When it comes to trying to kickstart a sport in the sprawling slab of land that is the United States, where do you begin? The logistical nuances facing USA head coach Gary Gold are complex. For the Eagles there is no proximity to the training ground for their players, as was the case in Gold’s previous role at Worcester Warriors. Gathering his squad together at USA Rugby's Denver base is a multi-time zone operation, and that's just domestically.

“The man in the street does not understand the vastness of America, how big and wide it is,” he explains. “When you are trying to assemble for a rugby camp, you have to take four time zones into consideration.

“If you’re not in Denver, you have guys flying for six hours to get into camp. And that’s just the ones based in USA, rather than New Zealand, Australia, England or France. There is no Pennyhill Park situation where you hop on a plane from Newcastle for an hour, and that’s the furthest distance. The travel takes days out of a training week.”

But, things are looking up. The USA are yet to suffer a defeat since Gold took over permanently in January, a run of seven straight wins including a 42-17 thrashing of Canada, but more importantly the USA’s first-ever win over a tier one nation.