The story of Dom Besag’s introduction to his sport will probably go down well with rugby supporters.

Besag, then six years old, played football – sorry, soccer – for his local club in California. And his approach, in Besag’s words, was “pretty aggressive”. Enough so that someone watching, who happened to coach at the nearby Danville Oaks Rugby Club, wandered over to Besag’s father and made a suggestion. “‘Maybe your kid should start playing rugby instead of soccer’,” Besag explains. “So I went and tried out rugby and… I loved it.”

To clear up one detail, “pretty aggressive” does not mean scything down other kids with two-footed lunges or flinging out elbows at corners. It was more how he carried himself.

“I think it’s the way I run. I’ve always run the same. My feet hit the ground really hard, and my arms move a lot. It’s not very… elegant.” After he turned up for the first training session, Besag felt right at home.

The centre is one of the USA’s rising stars, a regular starter having already made his debut as a 19-year-old against Georgia. The kind of pillar the Eagles can build around not just going into next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, but beyond that to the next tournament on home soil in 2031.

Before getting into the USA’s plans for the upcoming Nations Cup in November, there is something that Besag wants to clear up.

It was announced back in July that Besag had signed a deal to join the Sharks in South Africa ahead of the 2026/27 season.

In fact, Besag only linked up with the Sharks for about two weeks, getting used to their environment effectively on a trial which he describes as an “unbelievable” experience, but not a permanent move.

“To be honest, I have no idea what happened. I think it was a bit of a miscommunication on their end. 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 a player profile remains live on the Sharks website. He remains keen to explore signing with the Sharks in the future, praising the players and the coaches for welcoming him in so warmly, with both parties planning to open up discussions again after November. But as of right now, no contract has been signed, and Besag remains very much a free agent.

Besag grew up trying his hand at baseball and American football – first as a running back and linebacker – but rugby was the clear preference, joining the San Diego Legion academy.

Which means the USA’s upcoming three matches in November – facing Hong Kong in France, Romania in Bucharest and finally Georgia in Tbilisi – will place Besag firmly in the shop window.

As basic as this may sound, Besag just seems like a player ready to take the next step. One of his two tries last November against Georgia showed elite footwork, including a viscous sidestep to go past the final defender.

Skills all first honed at the Danville Oaks, based just over half an hour east of San Francisco. Besag still recalls that “unsurmountable” feeling of belonging and camaraderie he felt from the coaches when he first arrived.

He grew up trying his hand at baseball and American football – first as a running back and linebacker – but rugby was the clear preference, joining the San Diego Legion academy.

Disruption to high school rugby in the wake of the Covid pandemic left the academies as Besag’s main training ground to develop, playing in round-robin tournaments against other academies, building friendships and going on to play age-grade rugby for the USA. Besag captained the Under-20 side.

His inspirations during that pivotal decade of development were Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams – two fine choices – with Danny Barrett’s hard-running style for the USA sevens side another touch point. But it was the thriving College game in the US that fascinated Besag, watching players in those matches held at the nearby Saint Mary’s College of California go on to become Eagles. The first match he attended was a USA game against Canada in Sacramento, later travelling to Washington D.C. to see the USA face New Zealand in 2021.

By 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 headaches.

When Besag played against Japan in Sacramento last September, it was in the same stadium where he had first watched the USA play all those years beforehand.

“I got to walk out on the field with some of the kids from Danville Oaks, and that was an awesome full circle moment for me. Just being one of those kids watching the game and then being in the game with those kids walking us out was special.”

By 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 headaches. All entirely worth it, at a point where he had started really analysing the sport and could not get enough, “like drinking out of a fire hose”.

Should all go to plan, then in a year’s time it will be Besag’s turn to run out at the Rugby World Cup, representing the USA in their opening game of the tournament, a serious start against contenders France.

There is plenty of work to be done beforehand. A very good summer, with wins over Portugal, Zimbabwe and Spain when “the vibes were great”, was followed by finishing fourth in the Pacific Nations Cup, losing the third-place playoff to bitter rivals Canada. An experience which, Besag admits, is never fun. “Coming out on the other side of that, it’s tough. It’s a competitive rivalry, and both sides want to win very, very badly. It’s one that sticks 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 Nations Cup this November to build momentum, just as the USA did in the summer. To “continue figuring out who we are,” as Besag puts it, “being brave within our own minds and finding what makes us ‘us’.”

And from there, the 22-year-old Besag will be looking for a new club. “I’m up for the unpredictability,” he adds with a smile. It surely will not take long for a team to snap him up.