Opening Kick

Opening Kick is a segment devoted to bringing you all Eagles and USA rugby related news in one location.

Eagles/7's:

The IRB takes a look at Mike Tolkin's experience organizing youth rugby in this country and suggests that this experience could be key to the Eagles in the future.

Looking for an opportunity to meet Todd Clever, just head out to Stanford University this Saturday.

Former NFL star Mike Vrable says Nate Ebner has the athletic ability to make it in the NFL.

It is going to be a busy Summer for the U.S.A. Rugby front office, but they think that is a good thing.

Over 100,000 fans will turn out to Twickenham this weekend for the London 7's.

The latest Ruggamatrix is out with a review of Glasgow and the DI-A quarterfinals, as well as a possible Pacific Rim Championship.

College:

St. Mary's and Arkansas St. have a bit of a history in the playoffs with Arkansas St. getting the better of the battles. However, St. Mary's is out to reverse that trend and show that they can beat the Red Wolves.

Arkansas St. will have something to say about that. Pat Clifton looks at how the two teams stack up against one another. (Membership required) One player in particular that will be looking to stand out for the Red Wolves is back Alex Goff.

BYU has size while Life has speed, but which one will prevail?

U.S.A. Rugby have a preview of the weekend's semi-finals.

In case you missed it, here are the highlights from Life's big win over Penn State last weekend.

Women/Tidbits:

The Women's DI and DII finals are this weekend at Stanford University. Norwich and Washington State are out to prove that they are the class of DII.

High Schools around the country continue to build up their programmes. Cambridge High School in Massachusetts is just one of the them.