USA all the way? doubtful

[DC]

overall the national setup is just ****, how do they expect to field a formidable team when they still play old men and dont test young blood.

i think its fair to say that unless you are absolutely supremely talented you have no show at making your usa senior debut until your mid to late 20's and thats just pathetic

chad erskine for example the usa 9 made his usa debut at 28 what the hell is that?

how about give mike petri the future for right now at 9 his debut instead (of course that is until i make it there !!!)

 

[Brodizzle]

overall the national setup is just ****, how do they expect to field a formidable team when they still play old men and dont test young blood.

i think its fair to say that unless you are absolutely supremely talented you have no show at making your usa senior debut until your mid to late 20's and thats just pathetic

chad erskine for example the usa 9 made his usa debut at 28 what the hell is that?

how about give mike petri the future for right now at 9 his debut instead (of course that is until i make it there !!!)
[/b]

Sounds much like the Wallabies to tell you the truth, except obviously not as bad over here, selectors as a whole are out of thier minds. :wall:

 

[rugby_roots]

I FEEL SORRY FOR USA

THEY'RE GONNA GET INJURED BY TONGA AND SAMOA.

THEY DONT STAND A CHANCE IN THIS POOL.

ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
TONGA HAS WEAK DEFENSE.
USA JUST LACKS SKILLFUL PLAYERS/.

 

[Kiwi Londoner]

ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
TONGA HAS WEAK DEFENSE.
USA JUST LACKS SKILLFUL PLAYERS/. [/b]

And where does South Africa stand?

 

[Brodizzle]

<div class='quotemain'>ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
TONGA HAS WEAK DEFENSE.
USA JUST LACKS SKILLFUL PLAYERS/. [/b]

And where does South Africa stand?
[/b][/quote]
Leaving them Over-rated

 

[voicekiller]

I FEEL SORRY FOR USA

THEY'RE GONNA GET INJURED BY TONGA AND SAMOA.

THEY DONT STAND A CHANCE IN THIS POOL.

ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
TONGA HAS WEAK DEFENSE.
USA JUST LACKS SKILLFUL PLAYERS/.
[/b]

I disagree...I don't feel sorry for them I think they will put up a fight

They probably won't advance, but they will be competative

 

[Hamster]

Looking at this forum its good to see the many interested American rugby followers. The game is growing but I dont know how it will get really big with NFL at the helm. I enjoyed watching USA play last wc. Hercus was awesome. I reckon they can beat Tonga.

 

[danroadking]

I FEEL SORRY FOR USA

THEY'RE GONNA GET INJURED BY TONGA AND SAMOA.

THEY DONT STAND A CHANCE IN THIS POOL.

ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
TONGA HAS WEAK DEFENSE.
USA JUST LACKS SKILLFUL PLAYERS/. [/b]

:lol2tn:

…At least they don’t have the pressure.

 

[davymark]

Hey I play in the Met NY RFU and there are three divisions with over 20 teams and each year the number and quality of play grows. Some games have hundreds of spectators. At the regional playoffs last year there were two days of rugby and thousands of fans that traveled over two hours to see us. So rugby exists in America, but the problem is the "professional" super league gets no mainstream press attention, and most people don't even learn about rugby until college. You can't develop quality players starting at 18 years old. ESPN is a joke they would rather cover competitive cup stacking than the third most watched sporting event in the world. So far this year they had one short article on their website about the RWC and the picture they attached to it wasn't even a rugby pic. They did show the college championship on ESPN college, but nobody gets that. So IMHO rugby is going to need a quality professional league and <strike>better </strike> TV coverage.

 

[darwin_23]

I FEEL SORRY FOR USA

ENGLAND IS GONNA TAKE THIS POOL BECAUSE SAMOANS LACK MOBILITY WITH THEIR FORWARDS.
[/b]

Yeah the English have a way more mobile forward pack :lol2tn:

I think USA will likely struggle in most of their games unless they catch Tonga on an off day, in which case it could be a close game... I haven't seen much improvement at all at the top level of USA rugby over the last 10 years, however I have been reliable informed that the level below has improved markedly over the lat 10-15 years, which is a good sign for American rugby....

 

[fcukernaut]

American rugby at the international level has at best, stayed level but more likely they have regressed. The results speak for themselves. They have conceided over 50 points to Canada in each of their last two games and haven't even been on the same park as them for 4 games on the trott now. Sure Canada has had some steady improvement but there is now a large gap between 13th and 15th in the world. You can talk all you want about atrocious structure and lack of viewership, but how about doing some easy things that don't require you to revolutionize your whole system, things like actually playing some actual test matches. How could you possibly expect to improve if you're not playing tests against good opposition. Playing the Churchill cup and qualifying games against Botswanna is just not good enough. You have to go on tour and you have to play top tier opposition. Go to Wales, go to Scotland, go to Italy. You have to play these teams and take your lumps so that you can improve. Not only that your best player have to play these games so that they can get pro contracts to play in the Guiness Premiership ect. and get better.

 

[NewFan]

Agreed, the best chance for a US win comes against Tonga. What kind of fan turnout do you think there will be for the Eagles? I'll be blogging about the pub scene, train scene, stadium scene in France, would love to hook up with some passionate fans in red-white-and-blue.

http://mediazonerugbyworldcup.wordpress.com/

 

[csmorris]

Yeah the English have a way more mobile forward pack :lol2tn:

I think USA will likely struggle in most of their games unless they catch Tonga on an off day, in which case it could be a close game... I haven't seen much improvement at all at the top level of USA rugby over the last 10 years, however I have been reliable informed that the level below has improved markedly over the lat 10-15 years, which is a good sign for American rugby....
[/b]

I think the biggest help has been the massive growth of high school and youth rugby programs. The vast majority of American rugby players never even see a rugby game until they go off to college or join the military. Hell, I watched my first rugby game from the second row of a scrum

I'd like to say that our amateur players have some additional obstacles to overcome with respect to high level play and test matches due to the huge geographic spread. Even playing at the club level is hard when you have to drive up to 500 miles each way for a match. As much as I'd like to play for the Eagles, I can't possibly imagine all that travel and time away would fly with my boss or any future employers (though I'd quit this gig in a heartbeat to play in a RWC... pipe dream, I know!).

Then again, Canada has the same problems and seems to do much better. So maybe it's not much of an excuse at all.

 

[Scrumbucket]

The game isn't really known outside of college kids that play it here. I honestly am still learning about Rugby, and find the union version very entertaining. It would be helpful if the RWC was covered by a more mainstream network then Setanta. The exposure such an event can bring a sport is demonstrated well with soccer. Say what you want about our fledgling domestic league, it's at least somewhat known and starting to gain a following and fanbase as it expands to more cities. Most Americans could not name a single professional rugby player. TV coverage is everything.

I'll go into this World Cup just like I go into every soccer one. Completely naive and myopic. We're gonna take this thing!!! :bana:

 

[Brodizzle]

I'll go into this World Cup just like I go into every soccer one. Completely naive and myopic. We're gonna take this thing!!! :bana:
[/b]

Portugal v USA final with Portugal to take it out....wooooo!

But seriously, don't you have like 50 sports channels over there, get them to put it on EPSN 8 (The Ocho) burn down the white house or something so they follow your demands, or write a letter to Chabal, he'll crash tackle the President of the sports networks through to the other side of the Earth...

 

[Scrumbucket]

But seriously, don't you have like 50 sports channels over there, get them to put it on EPSN 8 (The Ocho) burn down the white house or something so they follow your demands, or write a letter to Chabal, he'll crash tackle the President of the sports networks through to the other side of the Earth...
[/b]

Yes, there are quite a few sports channels depending on whether you have satellite, cable, etc.
At least there is an outlet to view every game if someone wants to watch it here. Not sure, but I doubt it was that way for past world cups. For some reason Setanta insists on being a stand-alone option that costs an additional $15 per month on most satellite packages.

 

[Jimellow]

I'm relatively new to rugby, but I put American rugby below soccer in terms of international success.

It's a shame, as I really enjoy the game and am looking forward to the greatly increased coverage the Internet provides, but Americans just have too many distractions and other sports to play for profit to make rugby or soccer financially feasible. We do well at our own sports, but on an international level, we are generally lacking.