The USA’s Rugby World Cup opener against Samoa is what the Eagles’ tournament hinges on.

In the upcoming RuggaMatrix America podcast, co-host Bruce McLane says exactly that - it’s all about Samoa, and up-and-coming USA center Thretton Palamo knows it, too.

Above, Palamo passing the ball out against Australia. Judy Teasdale photo. Below, making a tackle against Japan. David Barpal photo. Click on images to enlarge.

“All of our focus is on this game,” said Palamo, whose father played for Samoa, and who spent half of his childhood in that country. “We definitely want to star the tournament off right, and we’ve got a really experienced bunch of payers and we want to take advantage of that.”

Palamo’s connection with Samoa, which includes playing for the Samoan U19 team before switching to the USA U20s, makes the idea of playing against that team that much more attractive.

“I know a lot of the players because I played with them or against them in school, or in 7s or with the U20s,” said the California-born center. “It’s a great opportunity to play against them, and then connect with them afterward. Samoa was the team I watched on TV when I was a kid, and I love playing against them.”

Palamo has emerged as a true weapon at inside center. It took him a while, but he seems to combined the punishing running style the team needs with some delicate ball-handling skills. But it wasn’t easy. Palamo was an Eagle at 19 years old, making him the youngest-ever Rugby World Cup participant. But after a second game in 2008 he wasn’t capped at 15s for another six years. He concentrated on 7s, and then played football at the University of Utah.

That football time helped him get a degree and developed him as an athlete, but his rugby skills suffered.

“I didn’t really touch a rugby ball for three years,” he said. “And you lose a lot. I knew in my head what I wanted to have happen, but then my body would do something else. So it was frustrating at first. But I’ve started to get it, and working with a flyhalf like AJ [MacGinty] and with Seamus Kelly, it’s getting better. We spend time together not just as teammates but we hang out together, too, and that’s really helped us work as a unit.”

This World Cup, Palamo will lose his status as the youngest-ever World Cup player. Georgia scrumhalf Vasil Lobzhanidze is still 18 and when he runs on for the Lelos, he will break Palamo’s record. The Eagle shrugs his shoulders.

“I heard that would happen, and really while I liked having the record, it was just good timing,” he said. “I happened to be young when the World Cup was being played. I was born at the right time. James O’Connor and Titi [Lamositele] were younger than me when they got capped, but not during the World Cup. So it’s really about timing.”

Now a 26-year-old veteran, Palamo has probably been the Eagles’ most improved player, and against a physical and motivated Samoa team, he may also be in his most important game while he is in good form. Maybe that’s about timing, too.