USA Rugby announced on Thursday their selection of Australian Duncan Hall as the new head coach of the USA men's national team.Hall replaces Jack Clark who stepped down after the 1999 World Cup to concentrate on general managerial duties of all USA national teams.

A former Wallaby 2nd row/no 8 with 15 caps between 1980-83, Hall has also been Director of Coaching for the Queensland Rugby Union after playing 75 times for the Reds.Recently, Hall has coached Worcester in England and was previously the forwards coach for England Premiership club Leicester Tigers from 1996-1998.

The Eagles' new coach is a surprise name but should be received as a welcome one as considerable interest has centred on the possibility of bringing a Southern Hemisphere coach.

Commenting on his new job, Hall said,' I'm excited by the challenge.The USA has a bright future .With no illusions about the magnitude of the job at hand, I'm ready to get stuck in.'

Though Hall is reportedly already working on team organisation and player assessment , no other coaching changes have been announced as of yet.If the current staff is retained, Hall joins technical advisor Roger Gould as the second former Wallaby coaching the Eagles.Other current assistants include Michael de Jong and Welshman Rick Humm.The Eagles lost assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan in November when he returned to Ireland to join the staff of the Irish team preparing for the start to this weekend's Six Nations tournament.

The Eagles will kick off their 15s season in June with the Pacific Rim tournament.An international against Ireland has also been announced , followed by a probable tour of Wales and Scotland tentatively scheduled for November.