Preview: USA Eagles v. All Blacks

In what could prove to be a truly historic moment for USA Rugby, the All Blacks have come to American shores for the first time since 1980. With tickets sold for all 61,500 seats at Soldier Stadium this game has absolutely shattered all records for rugby match attendance on US soil.

While the All Blacks have given King Ruchie and the tight five a rest, they will still be fielding a very formidable side – especially from numbers 6 through 15.

Can the Eagles soar over the Darkness on Sunday?

Unlikely, but they are American – we fight to the last man.

An English teacher of mine once told me that I should always write to my audience. So for this very special match preview I will be focusing the majority of my attention on the USA Eagles.

If you came here for a preview of the All Blacks lineup you can click back a few articles and then bugger off because I don’t like you much anyway. Just kidding about that last bit. Dismal Pollock is alright, I guess.

Enough small talk, let’s get into this.

It’ll be the real deal this time around

The Numbers

*All stats are in reference to the starting XV of both teams

12 of the starting XV for the Eagles were born in the United States

11 of the starting XV for the Eagles are currently contracted full-time with a professional club or the Eagles 7s team

The Eagles

Combined Caps: 446

Avg. Caps per Player: 29.7

Avg. Age: 27.7

Pack Weight: 893kgs

Avg. Forward Size: 1.91m and 111kgs

Avg. Back Size: 1.84m and 96kgs

The All Blacks

Combined Caps: 332

Avg. Caps per Player: 22.1

Avg. Age: 25.6

Pack Weight: 914kgs

Avg. Forward Size: 1.91m and 114kgs

Avg. Back Size: 1.84m and 93kgs

The Players

Name:Eric Fry

Age:27

Position:Loosehead Prop

Height:1.91m

Weight:118kg

Club:Newcastle Falcons

Caps:26

Hometown:Davis, California

Description: Fry was a four-time All American and inspirational leader for his team during his time at Cal-Berkeley, winning four national championships in the same period. While no wilting daisy, Fry has struggled with making the transition from back row to prop at the senior level. He initially struggled massively at THP but has performed somewhat better since being shifted to the other side of the scrum. His height puts him at the taller end for LHPs and he does struggle to get under his opposite man while also maintaining his feet at times. On the positive side he is an excellent lifter in the line out and gets through as much work in the tight-loose as you’d expect a former backrower to. Highlight reel.

Name:Phil Thiel

Age:30

Position:Hooker

Height:1.81m

Weight:123kg

Club:Saracens

Caps:22

Hometown:Traverse City, Michigan

Description: Thiel first started playing rugby late in secondary school – a fairly common occurrence in the US. After playing overseas in England for Cinderford RFC he would return to play for Life University’s Division I Men’s side from which he would earn his first Eagles call-up in 2009. His height and weight matrix make him one of the go-to guys in the tight for the Eagles on both sides of the ball. He plays a role very similar to the one Richard Hibbard does for Wales – trucking it up in tight or leading the charge a few meters out, always reliable to make those “hard yards” that open up space for the rest of the team. He is a relatively strong scrummager as well, although it has been a bit tough to judge him in isolation with the Eagles scrum so often capitulating against more organized scrums like Japan. His line out throwing is reliable as well, although there is a bit of an arc to his throw that makes the ball hang just a moment longer than you’d like on plays to the first and second pod. Highlight reel.

Name:Olive Kilifi

Age:28

Position:Tighthead Prop

Height:1.81m

Weight:118kg

Club:Seattle Saracens

Caps:7

Hometown:Seattle, Washington

Description: Kilifi is another home-grown talent hailing from the Seattle area where he began playing his rugby at a young age with the West Seattle Stormers club. While he absolutely has the dimensions to play THP, you do have to wonder how much of that 118kg frame is still baby fat that may have been worked off by exposure to a high-performance environment at a younger age. Like other Eagles front rowers he has struggled against other international packs – even when coming off of the bench. A yellow card in the fixture against Scotland comes to mind. He will have to be absolutely on the top of his game this weekend in order to ensure that the Eagles are able to play rugby with 15 men.

