The Maori All Blacks are a NZ rugby team representing a proud culture of New Zealand and date back to 1888.
All players must have Maori whakapapa, or genealogy, confirmed in order to represent the side. The NZ Maori first played against the USA in 2004 and this will be the fourth match between the two sides.
NZ Maori perform haka in England on 45 match world tour in 1925-6
History and form
The Maori have won all the previous three encounters with the USA, although the gap narrowed in Philadelphia in 2013 when they won 29-19. In 108 matches the NZ Maori have a 65% winning ratio against other teams with 71 wins, and most of their losses being against Tier 1 test nations.
They have not lost a match since going down to England in 2003 and since then have beaten the likes of The British and Irish Lions, Ireland, England, Fiji and Tonga in a string of 19 victories.
For the Eagles, this will be John Mitchell’s hardest trial as USA coach after taking over at the beginning of this year and then playing a mostly second-string domestic team against Tier two teams such as Brazil, Uruguay, Russia and Italy for a 3-3 record. There will be nowhere to hide against the NZ Maori however and this will be a major test for the USA Eagles of whether or not they are heading in the right direction before they start on their Autumn tour.
Jarrad Hoeta and Corey Flynn tackle Geoff Parling of England 2010
The teams
The NZ Maori
The Maori have shown maximum respect to their American counterparts and brought along a host of heavy-hitters to Friday night’s contest at Chicago’s Toyota Park – the home ground for the Chicago Fire Major League Soccer team.
The highly regarded Colin Cooper returns as head coach joined by assistant Tana Umaga who is now coach of the Auckland Blues and well regarded in New Zealand. In the playing department, All Black coach Steve Hansen has released four All Blacks to start for the Maori bench: Damian McKenzie, Rieko Ioane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Elliott Dixon.
Other Maori players to watch include All Black and Highlanders prop Kane Hames, block-busting Auckland flanker Akira Ioane and live wire Auckland Blues and Hawkes Bay flyhalf Ihia West. Tim Bateman, who starts in the midfield, captained the Maori the last time they played the USA, but hooker Ash Dixon will be the skipper this time around.
Thomas Waldrom runs into Waratahs for Maori in 2006
The USA Eagles
John Mitchell took over the Eagles’ head coaching role after the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Despite his abrasive temperament, he has a good rugby intellect and immense coaching experience, including at the All Blacks, Sale Sharks, Western Force, and Golden Lions, as well as being assistant coach for England. He is in his first international head coaching role since the 2003 Rugby Word Cup.
Others in coaching roles include USA Sevens coach Mike Friday (attack coach) and ex-England and British and Irish Lions’ hooker, Phil Greening (defence coach).
The Eagles’ forward pack has an experienced look about it with Newcastle Falcons’ lock Nick Civetta and Saracens prop Titi Lamositele being made available by their clubs, and 68-cap veteran and captain Todd Clever packing down on the blindside.
USA Eagles’ skipper Todd Clever in action against Italy in 2011 Rugby World Cup
Mitchell has also added Australian-born Waratah, James Hilterbrand, at hooker and New Zealander Tony Lamborn on the openside flank.
A number of forwards were unavailable due to the test being outside the official test window including Toulon’s Samu Manoa, one of the best no. 8s in Europe recently, and the Cardiff Blues’ Cam Dolan. The backline is missing AJ MacGinty (Sale Sharks) and Blain Scully (Cardiff Bues) who were also retained by their clubs.
But the Eagle’s lineup does include some exciting outside backs in fullback Mike Te’o and USA Sevens’ wingers Martin Iosefo (14) and Matai Leuta (11); so if they get the ball wide look for some action.
NZ Maori beat British and Irish Lions 2005
Prediction
The Maori should be too strong for the Eagles in all departments with their handful of All Blacks, and other strong Super Rugby players. Although they don’t play together on a regular basis their history shows that they can adapt to each other well using their schooling in the New Zealand system of rugby.
NZ Maori by 15
Joe Wheeler runs for NZ Maori against USA in Philadelphia 2013
Match Details
The teams
NZ Maori
15. Damian McKenzie,14. Rieko Ioane,13. Matt Proctor,12. Tim Bateman,11. James Lowe,10. Ihaia West,9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow,8. Akira Ioane,7. Kara Pryor,6. Elliot Dixon,5. Tom Franklin,4. Jacob Skeen,3. Ben May,2. Ash Dixon (captain),1. Kane Hames.
Reserves: 16. Joe Royal,17. Chris Eves,18. Marcel Renata,19. Leighton Price,20. Shane Christie,21. Brad Weber,22. Marty McKenzie,23. Sean Wainui.
USA Eagles
15. Mike Te’o, 14. Martin Iosefo, 13. Bryce Campbell, 12. Folau Niua, 11. Matai Leuta, 10. Will Holder, 9. Nate Augspurger, 8. Danny Barrett, 7. Tony Lamborn, 6. Todd Clever(C), 5. Nick Civetta, 4. Nate Brakeley, 3. Chris Baumann, 2. James Hilterbrand, 1. Titi Lamositele.
Reserves: 16. Joe Taufete’e, 17. Angus MacLellan, 18. Alex Maughan, 19. Matthew Jensen, 20. Al McFarland, 21. Stephen Tomasin, 22. Shalom Suniula, 23. Madison Hughes.
Match details
Date/Time: Friday 4 November, 7pm (local time)
Venue: Toyota Park, Chicago
Match officials: tba
USA v NZ Maori 2013
