HOUSTON, TX (April 27, 2022) – USA Rugby today announced the USA Men’s Eagles XVs will host the historic French Barbarians on July 1, 2022 at AVEVA Stadium in Houston, TX. As a warmup match to the Rugby World Cup qualifying fixtures against Chile the following weeks, this exhibition match will provide fundamental preparation for the Men’s Eagles against the exciting open play of a French Barbarians side. Tickets will be available to the general public starting Friday, April 29 at 10AM CDT through usa.rugby/tickets. Live stream coverage will be provided by FloRugby.

“We are thrilled to bring this event to the Houston rugby community and AVEVA Stadium,” said USA Rugby General Manager of Commercial & Events, Brandy Medran, “This incredible facility has been a target destination for USA Rugby since its opening in 2019 and we are delighted to partner with the SaberCats in bringing this special event to Houston. The French Barbarians are always a unique rugby experience that we’re eager to add to the Men’s Eagles summer series.”

The French Barbarians are an invitational side of rugby players assembled to celebrate an open and exciting style of rugby. The club first started in 1979, with their inaugural match against Scotland in May 1980. The most recent assembly was a win over Tonga in November 2021, with popular

internationals like Henry Chavancy, Joe Tekori of Samoa and New Zealand Sevens star, Joe Ravouvou. The competing roster for the upcoming match has yet to be selected, but this will be the first visit to North America since facing off with Canada in 2008, and first match against the United States in the club’s history.

The city of Houston has always been a strong home market for the USA Eagles, last playing host to the Men’s Eagles in 2018 during their historic win over Scotland. Houston has also recently been included as a candidate host city for the proposed USA Rugby World Cup.

Men’s Eagles Head Coach, Gary Gold said: “Rugby World Cup qualification is our number one priority this summer and we’re pleased to have this contest ahead of our fixtures against Chile. The Barbarians play a famously creative style of rugby, and we expect this match to be a unique and fast-paced preparation for the guys. It’s been some time since we last assembled in the Fall, but confidence and communication is high amongst the squad as we parlay lessons from the Uruguay series into this upcoming round of qualification.”

Houston SaberCats President, JT Onyett added: “When we built this stadium, there was a desire to host the Eagles and bring the highest level of international rugby to our community. This marks the first of what we hope is many games with USA Rugby.”

Following the match against the French Barbarians, the Men’s Eagles will head off to Chile for the first of a home-and-away Rugby World Cup qualifier series, before returning home to Infinity Park in Glendale, CO in July 16 to hopefully secure qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. Tickets to the July 16 match in Colorado are now available at usa.rugby/tickets.

Media credential applications for both events are available at usa.rugby/media-services.

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