Name:Samu Manoa

Age:29

Position:Lock

Height:1.98m

Weight:123kg

Club:Northampton Saints

Caps:9

Hometown:Concord, California

Description: Samu Manoa dreams about breaking rocks with his hands when he goes to sleep at night. He daydreams about breaking rugby players. After picking up the game at the relatively young age of 13 he experienced a meteoric rise playing for San Francisco Golden Gate in 2009-10, culminating in his first Eagles caps and a contract with Northampton. Since signing over in the UK he’s become a bit of a cult hero at the Saints for his blockbusting runs and crunching tackles. He’s remarkably athletic for such a big unit and his full-time involvement in an elite professional setup shows when he starts showing a bit of work rate to go with the aforementioned impact. His off-loading game is nothing to be scoffed at either. More than comfortable at 6 and 8, he’ll be lining up for the Eagles as their primary enforcer in the #4 jersey this weekend. Hopefully the composition of the Eagles back row will allow him to play a little wider where he can make use of his excellent game-sense and timing to put some hurt on a few of the Blecks. Highlight reel.

Name: Hayden Smith

Age:29

Position:Lock

Height:2.01

Weight:107kg

Club:Saracens

Caps:21

Hometown:Penrith, Australia

Description: Multi-sport athlete Smith will be filling the traditional loosehead lock role for the USA this weekend. With a winding journey through the sporting world that began with basketball for the Sydney Kings before moving to the United States for school and then switching to rugby, after which he spent a small period of time with the New York Jets in the NFL before returning to Saracens. A consistent performer for both Saracens and the Eagles he does a very good job of getting through the not-so-glamorous work. His solid lineout jumping and high work rate allow the other Eagles players to build a platform upon him both at the set piece and in open play. You probably won’t see him break away for any huge runs against the All Blacks, but he will be toiling away doing the dirty work that makes the rest of the game possible. Player profile.

Name: Todd Clever

Age:31

Position:Blindside Flanker

Height:1.93m

Weight:97kg

Club:NTT Shining Arcs

Caps:59

Hometown:Palm Springs, California

Description: Easily the most recognizable Eagles player in most markets, it feels like Clever has been around for ages – because he has. Debuting for the Eagles over a decade ago in 2003, Clever will be appearing in his third Rugby World Cup next year. Well known for paving the way for other Americans to play overseas by becoming the first American to play Super Rugby when he debuted for the Golden Lions in Super 14. While a little light for an international backrower, Clever plays very hard for every moment of every match. His long hair and beard should be popping up all over the field throughout the course of the match but he will need to work hard with his other backrow partners to secure wider rucks in order to create opportunities for the Eagles backs to interplay with their larger forward carriers. Player profile.

Name: Scott LaValla

Age:26

Position:Openside Flanker

Height:1.97m

Weight:107kg

Club:Stade Francais

Caps:26

Hometown:Olympia, Washington

Description: Quickly becoming a veteran for the Eagles, LaValla brings a hard edge and high work rate to his game that make him an obvious candidate for the back row. Similar to Scott Fardy in both play-style and build, I expect him to work hard at the ruck all afternoon and carry strongly in the tight-loose. While being the largest of the Eagles backrowers, LaValla gets around the field very well and has combined strongly with Clever in the past. He has been a consistent performer for the Eagles for some time now and should help provide the experience and stability the team will need in order to step up and compete with the best team in the world.

Name: Danny Barrett

Age:24

Position:No. 8

Height:1.91m

Weight:105kg

Club:USA Men’s 7s

Caps:3

Hometown:Pacifica, California

Description: Barrett is a rapidly rising star for both the Ealges 7s and XVs teams. Covering for an injured Cam Dolan, Barrett quite literally exploded onto the international XVs stage during his recent appearances for the eagles. Incredibly quick for his size – Barrett also has excellent timing with his footwork and will explode into a hole the moment he wrong-foots a defender. His impressive acceleration usually leads to a clean break. He also possesses a very powerful fend which he loves to use. Although he will be wearing the No. 8 on his back, with ball in hand Barrett plays like a slightly quicker Adam Ashley Cooper. He’s no slouch on defense either..at all. Considering how thin the Eagles currently are at 13 it’s a bit of a mystery why he is still playing in the back row when he is so effective in space. Highlight reel.

