The USA Men’s National Team is enjoying a short break before officially starting its Rugby World Cup assembly.

The players are off until Wednesday, and will reassemble in Chicago for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for a few sessions before flying to England for the tournament. Many players have remained in Chicago to continue their preparation, while others have made one more visit back with family before the big push.

Titi Lamositele looks for a way through against Australia. The Eagles needed the test against the Wallabies, but managing the more difficult games in the World Cup will be a big task for the coaches. Judy Teasdale photo.

The Eagles will face Samoa September 20 in Brighton, Scotland September 27 at Elland Road in Leeds, South Africa October 7 The Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, and finally Japan October 11 at Kingsholm in Gloucester.

There are key aspects to all of these games. Samoa is, of course, crucial in that if the Eagles want to go 2-2 and get an automatic bid to the 2019 RWC, they need to beat Samoa to do it. Given that the USA is a measurably better team now than when they lost to Samoa 21-16 in July, and given that Samoa’s Kane Thompson will miss the game due to a suspension, this game is eminently winnable.

Scotland is a crucial game for two reasons, as long as the USA beats Samoa. If they are 1-0 going into the clash in Leeds, the Eagles have to be thinking that an upset of Scotland could give them a shot at the quarterfinals. Even if that’s not in the cards, a win against Scotland should guarantee them a place in RWC 2019, so there’s a lot at stake.

The next two games are important for the coaches in terms of planning.

Japan remains a game that the Eagles pretty much have to win. But South Africa is going to be the Eagles’ toughest opponent and is not a game the USA has to win. So … do you spend the time from September 28 to October 6 game-planning for a South Africa game that you’re not favored to win, and give short-shrift to planning for a crucial game four days later against Japan? 

The Japan game will either be a chance to win one game and salvage the tournament, a chance for a second win and a spot in the 2019 tournament, or a chance to make the quarterfinals. No matter what state the Eagles are in going into that game, it’s important. South Africa is not. Goff Rugby Report asked Mike Tolkin about that:

“It’s very clear that games #1 and #4 are games to really go after,” said Tolkin. “Game #2 we’re going to go after, there’s no doubt about it, whatever happens in Game #1. Scotland’s been playing some really good ball recently, but we’ll have a week’s rest going into that one so we’ll go full-throttle into that one. South Africa’s a tough one because Japan is four days later. We have to be smart.”

The Eagles cannot sacrifice their game plan for Japan because they have such a long layoff before South Africa, added Tolkin. 

“If the organizers of the tournament want to give players and teams three or four days’ rest between games, then coaches have to plan accordingly,” said Tolkin.

So the key part of the tournament may well be what work the Eagles get done between Scotland and South Africa. Selections for South Africa will be an important part of that, but it’s more important that the team work on a game plan to play Japan more than anything else. Whoever plays against South Africa will have to be told to execute as best they can - whether the USA starts 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2, the target has to be Japan.