven fifteens caps between 1999 and 2002, beginning as a replacement against Australia at the 1999 World Cup in Limerick. He also played for Watsonians in Scotland and the Chicago Lions.

Wider Eagles service begins in 1996; played senior XV tests begin in 1999.

USA Eagle #349 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Mike French earned eight USA fifteens caps from 2005 to 2007, with four starts and four replacement appearances. His debut came against Wales in Hartford on June 4, 2005. Ireland’s federation lists him as an OMBAC prop in its 2006 Churchill Cup announcements; Cal’s 2007 preview also names him in OMBAC’s front row and notes his nationally ranked wrestling background at Cal Poly. Cal Poly’s official record book lists four NCAA wrestling championship qualifications: 177 pounds in 1996 and 1997, 190 in 1998, and 197 in 1999. He was named among the standby reserves for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, rather than the traveling 30-player squad.

The original spreadsheet entry S. The photographs beside the NCAA qualifier lists in Cal Poly’s record book identify other wrestlers, not French; none is assigned to him.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Dr. Ned Chambers served as OMBAC’s team physician from 1988 to 1991 and accompanied the USA Eagles on their 1989 New Zealand tour, according to his US Rugby Foundation biography. In Stanford’s 2021 alumni memories he also recalls serving as doctor for the U.S. rugby team. He graduated from Stanford, earned his medical degree at Cincinnati and practised family medicine in Point Loma for more than forty years. The family memorial identifies him formally as Edward Hampton Chambers (1951–2023). Its photograph shows him on the right with his wife and dog; it is a family portrait, not a national-team image.

USA Eagle #387 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Brian Doyle earned fifteen USA fifteens caps between 2008 and 2013, with eleven starts, four replacement appearances and one try. His first USA-recognised cap was against England A in Ottawa on June 7, 2008. USA Rugby’s Pacific Rugby Premiership preview identifies Doyle as a 2015 OMBAC signing, placing him in the club’s mobile forward pack alongside established internationals.

Archived USA cap convention includes England A fixture; not every source uses the same strict test definition.

USA Eagle #414 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Matt Hawkins entered the USA sevens squad in 2008 while playing for OMBAC. World Rugby’s Wellington and San Diego announcement names him as an OMBAC newcomer. He later represented the USA at the 2009 and 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens and coached the national sevens side. His fifteens record contains one cap, against Russia in Glendale on June 5, 2010.

Reported 37 World Series appearances requires event-unit corroboration before adding to the tournament aggregate.

USA Eagle #351 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jason Pye made two USA fifteens appearances in 2005 and also represented the Eagles in sevens. The original 2007 national training announcement identifies him with OMBAC. A named touring-team caption places him with the USA in Hong Kong in 2008, and World Rugby’s squad announcement records his return from injury that season.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Chris Turori represented the USA Falcons in the 2014 RugbyTown Sevens Cup-winning squad, where USA Rugby explicitly listed his club as OMBAC. He continued in the national sevens high-performance pathway and was named in the 2015 camp preparing for Pan American and Olympic qualification selection. His later professional career included the San Diego Legion. This photograph shows him in Legion match action in 2019; it is not a USA senior playing photograph.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Eric Fleckton was named as an OMBAC back in the USA national Development XV squad assembled to face the touring Welsh Development XV in July 1997. The original national announcement describes this as a developmental opportunity, with Bing Dawson helping lead the camp.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Pablo Perez appears as an OMBAC back in the USA’s July 1997 Development XV announcement for the match against the touring Welsh development side. The national squad combined collegiate prospects and club players under a camp led in part by Bing Dawson. Perez’s national selection is preserved separately from senior played-cap totals.

USA Eagle #135 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Rick Crivellone represented the USA as a forward, earning three fifteens caps between 1983 and 1987. He came to OMBAC from Portland in 1988, joining the group that delivered the club’s first national fifteens championship. His name remains part of the club’s printed Eagles roll.

USA Eagle #173 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Ron Zenker moved from Cal football and rugby to OMBAC and the Eagles. The lock started both of his USA tests in November 1987, against Wales and Canada. Cal’s own history records his national service and his OMBAC connection, preserving a pathway that brought collegiate athletes into international rugby.

USA Eagle #77 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Bill Fraumann on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

USA Eagle #174 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Sam Vaka on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

USA Eagle #265 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Kurt Shuman on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

The playing photograph is an unaltered, watermarked archive catalogue reference, credited to Nick Wilson. Open its original caption and licensing record ↗

The playing photograph is an unaltered, watermarked archive catalogue reference, credited to Nick Wilson. Open its original caption and licensing record ↗

The playing photograph is an unaltered, watermarked archive catalogue reference, credited to Nick Wilson. Open its original caption and licensing record ↗

USA Eagle #268 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Scott Yungling played college rugby at San Diego State and Cal before representing the USA in 1997. Cal’s March 1997 report identifies him as its number eight, and its 2007 OMBAC preview recognises his former OMBAC playing connection. His archived senior test record lists two appearances.

National service & the OMBAC connection

George Conahey represented the USA in sevens before serving the national programme as manager and trainer. Emil Signes’s Benidorm archive identifies him in the May 22–23, 1992 USA squad photograph and records his try in the Eagles’ 16–12 win over Ukraine. This establishes at least one played international sevens tournament; it is not a complete career count. The Spanish federation’s 1998 international sevens programme separately lists him as USA physiotherapist. OMBAC honours his playing and support service on its original Eagles roll.