Name: Mike Petri

Age:30

Position:Scrumhalf

Height:1.75m

Weight:84kg

Club:New York Athletic Club

Caps:44

Hometown:Brooklyn, New York

Description: Petri is another veteran Eagle who will be entering his third world cup year come 2015. While a fundamentally sound player and an extremely hard worker with absolute dedication to the sport he has had a bit of a bumpy ride with the Eagles in recent tests. He provides service directly from the back of the ruck and has a good pass which allows him to regularly hit runners in motion without taking those two steps that Bob Dwyer hates so much. His decision making and kicking at times has left something to be asked for, primarily when it comes to making decisions about when to kick. How much of this comes from the coaches booth can be hard to tell at times but pointless box kicks while in attacking position put the Eagles under pressure far too often. To his credit he had a superb game against Canada in his last test, playing in a more up-tempo pattern and providing real direction for the Eagles. He will provide great service for Siddall and the other backs this weekend if a similar game plan is adhered to and the pointless kicking stays put away. Highlight reel.

Name: Adam Siddall

Age:26

Position:Flyhalf

Height:1.83m

Weight:95kg

Club: Old Blue

Caps:6

Hometown:Auckland, NZL

Description: Siddall playing 10 is a very positive thing for the USA Eagles after a tumultuous couple of seasons spent attempting to find a reliable 10. He’s also comfortable at fullback and brings a very well-rounded skill set and can pass long, kick astutely and take the gap when it presents itself. Above all he brings a cool head to the field which he will need to maintain to keep the Eagles moving forward through the afternoon. I’d like to see him play a bit flatter than he has during other appearances for the Eagles but this will largely come down to tactical decisions which I will go over later in this article. If the forwards can go forward and Petri provides the service he’s easily capable of, Siddall will prove a very good option for incorporating the rest of the back line into the game. A kick to the corner for winger Blaine Scully at some point wouldn’t surprise me. Highlights reel.

Name: Brett Thompson

Age:24

Position:Wing

Height:1.93m

Weight:95kg

Club: Edinburgh

Caps:1

Hometown:Tempe, Arizona

Description: Thompson began playing rugby at the tender age of 12 under the guidance of his father and current USA Rugby Boys High School All-American coach Salty Thompson. After playing two years of gridiron for the University of Arizona he would switch back to rugby and hasn’t looked back since. His long stride, big frame and physicality have made him a regular for the Eagles 7s team and a very tough customer to deal with in general. He’s got good footwork and excellent aerial skills as well. If the Eagles can move the ball well there is no reason he cannot get the better of Dagg or Jane in a 1-on-1 or even 1-on-2 situation. His play is very reminiscent of Manuel Montero for those of you that have watched the Argentine games of The Rugby Championship. Highlights reel.

Name: Andrew Suniula

Age:32

Position:Inside Center

Height:1.88m

Weight:116kg

Club: Old Blue

Caps:30

Hometown:Auckland, NZL

Description: There is no mystery to Suniula’s game. He is a very large man and he is going to run the ball at you, very hard. With a good step and surprising balance for a man of his size he’s able to make meters through traffic with ease and very rarely gets caught behind the gain line. In American rugby it’s not uncommon to see the hammer at 12 and the sickle at 13. Expect to see him get lots of early phase ball in order to tighten up the All Black line in an attempt to create some space for the Eagles very strong back three. If you see him kick the ball, something just went horribly wrong. He will need to be on top of his game defensively facing up against Sonny Billy and Ryan Crotty. His sheer size should allow him to deal with Sonny on a physical level but how well he gels with outside center Seamus Kelly will be key to the performance of the Eagles in this match. Head coach Mike Tolkin has yet to settle on a center combination and midfield defense has been an issue for the team for some time now. Highlights reel.

