More Code-Swapping for U.S. Side

Given that there's not a lot of money to be made playing either rugby union or rugby league in the United States, players swapping codes or playing both codes simultaneously doesn't quite bring the controversy that it does elsewhere. That said, there are a lot of interesting crossovers between the codes going on in the United States. Considering that the U.S. rugby union team's coach, Australian Scott Johnson, hails from a country with a pretty strong rugby league tradition, it is perhaps unsurprising that Johnson is digging deep into rugby league for players.

For the United States' match against ASM Clermont Auvergne last weekend, Johnson brought in Tyrone Coppedge from second-tier Australian rugby league club Souths Logan Magpies. For next Saturday's Setanta Challenge Cup match against Munster, Johnson has brought in American National Rugby League star Nick Isbrandtsen, who also plays lacrosse at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, for a trial. Coppedge also returns to the side for a second match.

In anticipation of Isbrandtsen's debut, here are a couple of Connecticut Wildcats clips featuring Isbrandtsen. He can be seen playing at lock forward (a.k.a. loose forward, a position similar to a rugby union number eight) and wearing jersey number 15: