Star Players
Although there are a lot of college's that play rugby in America the same systems are not as widely available at lower levels. This means a lot of players are unaware of the sport until college. In recent years American rugby has been tapping in to the large talent pool of NFL dropouts, around 15,000 university students are not selected for college teams each year. A large amount of these athletes are extremely talented and are willing to try a new sport. For example USA sevens star Carlin Isles, Isles began play American Football and then switched to sprinting when he was asked to join the Olympic 100 m. His time was 100 m was 10.24s which was considered too slow, and he was kicked from the squad. It was at this point in time that he was scouted for rugby 7’s, which he excelled at and became famous due to a viral video. On the other hand there are also quite a few Americans who did grow up playing rugby, for example Eagles captain Todd Clever who has played rugby all over the world. Clever is a class No. 8, he puts his body on the line in order to lead this Eagles team to victory.
How They've Fared
Unfortunately rugby in America suffered in the switch from amateurism to professionalism, along with a lot of other minnow nations. However the Eagles have still managed to perform, and have been in all iterations of the tournament apart from 1995 in South Africa. Despite this they are yet to qualify for the final stages of the tournament. Losing to Canada twice in the qualifiers, meant America had to face off against Uruguay for the Americas 2 spot. They drew the first game in Montevideo, but came back to win the second game in style on home turf. This means the USA will line up against Japan, Samoa, Scotland, and heavyweights South Africa at the World Cup. It will be a difficult pool to get through, although the USA does play Japan regularly, so will know what it takes to beat them. The US has started to gain the edge over Scotland, and Samoa in the shortened version off the game. Beating both teams in the HSBC 7s World Circuit. If they transfer the skill they will have the potential to make the final stages, but there are no easy games for team USA.
20/09 Vs. Samoa
Brighton Community Stadium
27/09 Vs. Scotland
Elland Road
07/10 Vs. South Africa
Olympic Stadium
11/10 Vs. Japan
Kingsholm
photo by Craig Boyd
Todd Clever