Well the debate is over; USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin has decided to essentially empty the bench in choosing his lineup to face South Africa.

It was always going to be a debate, in that the coach either had to put his team’s top 15 on the field and try to beat a team they’ve only come close to beating once, or rest those players so they will be fresh to play Japan four days later.

In the end, resting players, and in addition awarding game time to players who haven’t played, is probably the only option. The Eagles need to be fully ready for Japan.

“It comes to a point in this tournament with a four-day rest where you have to use the whole squad,” said Tolkin. “Every team that’s been in this situation has had to do the same thing. We have to use the full squad and we’re confident in this full squad.”

South Africa made only two changes from the team that beat Scotland, but this upcoming game is their final pool match before the expected quarterfinals (they can clinch with a win Wednesday). The Springboks need to be settled for knockout rounds.

So it’s going to be a tough job for the USA squad. Tolkin said the players’ spirits are up (a comment echoed to GRR by scrumhalf Mike Petri). 

“Overall these guys continue to work hard and it’s amazing that we’ve been together three months,” said the coach. “The morale’s good, the work ethic’s very good. We’re just disappointed we didn’t get those wins (against Samoa and Scotland). We knew each World Cup game is a challenge but we also felt that we could win.”

Captaining the team, interestingly, is Samu Manoa. That’s a big move for Tolkin, who tends to lean on players he knows well, but it speaks to the quiet way Manoa goes about working hard.

“It’s an honor,” said Manoa. “Thanks to coach for giving me the opportunity. It’s really big for me and we’ve just got to give it everything we’ve got and hopefully I’ll lead the troops out.”

A few more notes about the selections:

Second rows Lou Stanfill, in his third World Cup, and Matt Trouville, in his first, will be under enormous pressure in the scrum. Ultimately, the recision to bring Trouville into the squad to replace the injured Scott LaValla, rather than look at the previously-dropped Todd Clever will be a decision debated post-tournament. For Trouville, this is an important game, while for Stanfill this may well be one of the last times we see him in a USA jersey.

The back row of Danny Barrett, John Quill, and Samu Manoa was at one point thought to be the USA’s best trio, and they could still be that. Barrett has a chance to earn a start against Japan with his performance in this game. If he is going to go full-on GEICO Caveman, this is the time to do it. Manoa needs the ball in more space. He leads the Eagles in carries by a large margin, but too many of those carries have been man-and-ball with no time to get up a head of steam. If he gets the ball with a chance to run up to the gain line, he could cause more damage.

The brother combination of Shalom Suniula and Andrew Suniula at #10 and #12 will be a nice story - Andrew and Rolan combined in 2011. Shalom needs to be his sidestepping best, and his defense needs to be better. The outside backs - Zack Test, Folau Niua, Brett Thompson, and Blaine Scully are all players who cut their teeth in the 7s ranks and are all players who can bring a moment of magic if they get the ball.

Not starting is Cam Dolan, who hasn’t started all tournament, and yet is arguably one of the best USA forwards. Dolan, in the opinion of those at Goff Rugby Report World Headquarters, should start against Japan. 

This will be a tough game for the USA. They will need to bring all of their dedication to the job. They can’t go halfway in tackles, and yet they have to trust their teammates to make those tough tackles - if too many defenders go in, then we’ll see holes elsewhere for South Africa to exploit.

The USA starting lineup has a total of 255 caps. The South Africa team has a total of 623. Bryan Habana has 113, while the USA backs have 105.

“We’re going out there to do a job on any given day,” said Stanfill, who will play in his 56th test match Wednesday. Any point of contact, one person can lose and we’re planning on not being at that losing end. We came into this with our goal (as) the quarterfinals. We still have two games left to prove how far we’ve come. The last two games I think we’ve let ourselves down in proving that. The direction things are going, future World Cups hold huge amounts of promise for us and America intends to fulfill that promise.”