USA v Italy

[dudeabides]

HOUSTON (AP) -The United States will go after its first win over Italy in a one-off rugby test on Saturday with the same side which beat Georgia for the Eagles' first home win in two years.
Only the wingers, James Paterson and Luke Hume, swapped positions from the side which defeated Georgia 36-20 in Colorado.
"The guys saw the hard work being translated into success against Georgia,'' coach Mike Tolkin said. "We're excited to build on it, and carry on that enthusiasm that is at the heart of it knowing we have to step it up against Italy.''
Italy, after making seven changes and beating Canada 25-16 in Toronto last Friday, reverted mainly back to the side which opened its three-test tour of the Americas by losing to Argentina 37-22.
That means the return in the forwards of prop Alberto De Marchi, who debuted against the Pumas and hurt his shoulder, 53-cap hooker Carlo Festuccia, and flanker Mauro Bergamasco, the most capped player in the side with 91.
The backline will be one of the youngest Italy's ever fielded, with an average age of 22 and a half.
Halves Edoardo Gori and Riccardo Bocchino start for the first time since the World Cup last year. Luca Morisi makes his first start after a debut as a substitute against England in February, and he's paired in the centers with Roberto Quartaroli, who will appear for a fifth time for the Azzurri. Fullback Luke McLean, the senior in the backline who turns 25 next week, was over a hamstring injury which kept him out of the first two tests on tour.
Italy has won all three previous tests against the Eagles, including at the World Cups in 1991 and 2011, but this will be their first test on U.S. soil.
"We dominated possession against Argentina and Canada and tried to impose our game but turned over too much ball and lost continuity,'' coach Jacques Brunel said. "We have to improve that.
"We also can't play at the Americans' level, but aim to raise our level. The United States have intriguing potential, they are a team that has a lot of confidence in their own physicality. They retain the ball well, and their back row and centers are very solid. I expect a tough match, like the one against Canada.''
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Lineups:

United States: Chris Wyles, James Paterson, Paul Emerick, Andrew Suniula, Luke Hume, Roland Suniula, Mike Petri, Todd Clever (captain), Scott Lavalla, Taylor Mokate, Brian Doyle, Louis Stanfill, Eric Fry, Chris Biller, Shawn Pittman. Reserves: Derek Asbun, Mike MacDonald, Andre Liufau, Andrew Durutalo, Mose Timoteo, Will Holder, Colin Hawley.

Italy: Luke McLean, Giovanbattista Venditti, Roberto Quartaroli, Luca Morisi, Tommaso Benvenuti, Riccardo Bocchino, Edoardo Gori, Robert Barbieri, Mauro Bergamasco, Alessandro Zanni, Joshua Furno, Antonio Pavanello, Martin Castrogiovanni (captain), Carlo Festuccia, Alberto De Marchi. Reserves: Davide Giazzon, Michele Rizzo, Simone Favaro, Tommaso D'Apice, ***o Tebaldi, Kris Burton, Alberto Sgarbi.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...2nd.ld.writethru.483/index.html#ixzz1yVKphNr3

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20....rgu.us.italy.2nd.ld.writethru.483/index.html

 

[Melhor Time]

Here is my preview.

The USA have a real shot at winning this. The Italian side, esp in the backs is weak. Only Gori and Benvenuti are quality. Suniula and Emerick should be able to give the Americans real opportunities.

Italy to win by 3.

BTW Planet rugby continues to not impress. Both Italy and the USA played Georgia last weekend according to their match preview. See here.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Italy will this one but it will be a very close game.

 

[Nielsch]

Last week a total of 12.000 tickets were already sold.

 

[dasNdanger]

Is this airing in the States anywhere?



das

 

[Feicarsinn]

Only Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook. But hey, it's sure gonna put them on the map.

 

[dudeabides]

It airs on Univeral sports. If you don't have it like me they have an online stream... for 8 dollars!

http://universalsports.com/

I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not, they aired the Georgia test that way too but I missed it. I'm going to the one in Houston tomorrow though, I can afford one a year so if this wasn't it I didn't know what was. My favorite Eagles are Clever, Wyles and Ngwenya and 2 of the 3 are playing. I could post some pics in a couple days I guess, but not sure if anybody would be interested in that.

 

[Feicarsinn]

It airs on Univeral sports. If you don't have it like me they have an online stream... for 8 dollars!

http://universalsports.com/

I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not, they aired the Georgia test that way too but I missed it. I'm going to the one in Houston tomorrow though, I can afford one a year so if this wasn't it I didn't know what was. My favorite Eagles are Clever, Wyles and Ngwenya and 2 of the 3 are playing. I could post some pics in a couple days I guess, but not sure if anybody would be interested in that.

We love match pics.

