USA Head Coach interviewed about Fall Tour and the ARC in Argentina

[dudeabides]

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tolkin Talks ARC, Eagles Fall Tour
U.S.A. Eagles head coach Mike Tolkin was gracious enough to take the time to answer a few of our questions regarding the upcoming Americas Rugby Championship and the Eagles fall tour.

This Is American Rugby: When and where is this year's Americas Rugby Championship? Which nations will be participating?

Mike Tolkin: October 4-14; it will be in Argentina (specific location TBA), and the teams will be USA, Canada, Jaguars, and 4th team TBD.

TIAR: The last ARC squad in essence encompassed all of the domestic-based Eagles and worked as a warm up to the Eagles 2010 Autumn tour. Will this year's team be similar to that team or will it be more developmental?

MT: This team will be much more developmental to try to build a second tier of depth/opportunity for fringe players to improve their standing. The squad will be composed of players we see as potential Eagles as well as the reserves/non-22s of the Eagle squad (fringe players). It will be relatively young in gas, but not specifically limited to a certain age range.

TIAR: Are there any positions you are targeting?

MT: We will look at trying to build some more depth at 2, 9, 10 and our kickers if possible.

TIAR: What are your goals for the team heading into the Autumn tour against Tonga, Russia, and Romania? What positives are you looking to build upon and what are some weaknesses you are looking to shore up?

MT: We are looking to improve our play from the summer - to be more efficient in our tactics, more skilled as players, and more ruthless in our approach to winning. Our aim is to win the matches and play more complete rugby. This summer we saw our team attitude as a positive as well as our positive approach to playing the game. We would like to continue to improve our scrum, tighten up our defense, to put more pressure on the opposition through playing in their end more and capitalizing on their mistakes.

TIAR: Some players who had contracts overseas last year are now without contracts (let's hope they still get one!). For those players that are returning to the United States, what would be your advice?

MT: Amateur based players have to be extremely disciplined about their fitness. Since they are not in a professional sports set-up, they need to stick to their fitness plan and to test themselves using coaches and teammates. These players also need the same approach towards their skills, fundamental and position specific. These players can't rely on 2/week training session; they need to do it everyday in order to compete internationally with success.

TIAR: The Junior Eagles had a very successful JWRT and will play in the JWC next year, how involved are you and the rest of the Eagles coaching staff with the team?

MT: We offer our tactics and systems from our system if they want to employ them. We ask the coaches to start putting in some basics of play that we would like our players to obtain, but it is mainly their show. They know their team and how to get the most out of the players they have using the appropriate tactics. If they need anything at all, we are here.
Posted by Kelsey at 12:25 PM

http://www.thisisamericanrugby.com/2012/07/tolkin-talks-arc-eagles-fall-tour.html?spref=tw


And for what it's worth an article about the high school team's tour to South America:

Date:

Vina del Mar, CHILE – The USA Rugby High School All-Americans (HSAAs) kicked off their five-game South American tour with a win over the Chile U19 team in Vina del Mar, Chile, on Sunday, July 15. The U.S. team won 24-17 in the first of a two game series.


The 32-man HSAA squad arrived in Chile on July 11 and completed six training sessions prior to their matchup with Chile. Starting for the HSAAs were seven seniors, five juniors and three sophomores. The team was led by Andy Sandoval, the junior hooker out of San Pedro, Calif., who was chosen to captain the first game of the tour.


Chile started strong, forcing the U.S. team on the back foot with a try by their lock Mario Mayol at the eight minute mark. Two minutes later, ***i Lamositele, the dominating HSAA loosehead prop, from Chuckanut, Wash., powered over the line from ten meters out. Flyhalf Calvin Whiting of United Rugby (Utah) added the two point conversion. That gave the U.S. a 7-5 lead at halftime despite Chile's control of the time of possession.


Chile started the second half in similar style. Pressuring the U.S. defense with possession, continuity and support, they were rewarded with a penalty from flyhalf Francisco Urroz, who recently played with Chile's U20s at the Junior World Trophy in Salt Lake City. Urroz produced all of Chile's second half points with three more penalties.


Nuu Aaiva (Keaika'a Sharks, Hawaii) sparked the U.S. offense with two second half tries. One came off a fantastic midfield break by Lamositele and the other from a counter-attack by fullback Anthony Salabel (Dixon, Calif.), bringing the score to 21-14 after conversions by Whiting.


Substitute flyhalf Ben Cima, (Gonzaga College H.S.) slotted a penalty at the nineteen minute mark to open up a ten-point lead, 24-14. Chile responded with a penalty in the twenty-sixth minute and continued to test the U.S. defense until Fitou Fisiiahi earned a penalty and Ben Cima cleared to close out the game.


"This game could have gone either way," said Salty Thompson, the HSAA Head Coach. "Chile played better rugby for significant portions of the game, but our players responded with a commitment to defense. Jason Payne (HSAA defense coach) has made significant progress with our boys in four days and it's making a difference."


The teams face each other again on Wednesday in Santiago. "With a 32-man roster and a focus on player development we will make significant changes to the starting lineup and reserves," said Thompson. "I'm happy with the depth and commitment from the entire squad. Wednesday is a new opportunity to challenge and improve."

http://www.usarugby.org/#cc=[Application]\\Structure\\Content\\Brand%20Resource%20Center\\Content\\Home\\208D7949-1299-1078-7124-00E05889C33C\\NewsArchive\\23181D59-12E9-6177-4058-4ED0BD722E6E\\23181D59-135B-FBDB-E970-B94D1C96DD27\\23181D59-1389-65EA-127A-C02AB7B25F79{{Tab:View}}

And video of the match against Chile:

http://vimeo.com/45817261

 

[BZHopenside]

So...Samu Manoa...Robbie Shaw...
Good to see the kids are doing well though. When I played U-19 rugby, there was one team in my town. 6 years later there are 4. Next step is getting people to watch rugby as well as play it.

 

[luchito]

Uruguay will be the 4th team in the American Rugby Championship because they finished second in the South American Championship. The venues for the ARC are yet to be defined but will probably be in Mar del Plata, Rosario or Cordoba