June Internationals: United States v Ireland (8/6/13)

[UlsterRugby2012]

Watching the match back now, did anyone else not get a decent amount of enjoyment when the cameras zoomed in on the American fans? I've never seen anything quite like it...

 

[usausa]

For the future there are two main areas that the US need to address, ASAP. Obviously the scrum, in particular new props or a scrum coach and lack of cutting edge in attack needs sorting. Any breaks that were made were more individual rather than team created. When they were in the Irish 22 they needed better running lines and dummy runners to make the Irish defense think and keep honest.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and the US should be proud.

Scrum has always been an issue. We have zero depth in the front row. We had three props, but now cap leader Mike MacDonald has been hurt for the past year. Pittman and Fry are our only international level props. Chris Biller is far and away our best hooker, Zach Fenoglio is a decent backup, and then after that nobody else. You can tell how the staff feels just by the way they sub: in the two tests so far this year, no front row starter has been subbed out. You can have Mike Cron as the scrum coach, but as the saying goes, "you can't make chicken soup out of chicken feathers". Saying that, the USA lineout is probably one of their biggest, if not their biggest strength. In theory, anyone could be a jumper, including props who have experience doing so.

As for the for the lack of "cutting edge in attack", I'd give it time. The US started out tight, and normally play a more aggressive game plan, similar to that of most teams like Wales and New Zealand. They use a lot of punch groups in midfield and then go out wide when they feel something is on. Problem last night is they weren't getting quick enough ball, and a few times Petri had to jump over bodies and by the time he passed it the defense was already up. The fact the ball moves to 10 these days is an accomplishment, it was awful watching the old Eddie O'Sullivan sides just pick and go or one off 9 all day. As I mentioned before, this is the first test where everyone is back together, and they've only been together for a week. And this is only Tolkin's second year in charge (8 tests) with many new faces coming in. I'm sure they do want to win games (friendlies, PNC) but the main goal is qualifiers in August. I'd rather them lose now to peak in August than burn all their energy now.

 

[usausa]

Forgot to mention, scrum coach is Derek Dowling, who is the Scrum Development Officer at Leinster Rugby and Trinity Premier's U21 forwards coach.

 

[dudeabides]

I had a great time at that match, fans were really nice at the stadium and nearby pub from both nations and I snapped a ton of pics (whatever happened on my side of the pitch since my camera has bad focus when I zoom in too far), here are some but I have a lot more if anybody is interested I just didn't want to overdo it...

 

[admartian]

Great pics mate - thanks for that.