USA Eagles -vs- All Blacks (24/10/21) 8.30am NZT

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Kinda expected 100 minimum tbh - almost playing a different sport

We all knew the AB's would win in blow out fashion, but I didn't expect them to break 100 points. I'm embarrassed for my Eagles. Congratulations AB's!

 

[mdaclarke]

Shows the difficulty that Rugby has in expanding the game, there is such a big gap between the top teams and the rest. In Association Football even mediocre teams can shut up shop and make a competitive game of it. In Rugby that's not possible and mediocre teams just get pumped.

 

[The Seeker]

Congratulations to Army who beat Navy in the other game at Fed Ex Field today. At least their game was competitive.

 

[Ruggerz]

I know it's always difficult to rate players' performances in a blowout like this game was but I thought Tupaea, Christie, Vaa'i, Jacobson & de Groot all put in strong performances.

Positives
Christie was quick to to the ruck and got the ball out fast.
Tupaea made some strong carries as did Vaa'i, Jacobson & de Groot.
Seeing Mo'unga back and making a number of runs bamboozling the USA defence.
Josh Lord making his debut. Congrats to the young man. I'm sure he enjoyed every minute he was out there.

Negatives
TJ Perenara. Why are the persisting with him honestly?? He offers nothing anymore. His passing has gone to the dogs and is not quick enough to the ruck. All Blacks were noticeably worse when they subbed Christie for TJ.
McKenzie's across field runs. He does this way too much. Missed two key tackles that lead to both USA tries. His defensive deficiency was on show during this game.
Asafo Aumua's lineout throwing.
Bench players not really making an impact. This is something that really hasn't been happening the past few years and should be a huge concern for the coaching staff.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Not sure how much we can really read into this messy game and we can't expect the same approach as the bokke in South Africa or something

Considering this is as a USA B team at best I think they did well

USA played much better in the second half and huge congrats on they're first and second tries against the abs

 

[Bada-Bing!]

 

[NZbloke]

USA defensive line was very tentative in the first half missing a lot of tackles, in the second they gained more confidence, so performed better... thought when the ABs made all those changes in the second half we went away from the basics, didn't take the ball up in the forwards through multiple phases, forced 50/50 passes, basically lacked the patience.

 

[NZbloke]

Shows the difficulty that Rugby has in expanding the game, there is such a big gap between the top teams and the rest. In Association Football even mediocre teams can shut up shop and make a competitive game of it. In Rugby that's not possible and mediocre teams just get pumped.

Yeah, it's so much easier to defend in soccer/football because there's only one way to score, through goals... rugby you have to defend across your whole goal line, & have the options to score points through tries, conversions, penalties & droppies.

 

[Yulia]

We all knew the AB's would win in blow out fashion, but I didn't expect them to break 100 points. I'm embarrassed for my Eagles.

Congratulations AB's.

It's almost a normal score against such ***ans of rugby like the ABs!! Judging by the highlights video, the Eagles were trying hard to do their best

***ans of rugby

Damn..ok, such giants of rugby

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Was it a good showing? No.

But the All Blacks embarrass Tier 2 sides routinely and even do it to Tier 1 sides from time to time. Not the first time they have hung 100 on somebody in last 5-6 years either.

From what I heard it sounded like there were some joint training sessions so I think this was more of a training camp with a glorified scrimmage to wrap things up.

Hopefully the team has learned from this and begin preparing for the Chile double header next year. It won't be easy.

And yeah, this should have been played on a Friday night cause 1PM on Saturday most Rugby fans are involved with rugby and casuals and injured former players are watching their unis play college football. Go Deacs.

 

[Derpus]

Was it a good showing? No.

But the All Blacks embarrass Tier 2 sides routinely and even do it to Tier 1 sides from time to time. Not the first time they have hung 100 on somebody in last 5-6 years either.

From what I heard it sounded like there were some joint training sessions so I think this was more of a training camp with a glorified scrimmage to wrap things up.

