US road to 2031 Rugby World Cup starts with Pacific Nations challenge

Eagles coach Scott Lawrence has picked college talent - and crossovers from football and wrestling - in his squad to face Canada and Japan in new event

The Pacific Nations Cup, in which the US men kick-off against Canada in Los Angeles on Saturday, is designed to improve playing standards among tier-two rugby nations. Next year's PNC will decide qualification for the 2027 World Cup in Australia but this year the US coach, Scott Lawrence, is also planning still further ahead, for 2031 and the first Rugby World Cup on US soil.

The way to build the 2031 World Cup team is to begin exposure now," Lawrence says, from the Olympic training centre in Chula Vista, California, where the women who won sevens bronze in Paris, Ilona Maher and all, made their own preparations.