Hardcore rugby fans the world over will be licking their lips as the armada of Southern Hemisphere giants steams north to take on the old world powers of the Six Nations. New Zealand laid down a statement of intent last weekend when they stopped off in Washington DC to cuff around a callow United States Eagles team, shorn of their more experienced European pros. While there will be sterner tests ahead, can anyone from north of the equator stop the southern juggernauts? Let's take a look at the teams..

via USA Rugby

Where do you start? Any of the All Blacks are worthy of keeping an eye on, but there are some interesting back stories to some of the selections.

A week after going toe to toe with England at Twickenham, the Eagles now head to the Emerald Isle, where they’ll take on Ireland at Lansdowne Road. The matchup will mark the second time our young American squad will be taking on a titan of World Rugby in a six-day span, but more importantly will be a true measuring stick for how far we’ve come as a true rugby nation.

Head coach Gary Gold has made four changes to the starting XV with three new faces on the bench as the USA Men’s XVs National Team faces Ireland for the first time since 2018 on Saturday.

Some wise man once described the beautiful game of rugby as “a game in which 30 players chase a funny-shaped ball around a pitch, smashing into each other for 80 min. And at the end the All Blacks win.”

The ever-mercurial Wallabies play hosts to a resurgent France in what should prove a scintillating three-game series down under.

Despite a shaky start, the Eagles have done the nation proud, hanging in there with England in a 43-29 shootout at Twickenham. While Gary Gold and company will want to flush that first half down the drain, there was plenty to be pleased with in a second half that saw the Americans outscore their counterparts 26-17.

The key members of the cavalry may be away on Lions duty, but England’s lineup for Sunday’s Independence Day showdown with the Eagles is still loaded.

July 4th marks a special day in history. And while most celebrate the day with grilling and fireworks, Team USA will look to set something off theirselves as they meet England.

It’s been 215 days since we last saw the New Zealand All Blacks take the pitch - a decisive 38-0 victory over Argentina which saw the ABs lift the Tri-Nations Cup.

Team USA will take on the No. 3 world-ranked England rugby team on the 4th of July. This will be the Eagles first time returning to the field since Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan where the teams met and England came out on top 45-7. Current Captain Bryce Campbell scored the USA’s lone try.

Outside of the most rabid Springboks supporters (ok, that could be all of them), most any rugby fan would point to the New Zealand All Blacks as the dominant force in world rugby since the game went international. They have a winning record against every other rugby playing country, and after winning over 76% of their nearly 600 games, are widely considered the gold standard of sporting excellence. So what else is there to know about the men behind the Silver Fern? Well, plenty. And we've got 8 facts you may or may not have known about the All Blacks.