USA vs Scotland Preview & Prediction | 2024 Summer Internationals
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A tough start for new USA Eagles boss Scott Lawrence as they were beaten by Romania last week and it does not get any easier as they face Scotland in Washington DC
START DATE/TIME: Friday 12th July, 2024, UK – 11:30pm / US ET – 6:30pm / US PT – 3:30pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports 1 / US – the match will be streaming on FloRugby and the FloSports app.
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – TNT Sports app / US – the match will be streaming on FloRugby and the FloSports app.
USA FORM: BAPTISM OF FIRE FOR NEW COACH LAWRENCE
If Scott Lawrence did not know how hard this job is going to be before taking it, he certainly did last week as his team was beaten by Romania in Chicago. They now face Scotland in Washington DC and they are going to need a serious improvement if they are to be competitive.
LAST FIVE: LWWLL
SCOTLAND FORM: CONFIDENCE REBUILD IN PROGRESS FOR SCOTTISH
After a tough Six Nations campaign, Scotland’s mission is to rebuild this summer and their 73-12 win over Canada last week will certainly go a long way to rebuild some confidence in the camp. Even if they change things around here, they will still play hard and try build some cohesion in the squad with some new faces.
LAST FIVE: WLLWL
USA TEAM NEWS: LAWRENCE MAKES CHANGES AFTER ROMANIA LOSS
Six changes for the Eagesl here as Scott Lawrence changes things around in the hope of sparking an improvement. They will aim to get some attacking play going and add an edge to their creativity based on their selection but this may not be the game to be trying that.
SQUAD:
Iscaro, Fawsitt, Ainu’u, Helu, Peterson (capt), Golla, Ryan, Fa’anana-Schultz, Smith, MacGinty, Augspurger, Boni, Lopeti, Mooneyham, Carty
REPLACEMENTS:
Pifeleti, Turnbull, Mullen, Uhila, Bonasso, McVeigh, Campbell, Wilson
SCOTLAND TEAM NEWS: WHOLESALE CHANGES FOR TOWNSEND’S MEN
Head coach Gregor Townsend makes wholesale changes for this match as none of the players that featured in the 73-12 hammering of Canada will start this match.
That means plenty of less experienced players will get an opportunity to impress while Adam Hastings comes back in for his first match since 2022.
SQUAD:
Rowe; Steyn, Jones, Tuipulotu (all Glasgow), Van der Merwe (Edinburgh); Hastings, Horne (both Glasgow); Walker (Glasgow), Ashman, Schoeman (both Edinburgh); Cummings (Glasgow), Craig (Scarlets); Ritchie (Edinburgh), Darge, M Fagerson (both Glasgow).
REPLACEMENTS:
Smith (Northampton), Sutherland (Glasgow), Millar Mills (Northampton), Williamson (Glasgow), Crosbie (Edinburgh), Dobie (Glasgow), Thompson, Currie (both Edinburgh)
USA VS SCOTLAND PREDICTION
Both of these teams are clearly in a transition phase but they are at different levels and that does not bode well for the USA Eagles ahead of this match. This is a tough assignment especially when they have made numerous changes but Scott Lawrence has at least had another week to work on things with his men. The Scots make wholesale changes themselves but they should simply have far too much quality. They were relentless last week against Canada in running up the score and despite the changes, they could well do so again. The new faces will be desperate to impress and expect another heavy victory for the Scots.
USA VS SCOTLAND TIP: SCOTLAND -33.5 POINTS