 

[dasNdanger]

It airs on Univeral sports. If you don't have it like me they have an online stream... for 8 dollars!

http://universalsports.com/

I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not, they aired the Georgia test that way too but I missed it. I'm going to the one in Houston tomorrow though, I can afford one a year so if this wasn't it I didn't know what was. My favorite Eagles are Clever, Wyles and Ngwenya and 2 of the 3 are playing. I could post some pics in a couple days I guess, but not sure if anybody would be interested in that.

Thanks. Yeah, I'd have to pay because USN is locked out for me. I pay enough for Fox Sports Plus so doubt I'll add that channel to my lineup until finances pick up a bit, though they are covering more and more rugby, which is nice. It may be worth the 8 bucks, though...


das

 

[Nielsch]

You got both matches (v. Georgia and v. Italy) for 8 bucks in total if you had been earlier... Weird they don't lower their price to let's say 5 or 6 bucks for just the Italy game.

 

[Melhor Time]

Will be streamed online for free.. no need to pay.

I am waiting for it to start.

7:30 pm CDT​

How long to go exactly... 1.5 hours by my estimate?

 

[LittleGuy]

20-10 for Italy at half time, shortly after half time Andrew Suniula took a red card for a late tackle though, so will be very tough for the States to come back now.

Edit: 17,214 in attendance, largest crowd in Eagles history, and most likely the highest ever in NACRA history.

 

[LittleGuy]

Another Red Card for the States to Emerick for not wrapping, Italy up 23-10.

Burton with a try at the death....Italy 30-10 U.S.A. Final score

 

[usausa]

I am impressed the US has held on for this long a man down. The US has shown over the summer tests that the attacking flair is there, but they make way too many ball handling errors. Also, there scrum has been under immense pressure and teams seem to be attacking Fry especially at tighthead. The backrow is pretty mismatch, with different players asked to play a different positions. But the Georgia game was promising because they looked like a southern hemisphere side with that quick ball. Those offloads are just too crazy though we offload more than Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge. Tolkin has definitely taken advantage of the depth of backs the US has, especially in the back 3. And honestly, who do you sit when Ngwenya is fit? I could go on and on but I think I'll stop here for right now.

Since Comcast took away Universal, I can't watch the game on tv and I am not paying to watch it online. I'll watch the replay probably Monday. I've been trying to start getting some stats on these games together, when I collect them I will share it.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Didn't see the game due to the time difference but happy for Italy.

 

[Nielsch]

2 red cards, sounds look a really poor discipline. Were they justified? Didn't see the match.

 

[LittleGuy]

2 red cards, sounds look a really poor discipline. Were they justified? Didn't see the match.

I saw the first one and it was justified also heard the second was, perhaps even more so than the first. I can't remember the last time I saw two red cards in a game for one team that wasn't due to a brawl, but two seperate incidents. I'll try to find a highlight package so we can get a look.

 

[usausa]

2 red cards, sounds look a really poor discipline. Were they justified? Didn't see the match.

According to USA Rugby's twitter, Andrew Suniula's was for a late tackle while Paul Emerick's was for not wrapping.
From rugbymag:
"Andrew Suniula knocked on, and with Italy playing advantage, he drilled Bocchino after he passed the ball, garnering a red card. Bocchino recovered and hit the kick, extending Italy's lead to 23-10."
"In the 66th minute, after a long Italian line break, Paul Emerick led with his elbow and whacked a ball-less Italian, garnering USA's second red card of the game. Down to 13 men, the Eagles conceded an inevitable try in the match's final three minutes, but garnered plenty of good feeling from the crowd for battling until the end despite being so shorthanded."

Losing both centers is tough but both have some history. Andrew's brother Roland (US #10) laid a cheap shot on a FB in a league game this season and that FB was out for the season. The video on that was bad, and Roland only received a yellow. Not good for the Suniulas.
Emerick has a history too. In RWC 2007, he spear tackled Olly Barkley near full time, receiving a yellow card and 5 week suspension. Then in 2009 he got 10 weeks for kicking a Canadian in the head in a RWC2011 qualifying match.

 

[dudeabides]

I had a great time at the match, would have been more if our side could have won but what can you do. Just as much fun as the match was the next door to the stadium pub scene filled with rugby fans (a rarer sight around here than most of the lucky people around here are used to probably). Got to meet some former Eagles, and talk to one of them, Brian Vizard, who was really nice talking to regular every day rugby fans like me for a few hours and even sharing food, heh. I said I'd try to post some pics and below is my best effort. I'm an admitted amateur at that, and forgot to charge the batteries even. My early pics were too blurry and the camera was out of juice before halftime even arrived. Well, at least my scoreboard shots were from the time when it was a competitive test in the humid as hell Texas sauna they call Houston.

​

I also saw that they posted youtube clips of the red card hits you guys were discussing up above here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWOO-CzKupY

And some regular old highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GSeZcmk-9A

 

[LittleGuy]

Great photos dudeabides!!!! Sounds like a good match to be at and a big crowd on hand.

Unfortunately the highlight packages are only available for American viewers.