A team from the USA made up of high school children from across America has arrived in the UK and are competing in our tournament this week.

The under 18 team even received a warm-up training session from Ben Gollings, former England Sevens Captain and HSBC ambassador, before their debut in the tournament.

The High School All American team has been selected by coaches from across the United States to represent USA Rugby at the world’s largest schools rugby sevens festival (that’s us) and has flown over especially to compete.

The squad arrived at the tournament and were greeted by former England Sevens Captain and the leading points scorer on the HSBC Sevens World Series, Ben Gollings, who took the team through their paces during an exclusive coaching clinic. 

Salty Thompson, Head Coach of the High School All Americans commented: “We’re here in the UK for the next two weeks giving the boys a flavour of both sevens and fifteens rugby during our stay. We have wanted to compete at this tournament for a while, so to be here now is fantastic. Getting the chance to train with Ben as well has been amazing; it’s always a pleasure meeting great players and for the team to train with Ben was brilliant.”

Nu’u Aiava, captain of the inaugural High School All American team said: “This opportunity means a lot to us over in the States. We don’t often get the chance to compete against teams in other countries so this opportunity is amazing for us. We had great fun with Ben, and now we’re looking forward to seeing how we do against all the other teams competing here in the tournament.”

Ben Gollings added: “It just goes to show how international the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens is. For a team to come over from America and take part this week is fantastic for them and for the tournament. They looked very sharp out there so I hope they do well in the tournament and get off to a good start when they start their campaign on Thursday.”

Photos by capturetheevent.com