Titi Lamositele of Bellingham will start Saturday for the United States national rugby team in its match against Australia at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Lamositele, who went to Sehome High School, plays professional rugby for the London Saracens. At 6 foot and 250 pounds, the 20-year-old plays prop.
Saturday’s game is the last before the Eagles head for England and the Rugby World Cup with their first match on Sept. 20 against Samoa.
Three Seattle players – Olive Kilifi, Lou Stansfill and Shalom Suniula — on the U.S. team will be held in reserve for the Aussie match, which will be shown on the NBC Sports Network at 4:30 p.m. PDT. A live stream is also available at NBCSports.com/LiveExtra.
Australia is ranked second in the world, and Mike Tolkin, head U.S. coach, said, “No matter the lineup that Australia put out, it will be very talented; but if we want to consider ourselves a team who is on the rise in world rugby, then we need to stand up to them