Hopefully the team has learned from this and begin preparing for the Chile double header next year. It won't be easy.

And yeah, this should have been played on a Friday night cause 1PM on Saturday most Rugby fans are involved with rugby and casuals and injured former players are watching their unis play college football. Go Deacs.

The real problem was the empty stands, improper field and the fact the Eagles could only afford (literally) one training session before the game.

And they are going to host a RWC? To be fair, it is the exact kind of knucklebrained decisions the geniuses at WR would make.

 

[Geordie]

I think you'll see nations from other regions progressing quicker than USA soon....

Many countries in Africa are playing now, South American sides are already competing and beating Canada and USA now...so will move on from them quickly.

European Nations sides should really be progressing more now. Rugby looks made for the likes of the Germans etc.

USA and Canada could be left well behind...

 

[ChicagoKid]

I think you'll see nations from other regions progressing quicker than USA soon....

Many countries in Africa are playing now, South American sides are already competing and beating Canada and USA now...so will move on from them quickly.

European Nations sides should really be progressing more now. Rugby looks made for the likes of the Germans etc.

USA and Canada could be left well behind...

World Rugby is never going to move on from chasing the USA. It might be futile but they won't stop. There's way too much money at stake to give up.

 

[Derpus]

World Rugby is never going to move on from chasing the USA. It might be futile but they won't stop. There's way too much money at stake to give up.

Its a saturated sporting market. Combine that with the fact they'll almost never be succesful without at least 20 years of sustained and effective investment and its just pointless.

Its the same mistake RA made chasing Melbourne. It seems like it should be lucrative but it's fools gold.

 

[ChicagoKid]

Its a saturated sporting market. Combine that with the fact they'll almost never be succesful without at least 20 years of sustained and effective investment and its just pointless.

Its the same mistake RA made chasing Melbourne. It seems like it should be lucrative but it's fools gold.

I don't disagree. But they hasn't stopped any other sporting league. When you're the prettiest girl at the bar, you're always going to get attention.

It's why the RWC will likely be in the USA in 2031.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I think thats the final test though, we know the fields wont look like that for a RWC, if they win they'll do it properly, they have too, we saw how strict WR can be with the whole 2003 advertising debacle

Give them a shot to raise more supporters on the back of a huge event

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Lines on the pitch should not be a reason against the US holding the World Cup. We don't hold it against other countries that they share grounds with other codes so there 's no reason to hold it against the US. The bigger issues are geography and the traditional time the World Cup is held. We are an awful country to tour because we are so huge and the only parts of the country worth visiting have a whole lot of nothing in between them. Secondly, it would have to be a spring World Cup as to avoid football and to avoid playing in god awful heat. The early world cups were May to June but recent ones have all been ending around October. It would have to be played April to June.

Would I trust USA Rugby to host a World Cup, Hell No, I'm amazed they got me in and out of South Africa. But I would trust World Rugby to host a quality event and work out the logistics if it something they cared about. Additionally, is rugby gonna boom in the United States overnight? Again, no. But no sane person thinks it will. But there is an opportunity to make small gains over time and you aren't going to make any if you don't try.

Back to the test game, which this thread is about. It's not pointless, it's important for tier 2s to get looks at tier 1 quality (maybe it should be their second sides but that's a different discussion). Again, let's hope the boys and staff learned their lessons and Gold watches 16 hours of tape on Chile a day til next summer. AJ needs to get healthy or we will be playing in the repechage. I'm glad to see rugby growing with our Southern Hemisphere brothers, hopefully we can build some great rivalries and they can get the Tier 1 tests they deserve.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Lines on the pitch should not be a reason against the US holding the World Cup. We don't hold it against other countries that they share grounds with other codes so there 's no reason to hold it against the US. The bigger issues are geography and the traditional time the World Cup is held. We are an awful country to tour because we are so huge and the only parts of the country worth visiting have a whole lot of nothing in between them. Secondly, it would have to be a spring World Cup as to avoid football and to avoid playing in god awful heat. The early world cups were May to June but recent ones have all been ending around October. It would have to be played April to June.

