Collegiate All Americans Head Coach Matt Sherman has made wholesale changes for Wednesday's match against Wairapa Bush in New Zealand.

Of the 15 starters for Wednesday's game in Masterton, 13 are new starters. Lock John Cullen and wing Tim Maupin changer jersey numbers, but will start for the second time in a row.

Notable on the squad is San Diego State freshman Stephen Tomasin, who slots in at outside center.

Cullen and Ben Landry from UW-Whitewater form a formidable 6-5 combo at second row. They will be central to the AAs' set piece efforts.

Sherman said he was overall fairly pleased with his squad's 17-10 loss to a New Zealand Universities side on Sunday.

"While we can still improve in all areas, I thought we generally outplayed them in the field position battle," Sherman told RUGBYMag.com. "Defensively we were quite organized and kept them in front of us, and in attack, when we didn’t have an unforced handling error, we were going forward in phase play and creating opportunities and forcing penalties."

Where the team struggled was in going forward from their lineout.

Their hosts competed well in the lineout, but, Sherman added, "regardless our choices and execution in all facets, lift, throw, etcetera, was poor and led to an under-50-percent performance. Secondly, we were too loose with the ball in general, and tried to play too much rugby, especially given the conditions. There are other areas we want to target going forward, but I think these were they key areas we can improve dramatically in Wednesdays game."

After Sunday's match the team traveled from the New Zealand Institute of Sport in Palmerston North to Wellington. They reviewed game video and went through recovery. Tuesday is scheduled to be a team run and a visit to the New Zealand RFU Headquarters.

Then they play Wairapa Bush in Masterton, about 40 miles Northeast of Wellington.

The team will be treated to a traditional Maori Dinner afterward.

Thursday will be a recovery day and a chance to explore Wellington, and Friday will be video review and a team session. On Friday night the team will attend a Canterbury v. Wellington friendly.

And on Saturday they play their final match, against a New Zealand Universities team, followed by dinner for both teams at the US Embassy and a chance to watch two test matches that evening.

All American lineup for Wednesday's matchup v. Wairapa Bush.

The Collegiate All Americans lost 17-10 to a New Zealand Universities XV Sunday in the first game of the US team’s three-match tour.

The game was played in typically rainy and windy conditions in Palmerston North, and while the tourists showed well, they also gave up two soft tries that cost them dearly.

The All Americans took an early lead through a penalty goal from Joe Cowley, but received a blow three minutes later when highly-regarded openside flanker Alec Gletzer had to leave the game.

Still the All Americans pressured and things looked promising, but an interception turned that all around and suddenly the tourists were down 7-3.

Five minutes before halftime the New Zealanders extended their lead with a penalty goal from 45 meters out, that glanced off the upright and through.

It was a frustrating end to the first half for the All Americans, as they were in the New Zealand 22 several times, and ended the first 40 being held up in-goal.

The second half was a tight affair as both defenses held . It wasn’t until the 70^th minute that the New Zealanders broke through, and they needed a little luck to do it. A wayward pass went over flyhalf Pat Sullivan’s head, and a NZ Universities player toed it ahead into in-goal. The All American cover defense was there first, but couldn’t control the bouncing ball, and a New Zealand Universities player touched it down. 17-3.

With four minutes to go, Sullivan finally got over for a try for the All Americans, running a smart line and splitting the defenders from eight meters out. Cowley’s kick made it 17-10, and that’s how it ended.

“We failed to capitalize on most of our opportunities, giving up three penalties in their 22 in the first half, and getting held up in-goal to end the half,” said All American Head Coach Matt Sherman. “I thought our best areas were physicality and organization in defense, and we played field position pretty well.”

The All Americans struggled with their lineout, however, and their ball-handling. Their backs were a little too eager, and therefore lined up too flat, giving them less time to make decisions, and leasing to some poor choices on offense.

“Overall I’d say we were taught a lesson in how to play in wet conditions and the team is looking forward to another crack at them and applying the lessons learned,” said Sherman.

All Americans lineup
1. Mike Shepherd 
2. Glen Maricelli
3. Clint Lemkus 
4. Michael Lawrenson
5. John Cullen
6. Danny Barrett
7. Alex Gletzer 
8. Ryan Roundy (C) 
9. Jacob McFadden
10. Pat Sullivan 
11. Madison Hughes
12. JP Eloff
13. Zach Mizell
14. Tim Maupin 
15. Joe Cowley

Reserves
16. Paris Hollis (on for Shepherd at 70)
17. Eric Parsons (on for Lemkus at 67)
18. Ben Landry
19. Jordan Badia-Bellinger (on for Gletzer at 12)
20. Don Pati (on for McFadden at 60)
21. Mike Haley
22. Josh Tucker (on for Maupin at 67)

Fifty-three players wrapped up the All American camp at Occidental College today, with 28 flying out tonight to New Zealand for a three-match tour.

Head Coach Matt Sherman said the camp was extremely successful, and stressed that the 25 players who are not making the trip should not be discouraged.

“No one who came here didn’t belong,” he said. “We are getting more and more players with a solid grounding in the game from playing in high school as well as college. We’re getting guys who have seven or eight years of good rugby, and the credit goes to all the high school and college coaches who are doing such a good job.”

The squad will be without the likes of Seamus Kelly, Cam Dolan, Nick Wallace and Will Holder, who are with the senior USA team. Sherman shrugged off those unavailabilities, saying, “that’s the purpose of all of this. We’re happy for them.”

The team came together Saturday night to watch the USA men's team play Ireland, and Sherman pointed out that three players on the USA squad were recent All Americans.

"To show the guys, hey, there are three guys on the field for the Eagles who were where you are just a year ago really brings it home as to what they can do," said Sherman. "They really understood what can happen if they perform."

A few players surprised in how they showed at the camp. Among them was highly-regarded Cal flanker Alec Gletzer, who had a strong season for the Bears, and a superb camp. Gletzer is a higher-energy flanker with plenty of skill. That he played well isn’t that much of a surprise, but the performance of San Diego State freshman Stephen Tomasin was.

Sherman used to coach at San Diego State and people he knows there nagged him to invite Tomasin. The youngster, who came to the fore a little late to get a U20 look, was invited to camp when a place opened up, and now, at 18, is on the tour squad.

The All Americans will play three matches in New Zealand, two against a New Zealand Universities squad that will likely be a development team, and one match against a Wairarapa Bush men’s 15.

The team will arrive in New Zealand on June 12 local time, get a few days to acclimate, and play their first match June 16.

“This is going to be a good, competitive tour,” said Sherman.