Recognised by the club

Printed as “Pete Deddah” in the club roll. OMBAC includes Pete Deddeh on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Wayne Whitko on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Ryan ReBell made his USA sevens debut at Beijing in 2002, according to the contemporary coach report preserved in national team manager Emil Signes’s archive. It explicitly records him earning debut caps, establishing at least one played World Series tournament. He later appeared in the Classic Eagles roster at number eight, which credits three USA A appearances. OMBAC includes him on its original Eagles roll.

USA Eagle #118 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

William “Lin” Walton combined elite rugby with service as a U.S. Naval Aviator. The Norfolk State physics graduate earned four USA fifteens caps, beginning in 1980, and is recorded among Boston Rugby’s internationals as well as OMBAC’s Eagles. Norfolk State’s 2018 alumni tribute recognizes Walton as the first African-American member of the U.S. National Rugby Team.

USA Eagle #208 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Graham “Basher” Downes played at prop for Natal and OMBAC, earning his USA fifteens cap against Hong Kong in 1992. He also founded the Kwazulu Old Crocs touring side and established his San Diego architecture practice in 1994. Following his death in 2013, friends and former teammates helped establish a rugby scholarship fund in his name, extending his influence through opportunities for younger players.

USA Eagle #74 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Eric Swanson came to rugby while playing football at Cal, toured Australia and New Zealand with the Bears in 1971, and helped establish the Old Blues after graduation. He moved to San Diego in 1974, played for OMBAC, and started at prop in the first modern-era USA Eagles test against Australia in 1976. Later, in Colorado, he founded Kings’ Rugby Club and continued developing sevens.

USA Eagle #65 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Del Chipman appears on OMBAC’s printed Eagles roll. UCLA’s 1979 yearbook identifies him as captain and leading scorer of the 1978–79 rugby team and records his selection for the U.S. national team. The adjacent team photograph names him in its standing row.

USA Eagle #177 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Mike Smith represented the USA at wing against Canada in 1988. His name also appears among the returning USA Classic Eagles alongside Lin Walton and Mike Purcell in 1993. OMBAC’s printed roll preserves his club connection; contemporary national records keep his senior test service distinct from later veterans rugby.

Recognised by the club

Printed as “David Chao” in the club roll. OMBAC includes Dr. David J. Chao on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Jeff Ward on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Bob Watkins played rugby at San Diego State and OMBAC before becoming a founding director of the U.S. Rugby Football Union in 1975. He served as USA Rugby president in 1983–1987 and 1989–1991, managed national tours and helped establish the Rugby Super League. The U.S. Rugby Foundation inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2015.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Robert J. “Bob” Moore served San Diego State athletics as an athletic trainer and is honoured on OMBAC’s printed Eagles roll for training and support service. SDSU’s memorial preserves his portrait and his contribution to athlete care.

The printed club roll uses “Bob Moore”. Its original spelling is retained in the searchable archive.

National service & the OMBAC connection

OMBAC’s original Eagles roll recognises Jaynie Schram for national training and support service. NSCA documents her board service under both names; its biography describes a sports physical therapist and certified athletic trainer with extensive national and international team travel. APTA supplies the identified professional headshot shown here.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jim Dierker is remembered as a former Eagle by both the US Rugby Foundation and the St. Louis Bombers. His earlier rugby journey also appears in Missouri Rugby’s alumni roll. In San Diego, his connection to the game continued into youth rugby: a 2021 photograph identifies him with Patrick Henry’s boys sevens team, linking OMBAC’s older generation with new players.

USA Eagle #243 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Recognised by the club

OMBAC includes Joe Santos on its Eagles roll, which honours national players, coaches, administrators, and training staff.

USA Eagle #263 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

USA Eagle #235 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Scott Bracken earned two USA fifteens caps in 1994–95 before building a long coaching career. He joined the Claremont Colleges programme in 2010 and later coached USA Rugby’s Junior All-Americans and High School All-Americans. His national service spans the front row and the development of the next generation.

USA Eagle #266 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

OMBAC flanker Mika McLeod was called into the USA senior squad in 1997 and earned four fifteens caps that year. The original national announcement identifies him as a new arrival alongside other developing Eagles. A 1998 Spanish Federation sevens programme also names him in the USA squad, confirming that his national service extended to both forms of the game.

USA Eagle #257 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

USA Eagle #230 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Printed club roll name: Eddy Schram.

USA Eagle #379 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

USA Eagle #238 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 1990s.

USA Eagle #251 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Sean Allen represented the USA at hooker seven times in 1996–97. The national team’s original 1997 squad announcement identifies him with OMBAC, and the US Rugby Foundation later included him among its former Eagles. His international work came during the same period that OMBAC’s deep squad sustained its championship tradition.

USA Eagle #201 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Ben Hough earned three USA fifteens caps in 1991–94 and became an OMBAC captain. A flanker and number eight, he belonged to the club’s championship generation. UC Santa Cruz named him its Athlete of the Year and a Collegiate All-American in 1988. He made his USA debut in 1991 and later supported mentoring and career opportunities through the university’s rugby alumni community. In February 2026 he joined the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board of Trustees. Bing Dawson’s Hall of Fame tribute preserves Hough’s appreciation of the coaching, organisation and recruiting that helped shape OMBAC’s championship culture.

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 1990s.

USA Eagle #233 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 1990s.