Name: Seamus Kelly

Age:23

Position:Outside Center

Height:1.78m

Weight:91kg

Club: Gloucester

Caps:11

Hometown:Queens, New York

Description: After a spectacularly successful college career playing both 7s and XVs for Cal-Berkeley, Kelly was almost immediately integrated into the Eagles setup. While a bit undersized for a test center, he is a very quick and powerful player with an eye for a gap. His recent performances have been slightly marred by poor decision making at times, particularly on defense. The step up from even the highest levels of collegiate rugby to test rugby is absolutely enormous, so this is almost to be expected. With the dearth of test-quality options at 13 on the current Eagles roster it is no surprise he is getting a chance to prove himself against the All Blacks. It does beg to question though whether his combination with Suniula in the midfield is balanced in a way that will allow the Eagles to incorporate their greatest attacking asset into the match, their back three. Both are very direct players and while Kelly is on the smaller side he is still more of a ball runner than a distributor and is more likely to go to ground than he is to offload. Hopefully his trial with Gloucester goes well and he is able to spend some time in a fully professional environment to help lift his game to the next level. Highlights reel.

Name: Blaine Scully

Age:26

Position:Wing

Height:1.91m

Weight:100kg

Club:Leceister Tigers

Caps:20

Hometown:Sacramento, California

Description: Another product of the Cal-Berkeley rugby program, Scully has been an absolute revelation for both the Eagles and Leicester Tigers over the past year. He’s a prototype modern winger who can finish in the corner or truck it up between 9 and 10 with equal comfort. His skills under the high ball have been good since his college playing days but are even better now. He has a fairly long kick and is about as strong of a defender as you could ever wish one to be. His role in keeping Charles Piutau under control will be vital. His combination with Chris Wyles has been absolutely electric for the Eagles in recent tests and if the form can be maintained they will both be giving the All Blacks some headaches. There’s really not a lot of negative things you can say about the guy as a rugby player, he’s developed into far and away one of the best players for the Eagles. Highlights reel.

Name: Chris Wyles

Age:31

Position:Fullback

Height:1.83m

Weight:93kg

Club:Saracens

Caps:44

Hometown:Stamford, Conneticut

Description: After spending his childhood in the United States, Wyles would spend his formative years in England. Although he speaks with an accent his dedication to the Eagles jersey is unwavering and unquestionable. After being brought into the Eagles 7s side in 2007 he would immediately show his class by ending that same year being named ‘Player of the Year’ by American Rugby News following the Rugby World Cup. Old Eddie Jones himself would recruit Wyles for Saracens in 2008 which has only lead to him improving each season for the Eagles. While he is on the wrong side of 30 for an international back three player he has clearly not yet received this news himself as he has been one of the Eagles best players recently. His attacking combination with Blaine Scully in particular has been incredibly enjoyable to watch. He ticks all the boxes you’d want out of a test fullback and has silky attacking skills to boot. He will be a key player if the Eagles are to stand a fighting chance against the All Blacks. At the pace he’s set he will retire as the greatest fullback the USA has ever had, if he isn’t already. Highlights reel.

USA Bench: Tom Coolican (Sydney Stars), Nick Wallace (Glendale Raptors), Mate Moeakiola (Castenet), Tai Tuisamoa (London Scottish), Louis Stanfill (Seattle Saracens), Shalom Suniula (Seattle Saracens), Folau Niua (Eagles 7s), Troy Hall (New York Athletic Club)

The Match

Kick-Off: 3pm CST (7am Sydney, 9am NZT)

Match Officials: Craig Joubert, Chris Assmus (Asst), Asst 2 TBA, TMO TBA

Weather: 6.6 ºC – currently snowing lightly, winds could reach up to 20km/h by kickoff

I hope they don’t revoke my citizenship over this but I think it’s a little silly to believe that this match is anything but a foregone conclusion. That does not detract from the significance of this occasion for USA Rugby though.

If the Eagles are able to hang with the All Blacks for at least the first 60-65 minutes it will be a big boost to the confidence of the team and the fans, to go the full 80 and lose by less than 15-20 would actually be pretty spectacular.

Regardless of the scoreline all I want to see is the Eagles playing hard for 80 minutes of the match. Fitness will likely become an issue later in the match and even more so as the All Blacks unload what is an absolutely ridiculous bench – but I don’t want to see the boys stop fighting.

