Uruguayan win triggers sprint to World Cup goal

The relief of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup affords Mike Tolkin’s charges but 18 months to ready for USARFU’s goal of reaching the quarterfinals.

Maligned halfback Mike Petri’s solo try sparked three touchdowns over eight minutes in the final quarter, swamping outmanned Uruguay. Surviving a 15-on-13 spell and another halftime deficit, in rainy Atlanta the US pitched a second-half shutout.

The two-game, three-yellow card series was uncomfortable, particularly given the weight of expectations. America most looked like a XV of overseas pros facing domestic amateurs over the final 20 minutes.

‘In the second half we moved the ball a little wider from the rucks, changed the point of attack, and used some of that space that we had,’ Tolkin said in a prepared statement. 'We played physical, we have some size to us. That was part of our agenda’.

Ultimately the US XV held its nerve, and so can enjoy the thrill of gaining entry to one of the world’s larger sporting events.

There is a tendency to project a national XV’s success or failure onto the wider union, yet for USARFU there is not overmuch glory in besting tiny Uruguay, which hasn’t America’s socioeconomic might, playing base — 8,500 players versus 1.4 million — or International Rugby Board subsidies.

As 6 of Saturday’s starting lineup ran out against Uruguay in the 2009 World Cup qualifiers, and 7 started at least twice in the 2011 World Cup (with Eric Fry and Scott Lavalla also logging significant playing time), the core of Tolkin’s World Cup depth chart looks to be firm, save as always for unwonted injuries.

There are two Pacific Nations tournaments, a pair of inbound European teams, one fall tour, a handful of ‘A’ games, and perhaps some friendlies prior to meeting Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, and (presumably) Japan, meaning match practice is in short supply. As to the players’ ‘daily training environment’, most of the starters are now overseas, with additional contenders in San Diego at the Olympic Training Center.

Since a single spring season wouldn’t be much time for any hoped-for pro league to produce results, USARFU’s best option for aiding the national team’s performance looks to be funding significantly more Eagle assembly time. As the Uruguayan series demonstrated, players in better rugby environments is not the same as playing better rugby.

The USA’s 3 known opponents are all top 10 outfits, while the Eagles are 18th. Gaining the World Cup quarterfinals will probably require three wins.

Comments

[RWC 2051?]

Quarterfinals? Why do people keep throwing arou nd that word as if it has something to do with us? We're not playing in a quarterfinal, not in 2015 or anytime soon. We would do well to get out of this tournament with a single victory. Finishing third and qualifying directly for 2019 would be an extraordinarily successful tournament.

We are capable of winning the Rugby World Cup, but we are decades away from that. The sooner we accept that, work specifically towards that, and stop dreaming about meaningless and utterly unrealistic short-term goals, the more likely we are to achieve that someday.

[sick of clever]

Todd Clever's, use of "I" and "me" in his interviews made the 20 guys watching the Eagles match together all want to puke. He is the worst ever spokesman for a team. How about the halftime special with him surfing the 2 foot bunny wave, before the shirtless interview. The 19 year old who did the interview had a mancrush on Toddy. BTW, does he have a lisp, or is he just dumb and can't speak clearly.

[Pete M]

While I don't share your overt hatered of TC, I too thought that the interview was a tadbit silly.

[whatever]

The no longer young dude with scraggly long hair (like a worn out bar whore). Isn't there a rugby song about his hair, "her scraggly hair". The I talk. He can't even pretend to be about anything other than himself. The ref's think he's a fool. Why Tolkin thinks Clever is the right field captain is a mystery.

[same topic, different day ...]

When was the last time you all played at that level with a busted rib? There is a lot of hatred out there but I never see the guy do anything but leave it on the field. Then again the fact that the Eagles have qualified is just killing some of you.

[RWC 2051?]

There are plenty of legitimate criticisms, but I don't get the hatred for people like Clever, Petri, or Tolkin. It is possible to discuss their strengths and weaknesses and whether they justify their positions without resorting to cheap personal attacks and name-calling.

[Keith Seaber]

I totally agree with the two comments from RWC. If you really want the Eagles to do well, then get to Houston in June and show your support.

[go eagles]

We can want the Eagles to win and still think Clever is a self promoting joke. I don't hate the guy, just cringe at his shallow dudeness.

[WE ARE TIER 3 !!!!]

Todd Clever is a D-bag. Period. He shouldn't be captain and shouldn't be in the starting 15. He's good for a solid 15 to 20 minutes off the bench. If he can't handle that, drop him. He'll be fine doing his Captain America schtick in Japan for another couple years. After that I'm sure he will be in some pathetic reality show trying to live off of being the captain of a tier 3 rugby nation that has never won anything.

