RWC Review: No. 16 United States

[M Two One]

The 2011 Rugby World Cup has ended and unfortunately for the rugby faithful, this means that we’ll have to wait four years once again, but don’t be disappointed, this was a special tournament. New Zealand hosted this time around, and with that, we realize that we may not see the rugby mad country host again for a very long time.

We hope that you all savored every moment and every match, no matter what the outcomes were, the disappointments or heartache. What impressed us the most is how well second tier nations developed over the past four years, which is great news for the sport on a worldwide scale.

Development is the key to this game, as any, and this world cup has opened the door to a large number of new fans.

As we take a look back, Shaggy, psychic duck and M Two One review the twenty participants from worst to first over the next week. The rankings were put together through several opinions based on performances.

Feel free to debate and discuss. The 2011 Rugby World Cup may have ended, but rugby lives on 24/7.

The United States came into the world cup dragging around a list of poor results over several months prior, most notably a devastating loss to the English Saxons in the Churchill Cup and back-to-back losses against Canada had put the Americans on most pundits’ hit lists for easy pickings in Pool C. The Eagles came into the tournament looking for two thingsâ€"to beat Russia and give it everything against Ireland on September 11.

Despite their poor form heading in, the United States managed to achieve their goals. First in the match against Ireland, on what was obviously a big day in the minds of the players and their traveling supporters, they managed to play staggering defense for much of the first half until they let a try slip by just before the halftime whistle. Keeping it close until the last quarter of the match, Paul Emerick secured a try following a fantastic intercepted pass, leading to a conversion, which gave the team a result to be proud of.

During the following match, Russia came out strong in the opening minutes, but after the Eagles took the lead early they slowly began to look tired. After securing the win, Coach Eddie O’Sullivan rested most of his top players for the match against Australia due to their tight schedule. The match resulted in a blowout win for the Wallabies and although it was a great learning experience for the Eagles that were selected to play, it was more important to prepare for their final match against Italy in hopes of an upset to secure third place in the pool. Chris Wyles secured an important try early against the Azzurri, converting it himself, and kicked a penalty ten minutes after to draw level. However, Italy was not about to let this one slip away as the team still had hopes of pushing through to the quarter finals. Two minutes after the Wyles penalty, Italy scored another try and they didn’t look back after their third ten minutes later.

With a solid performance against Ireland, a win over Russia and a bit of magic early against Italy, the United States managed to have a decent world cup. What hurt the team the most were their scoring struggles (they scored the least amount of points at the tournament), but this did not hamper their strong defensive approach throughout. Their top forwards played well, with flanker Todd Clever and lock Hayden Smith standing out amongst the rest. Tighthead prop Mate Moeakiola should also be noted as he secured his starting spot over Shawn Pittman coming on as a sub for loosehead stalwart Mike MacDonald against Ireland. With a great display of aggressive and intelligent tackles, his performance prevented any further scoring opportunities despite some of his teammates starting to crack.

The backs were another story entirely, struggling to score or produce much momentum for the team. The Eagles lacked a decent fly half without Mike Hercus and this left a gapping hole in their attacking game. Takudzwa Ngwenya could not be criticized for performances as there was absolutely no one there to help set him up, which left him out on the right wing like a ghost. The only true standout was outside centre Paul Emerick, who played exceptionally well against Ireland. Not only did he run the ball well, he played hard on defense and was as aggressive as the forwards, using his weight and strength to counter ruck intelligently.

We are seeing more players being picked up by European clubs as the sport continues to grow in the United States. With a professional league possibly on the horizon, one might wonder how good the Eagles will be ten to twenty years down the road. - M