USA vs Canada Preview: The Stormy Seas of the 1st Leg
World Cup Qualifier series can be especially fraught, and this one certainly can as the USA gets set to take on Canada Saturday.
USA vs Canada KO 1:30 PM ET and will be shown live in the US on FloRugby and in Canada on Premier Sports.
Back in 2006 in St. John's (the last time the USA played Canada in Newfoundland), Canada rolled over the Eagles 56-7 in a Rugby World Cup qualifier. (The USA went on to beat Uruguay in a two-game series to qualify.)
Not a Retirement; Madison Hughes to Step Away from USA 7s Team
Chila Vista, Calif. (USA Rugby Release)—After seven years, two Olympic Games and numerous trips to the podium, USA Men’s Sevens Captain Madison Hughes has decided to step away from rugby with the intent to return sometime in the future.
Hughes is one of only five USA Sevens players who’ve represented their country more than 50 times in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. He was Captain for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, as well as Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, and also helped the United States qualify for Rugby World Cup 2019 in XVs.
USRF Hall of Fame to Inductee Saulala Naturally Thanks Teammates
Alatini Saulala was one of the great rugby players of the late 1990s, scoring one of the USA's most classic tries as well as being part of the most dangerous backline in the domestic game at his prime.
Playing for San Mateo alongside fellow hall-of-famer Vaea Anitoni, Saulala was a perfect blend of power and speed. Skilled and smart, he is, not surprisingly, a gentle soul off the field but a terror on it. He helped lead San Mateo to multiple championships, was a star for the USA, and will be inducted into the US Rugby Foundation Hall of Fame on October 29.
Here Saulala talked with USRF Director Brian Vizard about the thing he remembers best about his time as an Eagle—his teammates.
USA Names Squad to Face Canada in RWC Qualifier
St. John's, Nfld.—Bryce Campbell leads as captain when the No. 16 USA Men’s 15ss National Team faces No. 22 Canada this Saturday in the first of a two-leg series for Rugby World Cup qualification.
Kickoff is set for 3:00 PM local time // 1:30 PM Eastern at Swilers Rugby Club in St John’s, Newfoundland. The game will be live-streamed on florugby.com.
Due to travel complications, AJ MacGinty arrived late into camp and will be named to the reserves. McGinty actually arrives in camp today, September 2, after a very difficult trip to North America during which he had to stay in New Jersey training on his own.
Where to Watch Rugby in the USA
Back in the dark ages of the Internet, which would be 1998 or thereabouts, this writer used to get big traffic on articles that simply told rugby fans where they could watch their favorite sport on TV.
That was in part because the TV landscape was a little confused. Now, today, it's the live streaming and Over-the-Top (OTT) landscape that can be confusing. We decided maybe you needed a refresher. This is for rugby fans in the USA.
Where to watch ...
USA vs Canada. The USA vs Canada Rugby World Cup Qualifiers September 4 and 11 will be shown live on FloRugby at FloRugby.com. (Note that this editor used to work for FloRugby but doesn't anymore.)
Neal Brendel, Former Eagle, USA Rugby Chairman, Has Died
Former USA Eagle and USA Rugby Chairman Neal Brendel has died after a battle with mesothelioma, he was 66.
Brendel was a huge figure in American rugby throughout his life. He played for the Pittsburgh Rugby Club through the 1980s, a club he was later to serve as president, and was capped by the USA during that time, suiting up for the Eagles at prop in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.
An accomplished attorney, Brendel served on the USA Rugby Board of Directors and held several executive posts becoming Chairman in 2002 and holding that position until 2005. In 2017 the US Rugby Foundation presented Brendel was presented with the Craig Sweeney Award for his contributions to the game.
He held board and chairman positions with the Virginia Rugby Union, the Pittsburgh Rugby Club, USA Rugby, and the US Rugby Foundation.
Expect a Cold Reception in World Cup Qualifiers
Somewhat lost in the weirdness that is this world and how we shoehorn rugby into it is the fact that the USA and Canada will be meeting twice in September for Rugby World Cup Qualifiers.
The qualifiers for the Americans have changed, but, then, what's new? They always change. This time, the change is related to, what else, COVID. With anticipated problems related to travel, there's no all-Americans competition with teams from North American and South America playing. But still teams from both sides of the equator deserve a chance, especially given the fact that Uruguay beat both the USA and Canada in the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship.
USA vs Canada RWC Qualifier Set for Glendale. Tickets on Sale
USA Women to Host Canada for Two Tests in November
GLENDALE, Colo.– USA Rugby today announced that the USA Women’s 15s National Team will return to test match rugby with two matches against Canada at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colo. in November.
