Next up for the USA Men’s 15s team, Chile.

Having survived the two toughest opponents of the Americas Rugby Championship with eight points out of a possible ten, the Eagles now look to get victories against Chile in Fort Lauderdale, and on the road against Uruguay and Brazil to perhaps, if they get a little help, win the tournament.

Head Coach John Mitchell isn’t really talking about that. He just wants performances. Against Canada he was concerned that the intensity of the confrontation - it’s USA v Canada after all - would distract players from the job at hand, especially the new caps.

He didn’t say he was worried that a player would get annoyed, strike out, and get kicked off the field, or go off the plan and leave a gaping hole somewhere, but you got the idea that was part of it.

“Our effort level was good,” said Mitchell. “In my view emotion can be your downfall. So we spent time asking everyone to stick to structure. We respected the rivalry, but didn’t want to get caught up in it.”

In the end, Mitchell was pleased with his team’s discipline, overall, and their intent, but they didn’t really stick to the game plan in the first half, and execution (lifting in the lineout) was’t perfect.

So Chile is a chance to fix all of that.

“It’s more about us becoming even better organized,” Mitchell told Goff Rugby Report. “It’s about challenging ourselves to sustain a performance for longer periods. We are going to focus on ourselves. Chile are a difficult opponent because they throw the ball around - they play with freedom. So sticking to our structures and staying organized is really the challenge that’s been put to [the USA players].”

Notes: Look for Nic Edwards to get a run at wing this weekend, and for the bench to get shifted around a little as some players come into camp. 

JP Eloff came on in the second half against Canada at flyhalf and showed well. The reason for the shift was tactical - Mitchell wanted his #10 to line up a bit flatter and challenge the defenses more.

Jake Anderson showed very well at fullback, especially with his kicking. If Eloff starts at flyhalf, Anderson or Eloff or Niku Kruger could take on the shots at goal.

Struggles in the scrum were due to a combination of things, said Mitchell, one being he needs his hookers to be more flexible in making the strike. He and some players took issue with how long it took referee Juan Sylvestre to allow the put-in after the engagement. Players didn’t like it, and it made for unsteady scrums. Mitchell expects a better scrum day in Fort Lauderdale.