[Nine in the headlights]

Tolkin has shown extremely poor judgment in naming Clever captain and Petri vice-captain. Clever probably still deserves to be in the starting 15, but his ref management is terrible and LaValla seems like a much better leader. As for Petri, I like that he is a born and raised American in a position where that is a rarity and in the past he has been the best 9 available, but he's no longer even close to the best this country has to offer at the position.

Count me on the Tolkin out bandwagon.

[Chad W.]

I think the phrase "prepared statement" is a bit misleading. Here's the video from the post-match press conference, during which Mike Tolkin fielded questions from the media: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ9-k0Yr298&feature=share&list=UU-4Pv_2I2DAccPHtBOoyiMg&index=2.

[Roger Roger]

LaValla should be Captain. He has leadership experience and all the players were looking to him late in the match. The Captain Sarcastic routine is old with Clever. He does not know how to handle refs. Those statements have nothing to do with hatred. I want the Eagles to win and I think Clever is not the right man for the job.

Along those lines, Wyles should be the Vice Captain. He is the purest professional on the team, well spoken, has earned his bones in Sevens and 15s, and again is the guy the team looks to when they need something to happen in the backline.

[Sergeant Hulka]

Clearly, the captain of the team should be decided by the coach and the team, not armchair scrumhalves.

[All Hail Coach, in all His wisdom!]

Well the Sergeant has spoken. Who are the fans to dare have an opinion?

I just watch football on tv. It is ridiculous that I should think so much of myself to hold the opinion that Colin Kaepernick shouldn't lose his job to Blaine Gabbert.

[Varsity Chump]

St Mary's has beat Cal and BYU this year. Guess the Varsity Cup celebration will be the lead story for The Onion. What a joke.

[College]

Love love LOVE st Mary's. Tim obrien has been the best coach in college rugby for 7 years now. Him and Everett have knocked all of the sheen off that good and blue jersey.

[Grant]

College club rugby has splintered into multiple factions and will continue to do so. Arguing over which college rugby club is the best is moot.

It would be nice if the next evolution of the Varsity Cup would invite the likes of Arkansas State, Kutztown, Life, & St Mary's. But we all know that is not going to happen, because those are not 'brand names'.

One day, the US rugby community will get off of it's high horse and realize that the American sports fan wants to watch the best play the best regardless of school affiliation and that the same sports fan loves a 'Cinderella story' team.

Today is not that day.

[college]

I dont know if all of those teams have been extended an invitation, but Arkansas State definitely was and rejected it to stay in d1a. It's not like Central Washington has a bigger name than ArkSt or St. Mary's.

[wtf]

College football has had invitational bowls games since 1902 and the college game developed without a national championship game. College bowls were develop by tourism boards to generate economic benefit. Rugby is far behind football. College rugby does not have the money to ship teams around the country and should focus on developing strong regional conferences.

[college]

Has Cal ever been beaten this bad before (by an American college team)? Anyone know?

[college]

did a little research via cal's website:
Worst losses since 99-00 season (archive only goes back that far) are against UBC: 49-26 during 99-00 season, Air Force: 46-28 during semifinal in 02-03 (didn't start macdonald and their starting 9), Cal Poly: 58-18 (played their reserve side), and UBC again: 29-15 in 05-06.

So this is the first unmitigated blowout at the hands of an American side since at least then. I'm sure they have some bad losses back in the day when Stanford and Notre Dame were big in rugby.

I'm not a Cal hater by any means. They should take this as a good sign for the game. We are finally getting a measure of competitiveness at the elite college level with 5-7 top tier teams: Cal, SMC, BYU, Arkansas State, Life, Lindenwood, and Davenport. And a solid 2nd tier of teams that can make things interesting for 60 minutes: UCLA, Central Washington, Utah, Kutztown. Then we have another tier that can get there if they get their ish together as far as coaching/recruiting/etc: PSU, Army, Navy, Arizona, Arizona State, Air Force, Dartmouth, etc.

This is all very good for college rugby and American rugby in general.

[Cal]

Kurt, would you please do a post-game report on Cal losing, and include the heights and weights of all the players involved?

[CalCulate THAT!]

For decades Cal was the only college with access to high school rugby closeby and with varsity status with all the perks it brings. Now there is HS rugby everywhere and not just in Nor Cal and the virtual varsity model is allowing teams get more access to what they need to compete. You have to wonder if Jack Clark is that good of a coach when the playing field is level.