Thursday morning sees the USA and Japan lineups named for the Pacific Nations Cup semifinal as the Eagles get on the road in Higashiosaka City.
The USA team has not played since August 15 against the Argentina XV, but Japan has been active more recently—putting 57 on Canada last week.
"They like to play really fast, and that's clear when they play us and when they play pretty much everybody else," said USA captain Jason Damm. So the plan for the USA? Play faster, train faster, and prepare for it.
It comes down to "just being able to handle that and match it and bring our own to it," said the Eagle skipper.
Last year the USA lost 47-21 to Japan in the PNC, but Head Coach Scott Lawrence doesn't want to look backward.
"There's a saying: no man steps into the same river twice. For the man is different, and the river is different. So we're a different team now. We've got a little bit of a different focus. So the past is the past, and we'll take this game as it comes."
In a philosophical mood, Lawrence laid a bit more depth of thought on the US and Japanese press, and it went over big. When asked where the team is a year from the World Cup, he had this to say:
"I think we're a year away from being where we want to be."
This is a very smart response from the coach, given that they can't change space-time. He elaborated.
We've got some work to do, but we're three months ahead of where we were three months ago in building. There's a plan to go towards the World Cup. I think we're ahead in some areas. I think we're behind in some areas. Overall we are relatively on track to where we want to be."
