A global competition between Tier 2 nations. In 2026 the competition was formatted as follows:
USA, Canada, Samoa, Tonga, Chile, and Uruguay were in Pool A. Those teams played everyone in Pool B: Georgia, Romania, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Spain, and Portugal.
The winners of each pool are declared champions of their pool and do not play each other.
Half of the games are played in July, and half in November.
The USA Men's 15s team continues the Nations Cup with a challenging match against Romania Saturday as the six-game tournament takes them to Bucharest.
The Eagles are coming off a win over Hong Kong that put them at 4-0 in the Nations Cup, but that is a tenuous 4-0 because the win over Hong Kong was anything but secure.
The USA Men's Eagles needed a late try from Kaleb Geiger and a conversion from Chris Hilsenbeck to come back to beat Hong Kong Sunday in Bourg-en-Bresse, France.
The warning had been there, don't look past ZImbabwe, and while we at GRR World Headquarters wouldn't say the Eagles looked past the Sables, they certainly played as if whatever they did would flumox their opponents.
The result was that Zimbabwe took a lead into halftime and had taken the American fans out of the game and put their own fans into it.
What are the big rocks this week?
Last week the USA Men's 15s looked at tough, disciplined defense, set piece, and the kicking game.
De La Salle HS
Saint Mary's (Rudy Scholz Finalist)
USA U20s (Captain)
USA Men's National 15s Team (Debut vs Georgia 2023 at age 20)
As a 17-year-old Spencer Huntley required a waiver to play for the USA U20s, an indication of how he was rated in the USA age-grade pathway. He got that waiver and impressed for the USA U20s, and then moved up to the USA U23s. He led the San Diego Mustangs to a national HS Club championship in 2024.
He also played in the SoCal single-school league for Cathedral Catholic.
Hope Rogers began playing rugby at age 16 in high school and continued to compete during her time at Penn State University. There, she won four National Championships, was crowned MVP on two occasions, was named to the USA Under-20s and earned Collegiate All-American honors for four years. Rogers was also an impressive discus player during her senior year in high school where she broke a school record and won Gold at Districts for the sport.
Mike played for Life College, Philly-Whitemarsh and played for the USA National 7s and 15s teams in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was also part of the Atlantis touring side, playing 7s for the team in several around the world.