USA Eagle #203 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Mark Pidcock represented the USA at scrum-half in 1991, including the Rugby World Cup. His three-cap career record is kept separate from his OMBAC playing record. Russell Cheyne’s named photograph shows him delivering the ball for the USA during the 1991 World Cup match against England. The original watermark, photographer credit and catalogue link are retained.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jason Wood played prop for OMBAC and later led the club as head coach, president and general manager. Cal’s 2007 preview describes him as a long-serving territorial all-star, and its February 2008 report names him as OMBAC’s first-year head coach. Princeton’s visiting coach also identifies Wood among the OMBAC coaches who helped the Tigers train in San Diego in 2013. His named DJCoil Rugby interview preserves his voice from the Elite City Sevens coaching era.

National service & the OMBAC connection

OMBAC and USA sevens player who went on to coach the club’s summer programme. A June 2003 OMBAC touring preview reports 55 national sevens caps. The historical figure has no defined counting unit and is not treated as a complete tournament total.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Nelo Lui played for the USA at Hong Kong Sevens in 2001. Reuters’ caption identifies him carrying the ball against Chinese Taipei on March 30, in a 17–5 USA win. The tournament scoring table credits him with nine conversions. OMBAC’s June 2003 touring preview records his USA sevens service and reports 36 caps.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Jason McVeigh is fully recognised on OMBAC’s Eagles roll for his playing, squad and later coaching service. The US Rugby Foundation also names McVeigh among past national players and coaches attending its 2018 induction dinner. USA Rugby’s official staff announcements identify him as U18 attack assistant for the 2018 winter camps and the 2019 North American Summer Series. OMBAC’s own archived newsletter records his Wallabies youth leadership before his later senior-club presidency.

USA Eagle #272 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Two USA fifteens caps and extensive USA sevens service; part of OMBAC’s international touring sides. A June 2003 OMBAC touring preview reports 76 national sevens caps. The historical figure has no defined counting unit and is not treated as a complete tournament total.

USA Eagle #359 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Brian Barnard began rugby at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2001 and went on to the collegiate All-Americans, overseas clubs and OMBAC. In his USA Rugby alumni interview, he dates his Eagles fifteens involvement primarily to 2006 and the build-up to the 2007 World Cup, with intermittent sevens player-pool involvement through 2011. Cal Athletics names him among OMBAC’s wing and fullback options in February 2007 and identifies him as a North America 4 Series MVP.

The official 2017 alumni feature pairs a portrait with a playing image. Its action photograph is not dated and does not identify the match.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Wing in the 1999 USA player pool and a member of the USA sevens roster at Budapest in 2000. A June 2003 OMBAC touring preview reports 4 national sevens caps. The historical figure has no defined counting unit and is not treated as a complete tournament total.

USA Eagle #311 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Dan Dorsey earned twenty-four USA fifteens caps from 2001 to 2004 and appeared at the 2003 World Cup. His professional career included Bath, Swansea and Rotherham. Swansea’s official legacy register records his club debut on September 14, 2002; a named January 2003 match photograph shows him tackling Leinster’s Shane Byrne.

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Recorded national involvement spans the listed era.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Todd Giuntini toured Australia with the USA under-23 side in 1996, according to UC Davis Rugby’s history. The Aggies record him as an All-American in both 1996 and 1997. The original July 1997 national announcement lists him at prop in the USA Development XV squad assembled to face Wales, with Bing Dawson helping lead its training camp. His development and squad service are recognized here without assigning senior test caps.

Selection, development service and played senior tests remain distinct.

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Recorded national involvement spans the listed era.

USA Eagle #316 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Conrad Hodgson represented the USA in sevens and fifteens, earning eleven fifteens caps. The Spanish federation’s April 2003 squad table identifies him as an OMBAC San Diego flanker. A contemporary coach report records him starting four of five games at Beijing Sevens in 2002. Andrew Wong’s Reuters photograph captures his tackle on South Africa’s Jean de Villiers there on March 16.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Ben Oakes captained Navy rugby in 1999 alongside Jeremy Graczyk and earned collegiate All-American honours in 1998 and 1999. Navy Rugby’s Hall of Fame biography records his USA national player-pool selection in 2000–01 and Eagles sevens service at Wellington in 2001. It also explicitly identifies OMBAC among the Super League clubs in his seventeen-year playing career. A long-serving surface warfare officer, he later commanded USS New York and returned to Navy rugby as an assistant coach. He entered Navy Rugby’s Hall of Fame in 2023. He retired from naval service in January 2025 after commanding USS New York. The photograph records his retirement ceremony; his rugby career is documented by Navy Rugby’s Hall of Fame.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Andrew “Tui” Osborne represented the USA in sevens and earned two fifteens caps in 2007. The national archive names him in the Bangkok touring-team photograph from October 2006, and OMBAC’s international backline included him during its Super League era. His later rugby career continued into coaching.

National service & the OMBAC connection

USA sevens squad member recorded by World Rugby as Anwar Salaam in 2008. A June 2003 OMBAC touring preview reports 8 national sevens caps. The historical figure has no defined counting unit and is not treated as a complete tournament total.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Marcus Satavu progressed from Air Force rugby to the USA sevens programme. Tyndall Air Force Base’s 2012 account documents his 2011 Armed Forces championship and Combined Services selection. World Rugby’s contemporary Tokyo and Hong Kong squad lists document his senior USA sevens selection in 2014. His professional player profile lists OMBAC among his amateur clubs and records five Rugby United New York appearances in 2019. Peter Marney’s photograph shows Satavu carrying the ball for New York against Austin Elite in 2019; this is professional club action, not a USA match.

