Seattle Seawolves center and 2022 Major League Rugby Rookie of the Year Tavite Lopeti has been selected to the USA Men’s Falcons side for their fall tour to South Africa. As one of the Eagles’ choice centers, Lopeti continues to raise his hand for head coach Gary Gold as the US builds towards qualifying for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Story by Calder Cahill • Photo by Travis Prior

Following an alignment camp in Glendale, CO the USA Men’s Eagles will begin their Rugby World Cup Final Qualification Tournament preparations in South Africa as they compete under the USA Falcons name on October 14 and 21 as part of the Toyota Challenge at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Competing as the USA Falcons, with these fixtures not being test matches and the entirety of the player pool not available, the USA will face off against the Toyota Cheetahs, a professional side competing in the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the Airlink Pumas of the Currie Cup. Streaming details for the Toyota Challenge matches and Final Qualification Tournament will be announced shortly.

Competing as the USA Falcons, with these fixtures not being test matches and the entirety of the player pool not available, the USA will face off against the Toyota Cheetahs, a professional side competing in the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the Airlink Pumas of the Currie Cup. Streaming details for the Toyota Challenge matches and Final Qualification Tournament will be announced shortly.

Men’s Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold said: “It is an amazing opportunity to bring our side out and compete in the inaugural Toyota Challenge. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring together players who have competed in the MLR the first half of the year, and offers them the opportunity to play against some of the best provincial teams in South Africa. This experience will be unique to quite a few of the players who have not spent much time playing rugby outside of the United States, and an important set of fixtures for our qualifier preparations.”

Read the full USA Rugby story here.

USA MEN’S FALCONS MATCH SCHEDULE

Friday, October 14, 2022 | 12:00 PM ET – Toyota Cheetahs vs USA Men’s Falcons

Friday, October 21, 2022 | 5:45 AM ET – Airlink Pumas vs USA Men’s Falcons

USA MEN’S FALCONS | TOYOTA CHALLENGE PLAYER POOL

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