Tough Opening Day for USA at Maccabiah Games
Tough Opening Day for USA at Maccabiah Games
The USA Men's Maccabia rugby team went 0-2 in the first day of competition at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
The USA team, which on the Gold last time out, was beaten handily by South Africa 26-5, and then dropped a close one 17-12 to Israel. Correction—while the official tournament scoresheet had the USA-South Africa game 26-5, the USA team tells us that it was actually 19-12, with the final try credited to the wrong team. So both games were close.
The Americans play Great Britain tomorrow in the final pool game. GB is also 0-2 and has yet to score.
So it's a done deal, regardless of how the final pool matches go, that South Africa will play Israel in the final on Wednesday night, and the USA will play Great Britain in the Bronze Medal match.
After this tournament all the teams will turn around to play the 15-a-side event.
Pool Play Day 1:
Great Britain 0-22 Israel
USA 12-19 South Africa
Israel 17-12 USA
South Africa 24-0 Great Britain
Pool Games Day 2:
Great Britain vs USA
South Africa vs Israel
Final Games Day 2
Bronze Medal Match: Great Britain vs USA
Gold Medal Match: South Africa vs Israel