USA Eagle #318 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

John Tarpoff represented the USA at prop from 2002 to 2006; his archived career record lists twelve XV appearances. The Spanish federation’s April 2003 bulletin explicitly records his club as OMBAC San Diego. He was selected for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Damien Meyer’s October 10 training photograph names Tarpoff on the left, Richard Liddington in the centre and Mike MacDonald on the right at Queensland University Stadium in Brisbane. The full image is retained as a USA training reference, with its watermark and catalogue source.

USA Eagle #334 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Matt Wyatt represented the USA at hooker from 2003 to 2006, including the 2003 Rugby World Cup. His archived career record lists fifteen international appearances. Jamie McDonald photographed him at USA training in Edmonton during the 2005 Churchill Cup period. The displayed image is the unaltered, watermarked catalogue reference, linked to its original caption and photographer credit.

USA Eagle #375 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. USA playing span: 2007–2016.

National service & the OMBAC connection

Garrett Bender represented the USA in sevens and competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Team USA records his earlier Pan American Games bronze medal and Minneapolis rugby background. A named portrait by Jay L. Clendenin shows Bender at far right with Folau Niua, Danny Barrett and Martin Iosefo in June 2016, shortly before their Olympic tournament.

USA Eagle #485 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Pat Blair played for the USA in both fifteens and sevens while building a military rugby career through the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. His archived XV record establishes one senior cap, and World Rugby’s 2019 tournament documentation provides a dated sevens minimum. His official Army athlete page preserves a later military portrait; it is labelled separately from playing photographs.

USA Eagle #426 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 2010s.

USA Eagle #427 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 2010s.

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 2010s.

USA Eagle #437 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Zach Pangelinan joined OMBAC in 2007 after moving to the mainland from Guam. Major League Rugby’s milestone biography records a national club sevens runner-up finish in his first OMBAC season and the Pacific Rugby Premiership MVP award in 2014. He made his USA sevens debut in 2009 and his fifteens debut against Tonga on November 17, 2012. He later played for Randwick and became a founding Houston SaberCats player. The photograph here shows his MLR playing career, rather than a USA match.

USA Eagle #455 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Tim Stanfill earned six USA fifteens caps after a standout development season in 2014. World Rugby’s annual review singled out his two-try performances against Canada A and Uruguay, which led to selection for the senior November tests. A specifically captioned Ian Muir photograph captures Stanfill carrying for the Eagles against Tonga in 2014. He also played for OMBAC and professional clubs in San Diego and Houston.

USA Eagle #448 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Tai Tuisamoa earned six international caps for the USA and captained OMBAC during his club career. Princeton’s 2026 coaching announcement records his OMBAC periods as 2009–2012, 2016–2021 and 2025, alongside professional rugby at London Scottish and the San Diego Breakers. He became an assistant coach for Princeton women’s rugby in September 2026 after coaching the San Diego Surfers and Patrick Henry High School.

USA Eagle #496 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The OMBAC connection

Part of OMBAC’s extended Eagles roll. Approximate years listed: 2013–Present.

USA Eagle #237 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

From the NFL to a rugby pitch

Dan Lyle was born in Louisville, Kentucky on 28 September 1970, the son of a two-star general, and grew up in thirteen different cities before he turned eighteen. He came to rugby late and sideways: an outstanding college football career at the Virginia Military Institute, a try-out with the Washington Redskins, and then a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He picked up rugby at twenty-three, essentially as cross-training, in case the NFL called.

It called. So did Bath. He chose Bath.

The OMBAC years

Before England, there was San Diego. Lyle played for three American clubs in three years — Washington RFC in 1993–94, Aspen in the summer of 1994, and then OMBAC in 1995 and 1996. It was the most decorated stretch of his domestic career: he led OMBAC to the 1995 National Club Sevens title and the 1996 National Club Fifteens Championship. Two of the club’s twelve national championships have his name on them.

He also represented Southern California in 1995 and 1996, having turned out for Potomac and the Eastern Rugby Union the year before.

Captain America

At Bath from 1996 to 2003 he made 125 senior appearances, captained the side on several occasions between 1998 and 2003, led it outright in 2000–01, and won the European Championship in 1998. English rugby crowds gave him the nickname Captain America. He was Premiership Newcomer of the Year in 1996–97, named in All World 15s selections in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003, and rated the best number eight in the world by both Rugby World and Rugby News.

He followed his heart, chose rugby, and English crowds named him Captain America.

The Eagles

Lyle debuted for the United States against Ireland in 1994 and was made captain two years later. He made fifty-one appearances for the Eagles and was capped forty-five times, retiring from international rugby after the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He played four Hong Kong Sevens tournaments and captained the USA to a Bowl victory at the 1997 Sevens World Cup.

He turned out twice for the Barbarians, in 1997 and 2000, and was named Man of the Match on debut. A short spell at Leicester — twelve appearances across 2003–04 — closed out his professional career.

After the game

Lyle became Executive Vice President of United World Sports / USA Sevens, having joined in 2006 as tournament director of the USA Sevens in Las Vegas. He has worked as a colour and studio analyst for NBC, NBC Sports Network, ESPN and Fox Sports. The US Rugby Foundation inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2016 and gave him the Sweeney Award in 2020.

