The story of Dom Besag’s introduction to his sport is likely to go down well with rugby fans.
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Besag, six years old at the time, played soccer—sorry, soccer—for his local club in California. And his approach, according to Besag, was “quite aggressive”. Enough so that one of the onlookers, who happened to be training at the nearby Danville Oaks rugby club, wandered over to Besago’s father and made a suggestion. “Maybe your child should start playing rugby instead of football,” explains Besag. “So I went and tried rugby and … I loved it.”
To be clear, “pretty aggressive” doesn’t mean knocking other kids down with two-legged lunges or throwing elbows in the corners. It was more how he behaved.
“I think it’s the way I run. I’ve always run the same way. My feet hit the ground really hard and my arms move a lot. It’s not very… elegant.” After coming to the first training session, Besag felt at home.
The center is one of America’s rising stars, a regular starter who has already made his debut as a 19-year-old against Georgia. The kind of pillar that the Eagles can build around not just next year Rugby World Cup in Australia, but after that until the next home tournament in 2031.
Before we get into the USA’s plans for the upcoming Cup of Nations in November, Besag wants to clear something up.
Back in July it was announced that Besag had signed a contract to join the Sharks South Africa ahead of the 2026/27 season.
In fact, Besag only linked up with the Sharks for about two weeks, effectively acclimating to their environment on a trial he describes as an “amazing” experience but not a permanent move.
“To be honest, I have no idea what happened. I think it was a little miscommunication on their part. I haven’t signed any contracts yet. I’m still looking for a team.”
Interestingly, the post announcing Besag’s move has been deleted from social media, but the player’s profile remains active on the Sharks website. He remains keen to explore signing with the Sharks in the future, praising the players and coaches for giving him such a warm welcome, with both sides planning to reopen talks after November. But so far, no contract has been signed, and Besag remains largely a free agent.
Besag grew up trying his hand at baseball and American football – first as a running back and running back – but rugby was a clear preference, joining San Diego Legion academy.
Which means the USA’s next three games in November – against Hong Kong in France, Romania in Bucharest and finally Georgia in Tbilisi – will place Besag firmly in the window.
As basic as this sounds, Besag looks like a player ready for the next step. One of his two tries last November against Georgia showed elite footwork, including a viscous sidestep to get past the last defender.
All skills were first honed at Danville Oaks, located just over half an hour east of San Francisco. Besag still remembers the “insurmountable” sense of belonging and camaraderie he felt from the coach when he first arrived.
He grew up trying his hand at baseball and American football – first as a running back and running back – but rugby being a clear preference, he joined the San Diego Legion academy.
The disruption in high school rugby following the Covid pandemic left the academies as Besago’s main training ground for development, playing in round-robin tournaments against other academies, building friendships and continuing to play age-level rugby for the USA. Besag was the captain of the Under-20 team.
His inspirations during that crucial decade of development were Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams – two good choices – with Danny Barrett’s hard-running style for the American Sevens another point of contact. But it was the thriving college game in the US that fascinated Besag, watching the players in those games held at nearby Saint Mary’s College in California become Eagles. The first game he attended was USA vs. Canada in Sacramento, and he later traveled to Washington DC to see the face of the USA New Zealand in 2021
By the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Besag was tucked away. He remembers staying up until “four, five in the morning every night” watching that tournament and waking up with a headache.
When Besag played against Japan in Sacramento last September, it was in the same stadium where he first watched the USA play all those years before.
“I got to go out on the court with some of the Danville Oaks kids, and it was a great full-circle moment for me. Just being one of those kids watching the game and then being in the game with those kids letting us out was special.”
At the time of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Besag was hooked. He remembers staying up until “four, five in the morning every night” watching that tournament and waking up with a headache. It all paid off, the moment he started really analyzing the sport and couldn’t get enough, “like he was drinking from a fire hose”.
If all goes to plan, then in a year it will be Besag’s turn to make a run at the Rugby World Cup, representing the USA in their first game of the tournament, a serious start against rivals France.
There is a lot of work to do beforehand. A very good summer, with wins over Portugal, Zimbabwe and Spain when the “vibes were great” followed with a fourth-place finish at the Pacific Nations Cup, losing the third-place playoff to bitter rivals Canada. An experience that, Besag admits, is never fun. “Coming out on the other side of that, it’s tough. It’s a competitive rivalry, and both sides really, really want to win. That’s one that stays with you for a while.”
Win or lose, the philosophy under coach Scott Lawrence remains the same, demanding that his players “empty the tank.” There is an opportunity with the Cup of Nations in November to build momentum, just as the USA did over the summer. To “continue to discover who we are”, as Besag says, “to be brave in our own mind and find what makes us ‘us'”.
And from there, the 22-year-old Besag will look for a new club. “I’m all for unpredictability,” he adds with a smile. Surely it won’t take long for the team to catch him.
