Is Nick Civetta the USA player of the year?

Well it’s important to remember that when a player is injured and the team struggles, that reveals his value, but doesn’t add to it.

Civetta did miss games against Samoa, Japan, and Canada before the World Cup, but now that he’s back on the field he’s been his old self. He’s athletic in the lineout, producing much-needed ball for the Eagles, and he has been defensively solid.

He made 13 tackles against France, 2nd only to his second-row mate, Nate Brakely, who had 16. 

"We’re happy with the effort that we put out today,” the Notre Dame alum said after the game. “There’s a lot of things there that we weren’t exactly accurate with but the passion was there. We worked our bollocks off all game. That showed, we were right there until the 65th minute. We didn’t get everything right and they punished us, they’re a very talented team. Fitness-wise, it felt good and I think that showed. There were some things to be happy about which is what we want."

Got to love the guy’s turn of phrase. Civetta is from New York and he’s not averse to some colorful language. He’s also got a colorful face. After coming back from a dislocated ankle, he found himself getting bashed around a bit in the face.

"I’ve got like old man skin or something, this has never happened before,” he said about his cut face and black eye. “Every time I made a tackle, I was getting split open – horrible."

Not so horrible. Civetta has worked hard to get himself into the Eagles team, and then be great when he is in there. He runs the lineout, he fights the battle, and he laughs about it too.

Is he the player of the year for the Eagles? Maybe, maybe not. AJ MacGinty has been special and so has Joe Taufete'e. But there's a guy in the engine room working, as he said, his bollocks off.