USA Eagle #159 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

From the ice to the sand

Brian Vizard was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 4 July 1959, the youngest of six, and came to rugby out of ice hockey — an All-City defenseman at Grand Rapids Catholic Central. He was at the very first practice the Grand Rapids club ever held, in the spring of 1978.

Eleven years at OMBAC

Vizard is on more OMBAC championship team sheets than anyone else on this page. He was in the nine-man squad that won the club’s first national title, the 1985 sevens at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, then took five fifteens crowns — 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1994 — wearing eight in most of the finals. He retired from club rugby in 1995, aged thirty-six, which is why his name is absent from the 1996 side.

His halfback partnership with Mike Saunders has been called one of the best 8–9 combinations American rugby has ever seen. He also won titles with San Diego County, the SoCal Griffins and the Pacific Coast Grizzlies.

Five fifteens titles. Two sevens titles. One OMBAC legacy.

Two World Cups

Twenty-two caps between 1986 and 1991, twenty of them at number eight, plus twenty-one sevens internationals. He debuted against Japan at Torrance on 31 May 1986 in a 9–9 tie. At the 1987 World Cup he started all three pool matches, and his linebreak set up Gary Lambert’s decisive try in the 21–18 win over Japan — the United States’ first World Cup match and first World Cup win.

Four years later he captained the side, starting against Italy at Cross Green, Otley, before being injured out of the tournament. He played the inaugural World Cup Sevens in 1993 and retired after twenty-two international tours.

Twenty years at the Foundation

Vizard was executive director of the US Rugby Super League from 1996, then President and CEO of the US Rugby Foundation from July 2004 until he retired in July 2024 — two decades, during which “A Ball for All” distributed more than eighteen thousand rugby balls. He has worked on more than seven hundred rugby broadcasts since 1995. Hall of Fame, 2016.

USA Eagle #166 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Mike Saunders captained the USA and OMBAC at scrum-half before continuing as a coach. In OMBAC’s archived newsletter for the 2011 season, he gives his club playing years as 1983–1993 and recalls how Bing Dawson relied on senior players to lead and execute the team’s plans. He also records coaching Snake River from 1993 and working with USA sevens, the Pacific Coast Grizzlies and NA4. These first-person club-history details supplement his separately documented twelve senior XV caps.

USA Eagle #259 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

He found the game on the next field over

Dave Hodges was born in Long Beach on 15 September 1968 and discovered rugby by watching Belmont Shore RFC train on the same field as his high-school football team. He went to Occidental College to play football, picked up rugby as a freshman, and became a two-time dual All-American in both sports.

Second only to Clever

Fifty-three caps between 1996 and 2004, and twenty-eight of them as captain — a record for a USA captain that stood until Todd Clever passed it in 2013. He debuted as a substitute against Uruguay at Fletcher’s Fields in Markham, Ontario, and won his last cap against France on 3 July 2004, a 39–31 defeat rated one of the best American performances against a tier-one nation until 2018. He retired that January after tearing a pectoral muscle.

He played at the 1999 World Cup and captained the side at 2003, where the Eagles recorded their best World Cup return to that point, beating Japan 39–26.

OMBAC, then Wales

Hodges joined OMBAC in 1995 and was part of the 1996 national championship team. His professional career was spent entirely in Wales: Llanelli and the Scarlets across two spells between 1997 and 2005 with more than 150 appearances, and a season at Bridgend. He won both Players’ Player and Fans’ Player of the Year at the Scarlets, and was Llanelli Player of the Season in 2001–02 — while also working as the region’s strength and conditioning coach.

Modern Welsh rugby owes its success, in part, to an American.

That line is not hyperbole. Hodges was the Scarlets’ player representative during the negotiations that regionalised Welsh rugby. In 2002 he played forty-four professional and international games in twelve months. He had his nose broken twice in the same match and carried on.

After

Head coach of the USA Collegiate All-Americans, assistant national coach across two spells, head coach of the Denver Barbarians, then High Performance Manager and Game Development Officer for USA Rugby. He is currently general manager of the US Men’s National Team. Hall of Fame, 2017; USA Rugby Athlete of the Year 2005; Rugby Magazine Player of the Decade for 2000–2009.

Sources differ on two numbers: 53 or 54 caps, and 27 or 28 as captain. Both variants appear in official material.

USA Eagle #151 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

1,100 yards, no fumbles

Kevin Higgins was born in Buffalo on 8 November 1962. As a senior tailback at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana he carried 187 times for 1,100 yards without a single fumble — his Hall of Fame citation calls it an early sign of his sure handedness with a rugby ball. He was undefeated in the 300 low hurdles as both a junior and a senior, and once won the league 400 metres and anchored the champion 4×400 and mile relays on the same day.

He went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on a football scholarship. When the head coach left for Arizona after his freshman year, Higgins and several football team-mates quit and joined the rugby team. He first touched a rugby ball as a sophomore and was a Collegiate All-American in each of his last three seasons.

The first American to twenty-five caps

Twenty-eight caps between 1985 and 1991, four tries, plus sixteen sevens appearances. He debuted against Japan in Tokyo on 21 April 1985 while still a college junior. He was the first American to reach twenty-five caps, and twenty-eight was then the national record.