The top-ten ranked nations will clash on November 1 and 5, with both matches kicking off at 6pm Mountain Time. This will be the official start of the USA Women's autumn tour.
Tickets to both matches will be available in September, however fans can register for the exclusive presale to earn early access to seats and in-stadium experiences now.
USA Women to Play England as Part of November Tour
GLENDALE, Colo. — The USA Women’s 15s National Team will play England on the road on November 21 as one of four international matches in their Fall tour.
Venue, kickoff time, and broadcast info will be confirmed by the RFU over the coming weeks. Details for the remaining three test matches are currently being finalized and should be announced this month. However, getting a four-game November tour for the fall is a welcome opportunity for games for the Eagle women.
England and the United States last met at Super Series 2019 where the Red Roses came away victorious. Since then, the Eagles have held 17 total weeks of a Daily Training Environment (DTEs), broken into three parts, alongside a comprehensive remote program to prepare for Rugby World Cup New Zealand in 2022.
Eagles RWC Qualification Squad Named
GLENDALE, Colo.—USA Men's 15s Head coach Gary Gold has selected 31-players for the opening stage of Rugby World Cup qualification against rivals Canada.
The first match takes place on Sept 4 (KO 1:30 PM ET) in St. John’s, NL, with the second on Sept 11 (KO 9PM ET) at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO. Broadcast info will be confirmed closer to date. Tickets for the Glendale match are available at www.usa.rugby/tickets.
A total of 24 players will return from the Eagles’ July tests against England (L 29-43) and Ireland (L 10-71) with flyhalf AJ MacGinty returning as Captain. MacGinty recently healed from an injury that forced him to miss the aforementioned summer fixtures. The 2020-21 Fans Player of the Year for Sale will be a massive addition to the USA team.
US Rugby Foundation Lost Luncheon to Kick off All Blacks Weekend
The United States Rugby Foundation will be hosting the latest of its Lost Afternoon Luncheons in Washington, DC on Friday, October 22nd.
The event will help kick off the weekend of the 1874 Cup test match between New Zealand and the USA in the nation's capital at FedEx Field.
This is traditionally when the USRF brings in major names in world rugby to speak, share some stories, and give some insight into the world of top-level rugby.
The proceeds from the Lost Afternoon Luncheon support USRF initiatives, including local youth rugby efforts.
More details to come, but save the dates:
October 22: US Rugby Foundation Lost Afternoon Luncheon.
Chris Brown Leaves Women's 7s Coaching Job
TOKYO (USA Rugby Release)—Following the conclusion of rugby competition at the Tokyo Olympics, Chris Brown has decided to leave his position as Head Coach of the USA Women’s 7s National Team to pursue new professional opportunities.
Along with Brown, USA Women’s Head of Physical Performance and Assistant Coach Matt Long has also decided to move on so he can be closer to his family in New Zealand.
Analysis: Thoughts on USA Men After Tokyo
Looking at the Tokyo 2020 performance from the USA Men, I am not especially surprised or shocked.
From the end of the 2018-19 season, the Eagles had struggled with inconsistency, and so to see them continue to deal with that was no great shock.
Analysis by Alex Goff
But, having said that, we all knew the USA had the talent and the potential to medal in the Olympics. Of course, so did a bunch of other teams so there's that issue that's easy to forget—the other guy is working really hard to stop you.
Going Sideways: A Look at the USA Women in the Olympics
So let's have a look at this USA performance in Women's Rugby Sevens.
Analysis by Alex Goff
We can first of all stipulate how much this mattered to the players. All you have to do is look at the scenes after the Eagles lost to Great Britain in the Quarterfinals to see how much it mattered. To see the Great Britain players console USA co-captain Abby Gustaitis showed so much about this great sport, including the camaraderie between opponents, and how much effort, physical and emotional, goes into it.
NZ Gets Olympic Gold, Fijians Surprise. USA 6th
New Zealand won gold, Fiji shocked everyone and almost won a medal, and the USA took 6th in the Women’s Rugby Sevens event at the Olympics.
For New Zealand, their trip to Gold was peppered with a little luck and some boneheaded mistakes. Key among those was the end of regulation in the semifinal. Up 17-12 the Black Ferns missed a gimme conversion and then kicked the restart out on the full. That gave Fiji one more shot, and they scored in the corner.
The try forced overtime, where New Zealand scored, but, really, it should have been closed down well before then.
France produced yet again an excellent combination of speed and power, unselfishness and understanding. They kicked for an attacking tactic (more on that in a later article) and their midfielders often simply caught and passed the ball quickly—thus using the ball to outpace their opposition.
