Four All Blacks to start for NZ Maori

All four All Blacks – Elliot Dixon, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Rieko Ioane, and Damian McKenzie – played for the Maori All Blacks last year.

Their re-entry into the Maori All Blacks also means a family reunion for brothers Akira and Rieko Ioane, and Marty and Damian McKenzie.

“These guys are all familiar with our environment so we know that they are able to move between the All Blacks and our squad with great ease,” said Cooper.

“The Maori All Blacks is another home for those guys.

“This is the most experienced squad we’ve had for a while, and many of the players who played for us last year have stepped up a level from there.

“It means that we have a really experienced playing 23, with only three new caps, starting with Kara Pryor who had a very good season with the Blues and then carried that into the Mitre 10 Cup.

“He was close to being named in the squad last year but was injured so it’s good to be able to give him a start.

“The other two, Marcel Renata and Leighton Price, will come off the bench this Friday; they played well in Mitre 10 Cup and it’s good to be able to give them a chance to earn a cap for this team.

“Ash Dixon takes on the captaincy duties this year but really he’s been part of the set up for a while. He has experience as a leader on the field, and with former captain Tim Bateman back in the mix, I know that the team will have some really solid decision makers on the field.”

The preparation time in Chicago has been good and they were clear about their game plan.

“The main focus will be on playing our game and making sure we give the USA due respect,” added Cooper.

“We’ve have had a look at them and they have a big raw game, a big pack and we will need to play with some structure. We will want to have a good focus on attack and defend with a lot of go forward.”

Maori All Blacks:

15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Rieko Ioane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Kara Pryor, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jacob Skeen, 3 Ben May, 2 Ash Dixon (c), 1 Kane Hames

Replacements: 16 Joe Royal, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Leighton Price, 20 Shane Christie, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Marty McKenzie, 23 Sean Wainui

Date: Friday, November 5
Venue: Toyota Park, Chicago
Kick-off: 17:00 local (22:00 GMT)
Referee: tbc
Assistant Referees: tbc

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Professionals Nick Civetta and Titi Lamositele were made available by their English Premiership clubs for the United State's match against the Maori All Blacks.

Chris Baumann, who has impressed in the second half of the calendar year with Wellington Lions in New Zealand, will partner Lamositele on the outside of the front row, while James Hilterbrand will start his third consecutive match at hooker for the Eagles following the June Series.

Nate Brakeley was a late call-up to Mitchell's Americas Rugby Championship squad earlier this year, but has continued to earn praise in the second row. Civetta will wear No.5 beside the New York Athletic Club man in his first action for the Eagles. The captain rounds out the pack with Tony Lamborn and Olympian Danny Barrett, who was a member of the World Cup 2015 USA squad.

Will Holder made his international debut in 2012 wearing the No.10 jersey against Tier One Italy. He will work with scrumhalf Nate Augspurger against the Maori All Blacks Friday, continuing the rapport the two have cultivated with the Eagles Sevens program.

Fellow Sevens stars Martin Iosefo and Matai Leuta will fly down the wings in their first XVs appearances with the Eagles, while Niua will rampage the midfield with Bryce Campbell in the Indiana University man's first national team match. Mike Te'o will start at fullback having proven his reliability at the position throughout the year and with the development team last month.