He started at thirteen against Japan in 1987, in the United States’ first World Cup win, and at twelve against Italy in 1991. In 1989 he captained the Eagles on tour to Argentina and Uruguay. In 1991 he became the first modern-era Eagle invited on the Barbarians Easter Tour, and was selected for a World XV alongside Alan and Gary Whetton, Grant Fox and Buck Shelford.

OMBAC

Two national championships, 1988 and 1989, and he is named on both team sheets — at centre in 1988, with a try in the final. He finished his club career with the Old Blues of Northern California.

His pre-game talks were legendary — full of inspiration, sound advice and spittle.

That is Ray Green, whom Higgins coached at Cal. Higgins was an assistant there under Jack Clark from 1993, responsible for the backs, and was still coaching when he died on 30 October 1996, nine days short of his thirty-fourth birthday. Green went on to co-captain OMBAC and sits on the board of the US Rugby Foundation — his own page is here.

The bus to Grenfell

The story his team-mates still tell: on a bus to a training session in Grenfell, Australia, Higgins sold bingo cards to every player and coach aboard, having worked out in advance how to make everyone on the bus hit bingo on the exact same number. The hard part was getting “O 72” out of his mouth before he collapsed laughing in the aisle.

The US Rugby Foundation created the Kevin Higgins Scholarship Program in 2008. It has made 183 awards. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

USA Eagle #185 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

A prop with thirty-eight caps and no points

Chris Lippert was born in San Diego on 31 March 1963 and played loose-head prop for the United States from 1989 to 1998. At his retirement he was the most-capped American player in history. His ten-year Eagles tenure came in an era when five years was considered lengthy.

Five titles, and the captaincy in two of them

Lippert’s OMBAC record is the most decorated on this page after Vizard’s: national championships in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1996. He is roster-verified at prop in the 1991, 1993 and 1994 finals, and he captained the 1996 side and scored a try in the final — Bing Dawson’s sixth crown in nine years, and the first American championship contested by sixteen teams.

He is absent from the club’s first title in 1988, having joined after the 1987 college season — a season that ended with San Diego State going 13–0 and beating Air Force 10–9 for the National Collegiate Championship, coached by Steve Gray.

Italy, and a broken World Cup

He played one World Cup, in 1991, starting at loose-head against Italy and against New Zealand, where he was injured in the second half and walked off under his own power but visibly groggy. He captained the Eagles in three tests in 1996.

Three Barbarians appearances — an honour then given to only two Americans before him.

Both sides of the touchline

Lippert finished playing with the Huntington Beach Unicorns in 2000, then managed both the Eagles sevens and fifteens sides from 2001 to 2003, including the 2003 World Cup. He has coached at OMBAC and San Diego State and refereed for the Southern California RFU. Hall of Fame, 2020.

He appears twice on this page for that reason — once as a capped prop and USA captain, once as Eagles team manager.

USA Eagle #333 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

The most-capped Eagle

Todd Clever was born in Palm Springs on 16 January 1983, grew up in San Jose and played seventy-six tests for the United States between 2003 and 2017 — more than any American before him. He debuted off the bench against Argentina in Buenos Aires aged twenty, and captained the side a record fifty-three times.

He was a three-time Collegiate All-American at the University of Nevada, Reno, and played three USA U19 seasons before that.

The try of the tournament

Clever was in three World Cup squads — 2003, 2007, and 2011 as captain. At the 2007 tournament he intercepted a pass against South Africa that led to Takudzwa Ngwenya’s try, still the most famous play in American rugby history.

The first American-produced player to play Super Rugby.

Four countries

North Harbour in New Zealand from 2006; the Golden Lions in South Africa in 2009 and 2010, where he became the first American-produced player in Super Rugby; Suntory Sungoliath in Japan, winning the Top League in 2012, then NTT Communications Shining Arcs; Newcastle Falcons in the English Premiership in 2015–16; and Austin Elite in Major League Rugby, where he was both co-owner and player.

OMBAC

Clever’s OMBAC years fall well after the championship era on this page. He rejoined the club in 2015 on leaving Japan and again in 2017, winning a Cal Cup and the 2017 Pacific Rugby Premiership title. He is one of three OMBAC men in the 2007 World Cup squad, with Dan Payne and Tui Osborne.

Released, and restored

In July 2015 USA Rugby released him from the squad for conduct violations, and he missed that year’s World Cup. Under a new head coach he was reinstated and restored as captain, and scored three tries in a 30–22 win over Canada in February 2016. He was the first rugby player featured in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, and after retiring he tried out for WWE. Hall of Fame, 2021.

Sources differ: 76 caps and 16 tries per ESPN’s test record; 51 or 53 matches as captain depending on the source.

USA Eagle #179 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

A try on debut, in Moscow

William Neil Leversee was born in Van Nuys on 2 June 1964 and raised in La Cañada. He won fifteen caps between 1988 and 1996 and scored three tries — the first of them on debut, against Romania at the Sparta Stadium in Moscow on 17 September 1988, in an American win.

At six foot four and 235 pounds he was, per his induction citation, one of the youngest locks of his era to earn a cap at twenty-four, using his athleticism against bigger opponents.

Ten years at OMBAC

Leversee played for OMBAC from 1987 to 1997 and was part of five national championship sides: 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994 and 1996. He is named at lock on four of those team sheets. His absence from the 1993 side matches the professional hiatus in his citation — he was abroad.

In 1994 he became the first American to play in Italy’s top division.

That was with Mirano. He also played in Natal, South Africa, and at Auckland University in 1989, the same year he captained the Junior Eagles on tour to New Zealand.

