Being Switched on and Focused; Eagles Assemble for November Tour
Being Switched on and Focused; Eagles Assemble for November Tour
It's another new mix of players assembling for the USA Men's 15s team as they look to their three November tour matches November 9, 16, and 23.
Each assembly Head Coach Scott Lawrence has been bringing in new players. Sometimes those players get capped, sometimes not, but the idea is to get them to a level of understanding about what being on the national team means.
"The new guys we're bringing up to speed; we're doing a heck of a lot onboarding," said Lawrence. "I think the core group is definitely on the same page around how we want to play and how the team needs to progress. Players who are fighting their way into the touring squad, there are some changes there, some new faces, so there's always an adjustment period [and] ther'll be a limit as to how much you can really progress. You really have to go back to executing the basic parts of your game really well."
So players aren't always expected to come in and break into the test team.
Sometimes they can, but the expectations can be adjusted for each player.
"It all depends on the propensity of the player," Lawrence told GRR. "One of the criteria of being an international is to learn quickly. We work a lot on communicating once."
They don't have time to slow everything down for one player, so newer players might have to ask a teammate or do some extra work off the field to know and understand what's expected of him. "For some guys it just snaps," said Lawrence. For some guys it just takes a more work."
Winnable Games ... and Losable Games
The Eagles will play Portugal November 9 in Coimbra, Portugal. That game will be live on FloRugby.
Then they face Tonga in Chambery, France on November 16. That game will be live on RubgyPass.
And they finish up their tour against Spain in Madrid. That game will be live on FloRugby.
These are games against tough opposition that the Eagles are capable of beating, but teams tat the USA could also lose to. Their last result against Portugal was a tie, but Lawrence cautions that their experience in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, in which they lost to Wales 28-8, tied Georgia 18-18, lost to Australia 34-14, and beat Fiji 24-23 turned many heads.
Their ability to score quickly off turnovers was obvious and Lawrence said that RWC experience will make them very, very tough. Tonga beat Romania and lost to Ireland, South Africa, and and Scotland, but scored tries against all of them, logging 45 against the Oaks.
Spain didn't make the World Cup but trains together a lot.
"Against Portugal we're going to face an enormously dangerous, cohesive team and this tour is about preparing us to play those games against teams of that type," said Lawrence. "Sometimes [on tour] you're targeting a game or two to perform well. At this point, in terms of our outcomes and what we want to achieve, it's literally just playing better each week. We need to keep the light switched on for the entire 80."
Lawrence never likes to talk about wins or losses, and he focuses more on goals within the game, adding that "it's all about improvement, and to use the words of a really great American football coach, the score will take care of itself."
That would be Bill Walsh in case you're wondering.