Would I trust USA Rugby to host a World Cup, Hell No, I'm amazed they got me in and out of South Africa. But I would trust World Rugby to host a quality event and work out the logistics if it something they cared about. Additionally, is rugby gonna boom in the United States overnight? Again, no. But no sane person thinks it will. But there is an opportunity to make small gains over time and you aren't going to make any if you don't try.

Back to the test game, which this thread is about. It's not pointless, it's important for tier 2s to get looks at tier 1 quality (maybe it should be their second sides but that's a different discussion). Again, let's hope the boys and staff learned their lessons and Gold watches 16 hours of tape on Chile a day til next summer. AJ needs to get healthy or we will be playing in the repechage. I'm glad to see rugby growing with our Southern Hemisphere brothers, hopefully we can build some great rivalries and they can get the Tier 1 tests they deserve.

just re your first point, Aus and USA are pretty comparable size and at least the USA does have something in the middle other than a huge desert, and aussie is trying to host again

 

[Derpus]

Lines on the pitch should not be a reason against the US holding the World Cup. We don't hold it against other countries that they share grounds with other codes so there 's no reason to hold it against the US. The bigger issues are geography and the traditional time the World Cup is held. We are an awful country to tour because we are so huge and the only parts of the country worth visiting have a whole lot of nothing in between them. Secondly, it would have to be a spring World Cup as to avoid football and to avoid playing in god awful heat. The early world cups were May to June but recent ones have all been ending around October. It would have to be played April to June.

Would I trust USA Rugby to host a World Cup, Hell No, I'm amazed they got me in and out of South Africa. But I would trust World Rugby to host a quality event and work out the logistics if it something they cared about. Additionally, is rugby gonna boom in the United States overnight? Again, no. But no sane person thinks it will. But there is an opportunity to make small gains over time and you aren't going to make any if you don't try.

Back to the test game, which this thread is about. It's not pointless, it's important for tier 2s to get looks at tier 1 quality (maybe it should be their second sides but that's a different discussion). Again, let's hope the boys and staff learned their lessons and Gold watches 16 hours of tape on Chile a day til next summer. AJ needs to get healthy or we will be playing in the repechage. I'm glad to see rugby growing with our Southern Hemisphere brothers, hopefully we can build some great rivalries and they can get the Tier 1 tests they deserve.

The pitch was not regulation size. It was too narrow and the in goal was too short. It wasn't about the lines (although in Aus/NZ we do somehow manage to change them between games - truly shocking level of technological advancement).

But fine - let WR send yet another world cup to the northern hemisphere. Try and 'build the game' in a place that has no interest in it. Why the hell not?

Oh yeah - because it's rapidly losing traction in it's traditional strongholds in the Southern Hemisphere - and in the case of Australia at risk of disappearing altogether.

Sending the WC to a place where it isnt even a supported sport seems properly moronic to me. But then I suppose I have a vested interest.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Australian World Cups would be focused on Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane with some matches thrown to Perth, Melbourne, and maybe Adelaide. Touring there would be considerably easier than the US where you'd have to decide on whether to focus on New York or LA. Hitting all our major cities would be such a pain in the ass I just don't see it being plausible.

In regards to the field, it's ******* FedEx Field, what do you expect. It's owned and operated by the most corrupt organization in pro sports that's in the news more for its hostile work place environment and potential congressional investigations than it is for being good at football. This May, the team finally upgraded the playing surface after 24, TWENTY FOUR, years and numerous complaints from players about the quality of the turf. I'm confident a competent organization could pick stadia that didn't suck ass.

And just because the middle of our country has corn and therefore doesn't qualify as a desert doesn't mean it's worth your while.

There are a few very strong reasons for the US not to host a Rugby World Cup, but the match on Saturday doesn't show anything for or against.