One World Cup match

He started against Italy at the 1991 World Cup and was a reserve against New Zealand and England. He toured England, Russia and France in 1988, New Zealand and Argentina in 1989, and British Columbia, Australia and Japan in 1990.

Thirty years of coaching

Leversee has coached San Diego Youth Rugby since 1994. He took Torrey Pines High School to three consecutive Southern California championships between 2012 and 2017, then La Jolla High School to back-to-back titles. He has announced youth and high-school rugby since 2017 and advocates for player medical welfare. He entered the Hall of Fame in the class of 2025.

The only man to score against Fiji in two sports

Jon Hinkin — no “h”, as he points out — was a soccer and rugby star at Saint Mary’s College, Moraga. At the 1993 Fiji Sevens, the sevens archive records that he became almost certainly the first American to score a try against Fiji in both soccer and rugby.

Thirty-eight sevens caps

He debuted at the Benidorm Sevens in 1992, scoring in a 36–0 rout of the Public School Wanderers, and captained the USA sevens side in 1997 and 1998. He played the inaugural World Cup Sevens in 1993 and was a reserve for the 1997 squad. Across Canberra, Fiji and Hong Kong in 1993 he scored in the Canberra Plate semi-final, against Fiji, and the winning try against the Solomon Islands.

Twelve national championships

Hinkin played on twelve national championship sides across OMBAC and representative teams including the Pelicans, Griffins and Grizzlies. His 2022 San Diego Parks Foundation appointment report credits seven championships with OMBAC.

Rugby has been an integral part of my life for almost forty years.

He built the Las Vegas Invitational

Hinkin sat on the USA Rugby board from 1999 to 2002, then spent thirteen years at United World Sports as VP of Competitions and Tournament Director, running events with more than forty million dollars of annual economic impact. He conceived and founded the Las Vegas Invitational, now the largest rugby tournament in the United States, and was promoted to USA Sevens Tournament Director in 2017.

In August 2023 he became the first-ever COO of the US Rugby Foundation, working under Brian Vizard — his old OMBAC number eight. He subsequently served as Foundation President and CEO before returning to COO in 2025. OMBAC Wallabies identified him as OMBAC Rugby president in its October 2025 announcement.

USA Eagle #78 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

An advert in a student newspaper

Steve Gray was born in St. Louis in 1948 and weighed ninety-five pounds in high school — too small for football. He found rugby in 1969 from an advertisement in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, while at the University of Arizona on a golf scholarship.

I really had no idea about rugby. I thought they played with sticks, like lacrosse.

After his first session: “This is a lot more fun than golf!”

The first Eagles XV

Gray was a member of the first modern-era USA Eagles side in 1976, a reserve in that opening test against Australia at Glover Field, Anaheim. He won six caps in fifteens and eighteen in sevens, and captained both the USA sevens and fifteens sides.

The club’s first national title

He captained OMBAC to the first national club sevens championship ever contested, beating the Duck Brothers 26–12 at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson on 2 November 1985, and was player-coach of the OMBAC sevens side from 1985 to 1987. His clubs ran from Arizona and UCLA to West Rand in South Africa, Merthyr in Wales, Vail, Miami, OMBAC and Sacramento.

Forty years of coaching

Gray coached the LA Rugby Club and UCLA to league titles, then San Diego State from 1985 to 1987, winning the 1987 National Collegiate Championship with Chris Lippert at prop. He coached the USA national sevens side in selected tournaments from 1985 to 1999, winning the Plate at the 1986 Hong Kong Sevens, and led UC Davis from 2001 to 2013. He has been a World Rugby Educator and Trainer since 2010.

He also built an academic career in recreation, parks and tourism administration at CSU Sacramento. Since retiring from rugby he has twice qualified for the CrossFit Games in the Masters 60+ division. Hall of Fame, 2016.

Sources differ on whether he captained the first Eagles sevens side to Hong Kong in 1980 or 1981; the contemporaneous squad list gives 1981, and names him as OMBAC’s.

USA Eagle #258 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

National service & the OMBAC connection

Kevin Dalzell earned forty-two USA fifteens caps between 1996 and 2003 and played at the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. His OMBAC connection is recorded in Cal’s club preview. A specifically captioned 1999 World Cup photograph shows him carrying into Ireland’s defence at Lansdowne Road.

USA Eagle #197 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Five title sides

Dennis Gonzalez is on more OMBAC championship team sheets than all but two men on this page: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1996, plus the 1995 side that finished runners-up, where he was among the try-scorers. Every roster that gives his position lists him at flanker.

Robb Field, 1991

The 1991 final was played at OMBAC’s own ground in front of two thousand people. The club beat Washington 12–9, and Gonzalez was named co-MVP of the National Championships alongside Washington’s Paul Sheehy.

A home final, a three-point win, and the MVP award shared.

Sevens for the United States

He played the 1993 Sicily Sevens at Catania, where the USA went four wins and two losses under coach and manager Mike Saunders, his OMBAC captain. Gonzalez scored in the 28–0 Etna Cup quarter-final against Sweden, and in the 38–12 final it was a ball won by Gonzalez that led to the try that settled it. He also played the 1995 Taipei Sevens alongside Ray Green, Dave Hodges and Dan Lyle.

USA Eagle #245 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Names in the archive

The printed club roll spells the name Malakai Dabuvuya. The national sevens archive also captions him as Malakai Delai (Tabuvuya). These variants are preserved under one profile.

