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Young Eagle gets his wings

Eagles centre Thretton Palamo

The United State may not be World Cup contenders, but on Sunday they could write their own piece of history at this global showpiece.

Eagles coach Peter Thorburn has included Thretton Palamo among his replacements and the centre could rewrite the World Cup record books if he was to come on.

Turning 19 just last weekend, the uncapped San Francisco flyer would be the youngest player in the tournament's 20-year history. He will be aged 19 years and eight days if he gets a run and will surpass current age record holder, Argentina's Federico Mendez, who made his debut in 1991.

"It's cool. It will be great to be in the history books, but I guess it's the luck of the draw," he said.

"There must have been a lot of players around the same age so I guess I was born at the right time."

On his call-up, Palamo added: "I'm relieved, I guess. It has been difficult to get on the field because we have a lot of strength in my position.

"It's a privilege to make the 22. Two months before the World Cup I thought I would be watching the games on television.

"It's a great experience. I was nervous watching the first game against England and I wasn't even in the 22."

Palamo has been interested in rugby since he can remember. He grew up watching his brothers play and he finally started officially playing himself when he was 16.

He played two years for the Samoan Under-19 team and played for the 2006 Manu Samoa Sevens Team.

In 2007 Palamo played in the last leg of the North America Four and earned his call-up to the Eagles World Cup squad.

For Palamo, rugby is a family tradition. His father was a rugby legend in Samoa, and both his older brothers have played the game.