skip navigation

Photo Credit Judy Teasdale Photography

Rugby Oregon Represented at the Largest Game in History!

10/27/2014, 9:30pm PDT
By admin

Photo Credit: Judy Teasdale Photography

As the biggest day in U.S. rugby history approaches, Rugby Oregon won’t just be on the sidelines, watching along with 61,000 other fans at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The Portland-based youth rugby organization will also be represented on the field.

Troy Hall, longtime rugby professional and Rugby Oregon development director, has been selected to be one of the USA Eagles taking on the world champion New Zealand All Blacks in an international test match Nov. 1. The sold-out match will be televised nationally on NBC, with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 1.

“The USA is growing as a rugby nation both on and off the field; I know the atmosphere in Soldier Field will be electric,” said USA Rugby Chief Executive Officer Nigel Melville, himself the former captain of England.  “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the global game of rugby to American sports fans at an iconic football stadium in Chicago and across the country via a live NBC broadcast.”

Hall, a native New Zealander, has spearheaded Rugby Oregon’s development among students in younger grades. He has pioneered the development of non-contact and tackle rugby in schools and clubs for boys and girls in Grades 3 - 8. He also has trained teachers and coaches to be effective leaders of the game’s development in Oregon.

At the same time, he has rekindled his own competitive chops after “retiring” from competitive national play in 2011. A former player for the USA national team and for the New York Athletic Club, Hall returned last year to the pool for national play, then injured his anterior cruciate ligament. He has worked himself back into top fitness, winning a place on the Eagles for the team’s November tour, which is highlighted by the Nov. 1 test match with New Zealand.

Also selected for the November tour, was Tim Stanfill, a former Rugby Oregon athlete from Evergreen High School in Vancouver, WA who currently plays for the Seattle Saracens rugby club.  

For more information about the USA-New Zealand match, visit usarugby.org. For more information about Rugby Oregon, visit rugbyoregon.com.

Tag(s): Home