Canada seems to be in trouble. After losing big to Scotland and almost as badly to Russia, the Maple Leafs men's 15s team has fallen to 22nd in the World Rugby rankings and is 3-9 in its last 12 test matches.

Things are even bleaker when you look at the Canada-USA rivalry, which holds its next installment Saturday at 2 PM CT in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since June 2014, Canada is 0-7-1 against the Eagles, after being 38-12-1. It's a pretty startling fall from grace.

Saturday, June 23 | 2 PM CT

Overconfident Much?

But, it's also the perfect temptation for teams to be overconfident when facing Canada. The Canadian men's rugby team is never more dangerous than with its back against the wall. With one last chance at World Cup qualification staring it in the face and with a loyal crowd base that demands effort, if nothing else, the Canadian team will play hard.

Mr. Outside And Mr. Inside

However, the Maple Leafs do have issues. Russia exposed them on the outside repeatedly in a 43-20 win this past Saturday in Ottawa, and they didn't have much of an answer for the good old-fashioned eightman pick, either.

"It was disappointed," said Canada head coach Kingsley Jones, who said he thought his team might have taken Russia lightly and that the set piece was not good. "There's lots to do, lots to work on. But disappointing for the home crowd. We coughed up possession... the team that was going to come out with the majority of possession was going to win."

Jones will certainly identify those issues at set piece and ball security, and he won't have to worry about the level of passion.

"We're not going to rip up the plan, but we're certainly going to tinker it."

USA Wary

The USA cannot take Canada as lightly as Canada took Russia. The Eagles have to be smart and can't just shrug off what is a strong game plan because Canada has given up over 90 points in the last two games.