Posted on 09/23/2003 5:17:50 PM PDT by .cnI redruM
Hats off to the United States. The Eagles have positioned themselves sweetly for a legitimate shot at success at next month’s Rugby World Cup.
The USA came away from the recently concluded Pan-American tournament in Argentina with its best ever finish at the Pan-Ams and will be taking a winning momentum into Brisbane for its first-up RWC game against Fiji.
After dropping its opening game to the world class Pumas, the USA ended up going 2-1 in Buenos Aires leaving Canada and Uruguay floundering in its wake. In total, the Eagles racked up 74 points for, while allowing 79 against, although 42 of those points were run up against them by Argentina. But perhaps more importantly they scored eight tries in the three matches.
The record books will show that they found their offensive rhythm in the latter two games.
Coach Tom Billups is proving to be somewhat of a shrewd dude and deserves props for his game plan. He started a lot of guys considered to be second stringers in the Argentina Test, knowing full well that in that match, they would face their toughest opposition of the tournament.
No doubt he wanted to give those players a taste of what could be in store for them in Australia, particularly when they square off against hot shots France and the Scots. Billups isn’t likely to start those same guys in the USA’s hardest two Pool games, but at least he now has some idea of how they might handle the situation should he need to call on them.
The USA has been on a winning roll so far this year going 6-3 (6-4 if you count the Super Powers Cup final contested by a Second XV). And irrespective of what you might think of the opposition they’ve beaten (Spain, Japan, Canada and Uruguay) no one can take their wins away from them.
The fact of the matter is that not only did the Eagles defeat other countries considered to be at least of equal standard, they were competitive against England and weren’t disgraced against Argentina, two nations rated significantly higher than they in the world rankings.
Perhaps one of the more satisfying things about their winning run so far in 2003, depending on who you root for of course, is the turnaround in form against their long-time rivals Canada. The US is 2-0 against the Maple Leafs this year and not only did they beat the Canadians on the scoreboard, but they beat them in most facets of the game.
The last time the Americans put together two consecutive wins against their northern neighbors, who hold a commanding win-loss record in head-to-head contests, was back in 1999/2000.
Canada’s record so far this year is 1-6, having lost to England, the New Zealand Maori (twice), Argentina and the USA, so if you’re Canadian head coach David Clark, you’ve got to be a little concerned about your prospects down under.
After the USA Pan-Am game, Clark commented that he wasn’t too worried about losing to the Americans because the Argentinean game was the one that really mattered anyway. Well, the Pumas polaxed Canada and the USA finished second overall.
It’s pretty clear as to which of the North American rivals has their momentum going in the right direction as we count down to the RWC.
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