Dan Lyle

Daniel Joseph Lyle (born 28 September 1970 in San Diego , California ) is an American rugby union footballer. He took up rugby union aged 23 in an attempt to keep fit. He had been invited to train with American football club Minnesota Vikings and had a trial with the Washington Redskins . Lyle is 6 ft 5 in (1.95 m) and weighs 252 lb (114 kg).

Lyle made his United States debut against Ireland in November 1994 at Lansdowne Road . He first captained the USA against Japan in June 1996, in the Pacific Rim tournament. He also led the USA to Sevens victory in the bowl competition at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1997.

He joined English club Bath from his home town club Old Mission Beach Athletic Club ( OMBAC ) for the 1996/7 season. He spent seven seasons at Bath , captaining the side for the 2001/2 season and playing in 125 matches for the club, helping them to lift the Heineken Cup title in 1998 with victory over Brive in Bordeaux.

Lyle moved to Leicester Tigers in 2003 , but shortly afterwards returned to America, after appearing for the United States in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup . He is now the Director of Operations for USA Rugby , the governing body for rugby union in the United States.

Paul Emerick

Paul Emerick (born January 24, 1980) is an American rugby union footballer. He plays centre or fullback. Paul played rugby with Chicago and was first capped in April 2003 against Spain. He moved to Italian rugby in the 2004-05 season joining Amatori. As of January 2006 Emerick has been capped 18 times scoring 4 tries (20 points). In the summer of 2006, Emerick completed a move to Celtic League side Newport Gwent Dragons.

Mike Hercus

Mike Hercus (born June 6, 1979 in Falls Church, Virginia) is an American rugby union footballer. He is a fly-half. Hercus was born in Virginia but his parents returned to their native Australia where he was brought up.
Hercus played for Australian schoolboys and progressed to the Australia under 21 side before the US Eagles gave him a route into international rugby union. He made his Rugby World Cup debut in 2003, scoring 51 points for the Eagles.
Hercus was at Sale Sharks for two seasons as Charlie Hodgson's understudy before he moved to Llanelli Scarlets.

Kort Schubert

Kort Schubert (born July 24 , 1979 ) in Sacramento , California , is an American rugby union footballer. He plays blindside flank or number eight.

Schubert made his debut for the US Eagles in May 2000 playing against Japan in a 36-21 win. Kort was an ever-present figure in the American side during the 2001 , 2002 and 2003 seasons. Kort began his rugby career at Jesuit High School in Carmichael, CA, and then enjoyed a successful career at the University of California, Berkeley, before moving on to national team and professional club duty.

Kort played with Welsh side Cardiff Blues which competes in the Celtic League and as of January 2005 has 43 caps for the US Eagles and has scored 4 tries (20 points).

Tom Billups

Tom Billups (born December 26 in Burlington, Iowa) is an American rugby union footballer who played for the USA Eagles as an international and Blackheath Rugby Club, Harlequin F.C., and Pontypridd RFC as a professional. He played at hooker. After retiring in 1999, he accepted an offer to coach the Eagles two years later, keeping that position from 2001 to 2006.

Originally a college football player, Billups discovered rugby after exhausting his football options and immediately fell in love with the game. Developing his skills by playing club rugby in California and New Zealand, he won his first international cap at hooker in 1993. He quickly established himself as one of the preeminent ruggers in the United States. During his international career from 1993 to 1999 he won 44 caps, with 12 of those as captain.

After the professionalization of the game in the mid 1990s, he was one of the first American rugby players to pry their trade overseas, playing for Blackheath in 1996 and joining the Harlequins a year later. He ended his professional playing career in Wales at Pontypridd RFC.

Billups entered a new phase of his rugby life in 2001, when he accepted the interim coaching position of the United States national team for a test against South Africa. He became the full-time coach the next year, leading the Eagles through their most successful rugby world cup to date, with a victory against Japan and a near-win against Fiji. He resigned in April 2006 with a final record of 10 wins and 18 losses. He is the only Eagles coach to have a winning record against "tier-2" and "tier-3" nations: 10 wins to 7 losses.