Everything hinges on unity in an international tournament, and maybe in the APC it’s as important as anything.

Bringing in players who are relatively inexperienced in international rugby to play for the USA Selects in the Americas Rugby Championship puts a huge onus on the coaches and the leading players to get everything together quickly.

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Of the 28 players in the USA Selects, nine have full Eagle caps, but only three have more than 10. You might look at the likes of Hanco Germishuys as a veteran, but he has only eight caps.

Many of these players don’t know each other at all. USA Selects head coach Scott Lawrence has a pretty detailed plan to get everyone on the same page.

“Early in camp we have them doing stuff that are difficult both physically and mentally where they have to help each other succeed,” explained Lawrence. “And you have to be smart so that when they do get on the pitch together you make sure that the connections are in place and they are in place from the beginning.”

That means the coaches have to make assessments before the team comes together, establishing the different unit connections now.

“Once they get into camp we have them doing stuff in groups off the field - that might be just grabbing a coffee, are getting together in more competitive ways and have some fun around it,” explained Lawrence. “Cohesion is important. We got a lot of data on cohesion and its importance. If you’d asked me that a year ago I might not have had as a detailed an answer. But this past year we have resources we rely on to really think about it.”