University of Cape Town captain Jonathan 'JJ' Gagiano could swap his Ikey Tigers stripes for the stars and stripes of the United States flag, after jetting off to America last week on a trial with the national team.

The hard-working number eight, who led UCT to the Final of the inaugural FNB Varsity Cup earlier this year, has had a busy 2008 (aside from his rugby commitments, he also has aspirations of becoming a commercial pilot), but he was raring to go ahead of what he described as a "truly massive adventure".

"I qualify to play for the US through my mom," explained Gagiano to sport.iafrica.com.

"They contacted me through (UCT coach) John Dobson and even though they've not given me any guarantees, it's a great opportunity and one that I couldn't turn down."

The 23-year-old was initially named in a 44-man US Eagles squad, which was then trimmed down to 26 for a Test against Uruguay in November — as well as a game against a New Zealand selection — before taking on Japan in a Test series.

"Hopefully, if I make the final selection I will play against Uruguay and the NZ XV team in Salt Lake City, before those Tests (against Japan) in Tokyo," said Gagiano.

The last few weeks have been quite a blur for the UCT captain, with the initial advances from USA Rugby coming in the lead-up to the Intervarsity clash against Stellenbosch at the end of September.

"To be honest, it hasn't hit me properly yet," admitted Gagiano, a number eight in the mould of former Springbok captain Gary Teichmann. "I'm not really a guy that will hog the limelight, but all I can do is put my head down and work hard in what should be a truly massive adventure."

He added: "I don't know an awful lot about USA Rugby, but I have been reading up on their website and they certainly don't have a shortage of loose forwards, with Todd Clever — who has just signed for the Lions — one of their star men."

At this stage Gagiano has a return ticket booked to South Africa for Sunday, November 23 — but that could still be changed, provided, of course, how things unfold over the next few weeks.

"The USA Sevens coach has also been in contact with me about playing Sevens, so there are other options for me, too," said JJ. "I am a big fan of Sevens rugby and there's the small matter of the Sevens World Cup in Dubai next year, so I'm keeping an open mind."

The 1.92-metre tall Gagiano is not the only one of coach John Dobson's UCT stars to attract the attention of overseas scouts, with Varsity Cup teammate Mat Turner currently plying his trade at English club Bristol after an outstanding 2008 club season.

But Gagiano and Turner aside, a number of other Ikeys players have been head-hunted, both locally and abroad — after their stunning 2008 season, with quicksilver loose forward Kyle Brown having also recently been added to Paul Treu's SA Sevens squad.

So what then does the future hold for JJ Gagiano?

"You'll have ask my agent Kevin Foote," chuckled the Ikeys captain. "As I said, all I can do is give it a good bash when I go over now — playing for the USA would be a great honour and an amazing experience, so I'm obviously hoping that comes off.

"Further down the line, I'm not sure... I could come home and play in the Varsity Cup — which I really enjoyed this year — and still be available for the US, or maybe something else will open up for me further down the line.

"[But] one thing is for sure, I love my rugby and if I could play everything I would."

AFP