I have identified some key areas of concern as well as aspects of the game I believe the Eagles could target if they want to make a fist of this match:

Concerns

Defensive communication and realignment not up to test standard yet

Fringe defense around rucks and mauls leaving holes far too often

Scrum could become a massive liability

Midfield defense has not been up to standard recently and a SBW/Crotty combination will abuse this

We need to play ball in hand and eliminate the mindless kicking that has lost us games in the past 2 years

The Eagles defensive issues largely come down to a lack of organization and urgency when it comes to calling the tackle and then realigning afterwards. Far too many times in the past year the defense has been completely bamboozled by simple unders lines or loop plays because two men took a tackle that only one man should have been in.

Afterwards, there are generally too many players loitering directly behind the ruck and not enough fanning out in an even line. Even on slower ball the Eagles line can still tend to be somewhat staggered. This also leads to players falling off of tackles they should have easily made because they started in a defensively negative position to begin with.

The one attribute the Eagles should be able to match any team on (and have in the past) is defensive physicality. But it’s very difficult to hit a man hard when you’re off balance because you are scrambling due to poor alignment. This issue goes as far as causing problems with body position while defending on the try line because our players are not achieving proper field position quickly enough to get into the proper body position.

Fringe defense around rucks and mauls hasn’t been up to standard and both the Maori and Japan took full advantage of this several times. There is just no excuse for a lack of pillar defenders on the side of a ruck.

The scrum and midfield defense simply need to be better. Technique at scrum time has been an issue for the USA for ages now and while this seemed to be less of an issue in more recent tests, I’m still not sure it’s up to coping with a Tier 1 pack – much less the All Blacks. Scrum penalties or pushover/penalty tries will not be a good look for USA Rugby, it simply cannot be allowed to happen.

The midfield defensive issues are symptomatic of the great problem with the defense as well as a lack of a solidified combination at 12-13.

The Eagles also cannot go back to the excessive kicking used at times over the tenure of Tolkin as head coach. For all intents and purposes pointless kicking threw away any chance the USA had of beating the NZ Maori and has hurt us in many other matches.

An up-tempo game built off of quick ball off of the deck and making use of our potent strike runners will rattle the All Black defense. Needlessly kicking possession away to Dagg, Piutau, Read and Jane will cause a cricket score.

Hopes

The Eagles back three are class and need to be given as many opportunities to inject themselves into the game as possible

Recent tests have shown promising improvements in our attacking structure

We have the athletes to compete with the All Blacks and threaten their line

The Eagles have stepped up physically to meet Tier 1 nations before – but can it happen for 80 minutes?

Above all, the back three of Scully, Wyles and Thompson need to be given as many chances as they can be. As a unit they are hands down the best attacking weapon the Eagles possess and the interplay between Scully and Wyles in recent matches has been nothing short of magical. This extends to the restarts as well, which I’d like to see short and high – Scully and Thompson are both big units that are very comfortable in the air. If we are not competing for kickoffs with those two players named to start on the wing, I’ll be at a bit of a loss for words.

The past few tests for the Eagles have shown a bit more structure in attack which has facilitated the usage of our strike runners, which we have plenty of. The Eagles absolutely have the athletes needed to pressure the All Blacks but it will come down to whether the execution is there so that these athletes are given the opportunity to do so. With Siddall at flyhalf there should be no issue sending Suniula or a forward over the line in early phases and then moving the ball wide and in front of one of the back three.

What will happen when the ball gets into our midfield does leave me with some concern though simply because of a lack of combination there as well as a bit of an unbalanced pairing with neither player focusing much on distribution.

During the 2011 Rugby World Cup there was no doubt that the USA were very happy playing an extremely physical brand of rugby and if there was one thing that they coped well with, it was that physicality. Speed of play when facing Tier 1 nations is where they begin to get caught out.

I don’t expect the Eagles pack to get shoved around much in open play but I do wonder if they will be able to maintain the pace needed for a full 80 minutes, especially once the benches start coming into play.

Regardless of the outcome, this match is a great thing not just for rugby in the USA – but in the world as well. It will be a barometer for the health of our national team and has become a point around which a vast diaspora of rugby fans in the United States have gathered.

Being totally honest, I’m just glad to watch test rugby on a television screen for the first time since 2013.