MVP of a national final

Malakai Delai was named most valuable player of the 1995 national club sevens tournament as OMBAC beat Northern Virginia 35–19 at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. It is the single best-documented fact about him, and it is a good one.

The 1997 World Cup Sevens

He was one of ten men in the USA squad that won the Bowl at the 1997 World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, and was described as the side’s leading try-scorer: two against Romania, one each against France, Morocco and Japan in the Bowl final, and a fifty-metre interception against Canada in the quarter-final.

A fifty-metre interception in a World Cup quarter-final.

Budapest, on an island in the Danube

Delai played sevens for the United States through 1998 to 2001, always listed with OMBAC as his club. His kick ahead set up Vaea Anitoni’s try against Korea at Hong Kong in 1998. He was part of the side that won Budapest in 2000, played on an island in the Danube, and at Hong Kong in 2001 he scored to finish the first half of the United States’ 31–26 Plate final comeback over Wales from 19–0 down — their first Plate since 1988.

He is named first in the 1996 national championship XV, which by the order of listing puts him at fullback.

The man who built it

Bing Dawson played rugby and football at San Diego State, graduating in 1967, and coached there as a graduate assistant under Don Coryell and John Madden. He propped for OMBAC until 1981, then went to New Zealand to study the game under Bill Freeman, coming back with an approach he described as All Black knowledge and Yankee ingenuity.

Seventy Eagles

Between 1970 and 2005 Dawson recruited hundreds of players to OMBAC, from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, South Africa and the United Kingdom. More than seventy of them went on to play for the United States — the most from any single club in American history. The USA captains he developed read like the roll on this page: Steve Gray, Mike Saunders, Kevin Higgins, Brian Vizard, Chris Lippert, Dan Lyle, Kevin Dalzell, Dave Hodges and Todd Clever.

He brought in the trainer Ed Ayub and the physician Dr David Chao, used San Diego State as a feeder programme, and fielded five OMBAC sides — something no other American club had done.

In many ways, Bing Dawson was among USA Rugby’s first professional coaches.

Twelve titles

Six national fifteens championships in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1996; six national sevens in 1985, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006; and the 2006 Rugby Super League, won 36–33 over a previously unbeaten Belmont Shore with a try in injury time. OMBAC is the only American club to have won both sevens and fifteens in the same year. Dawson coached Eagles tours from 1988 to 1991 and was assistant coach at the 1991 World Cup.

What his players say

Ben Hough, a former OMBAC captain and Eagle: “Bing was instrumental in making OMBAC the place for rugby talent to come. His ability to coach, organize, recruit, and create a winning culture were the drivers for OMBAC’s dominance. His legacy continues to inspire those that he coached and has made us all better men.” Ed Ayub put it more briefly: “There is only one Bing.” Hall of Fame, 2018.

Twenty-three years, one club

Ed Ayub was introduced to rugby by Bing Dawson and joined OMBAC as team physiotherapist in 1987, a role he held for twenty-three years. Across that span the club won a Rugby Super League championship, six national fifteens titles and five national sevens titles, with his ability to keep players healthy and field-ready central to that run.

Four World Cups

He was the USA Men’s fifteens and sevens physical therapist from 1987 to 2001, present for the majority of the eighty-five tests the Eagles played in his tenure. He worked the 1991 World Cup in the United Kingdom and the 1999 tournament in Ireland with the fifteens, and the 1993 World Cup Sevens in Edinburgh and 1997 in Hong Kong with the sevens.

The first to rise and the last to go to bed on tour.

His hotel room became a treatment room and a gathering place, where players found community as well as care.

Point Loma

Ayub founded Edward Ayub Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy with his wife Mary in 1982, retiring in 2018 and handing the clinic to a former mentee. He worked with the Sweetwater Union High School District to put physical therapy programmes on local high-school campuses, changing how a generation of young players were looked after.

USA Rugby Sports Medicine Hall of Fame, 2012. US Rugby Hall of Fame, class of 2026.

USA Eagle #236 · Senior fifteens roll ↗

Towson, then Berkeley

Ray Green started playing in college for the Towson Tigers, outside Baltimore, and fell for the game after his first match. He began at prop, spent a short spell at fly-half, and eventually settled at centre. He made All-American there, then transferred west to the University of California to play for the Golden Bears — coached by Jack Clark and by Kevin Higgins. Cal won three national championships with Green in the side, and he played in the first matches ever staged on Witter Field.

One try, and it won a test

He was capped for the first time against Ireland at Lansdowne Road during his final Cal season. He scored exactly one try in international rugby, and it was the try that beat Canada in Canada by a single point with the last move of the match. Eleven caps for the Eagles at fifteens, four more at sevens.

One try in eleven tests — and it beat Canada in Canada, in the last minute, by a point.

Otorohanga to Ocean Beach

Green played his club rugby at Otorohanga in New Zealand and briefly represented King Country in New Zealand provincial competition before landing in San Diego. At OMBAC he was a member of the 1996 national championship team — the sixth and last of the club’s fifteens titles — and went on to become co-captain.

Still on the touchline

He chairs the US Rugby Foundation Youth Development Committee, supports the Kevin Higgins Scholarship and serves on the boards of the Foundation and OMBAC Rugby. He is an assistant coach with Oceanside High School and Thunder Rugby U18, and the author of When I Was Great.

The playing record here is the one the US Rugby Foundation publishes.