Germany will be no pushover against the USA when the two national teams face off this Saturday in Frankfurt, and the Eagles better remember that.

While the USA is ranked higher and has never played Germany before, the two teams are not as far apart as you might think. The Eagles are currently ranked No. 17 in the world and Germany is No. 22. This is due to the fact that the Germans have had many more test matches against evenly matched opponents, whereas the USA has played some non-test matches and has no strong opponent outside of Canada in North America.

So, sure, in the last year Germany has played Belgium, Kenya, and Spain, but it has also played Brazil (a low-ranked team the Eagles have also faced), Georgia (also an opponent shared with the USA), Russia, and Romania (two teams the Eagles have played relatively recently).

That experience, especially winning some of those games, has helped Germany move up.





On Saturday, Germany defeated Brazil 45-12 behind two tries from No. 8 (and former South Africa prospect) Ayron Schramm in his debut, to improve to 7-5-1 since the beginning of 2016.

"I think that our good results, for example, sent a message to the rugby world against Uruguay last fall or Romania in the spring that something good is happening here in Germany," Germany head coach Kobus Potgieter said (translated from a Deutsche Rugby article). "But we also need such games against top opponents to improve further.”

The USA and Germany compare fairly equally on common opponents but not completely.

USA and Germany Common Opponents 2016-17

USA



Germany





Record

PF-PA

Record

PF-PA

Brazil

1-1

74-27

3-0

107-22

Georgia

0-1

17-21

0-2

13-109

Romania

0-1

10-23

1-0

41-38

Russia

1-0

25-0

0-2

45-98

Uruguay

1-1

54-52

1-0

24-21







Against Georgia, Germany has been smacked around pretty good in two recent losses, while the USA dropped a close one at home to the Lelos this past summer.

Against Russia, Germany has lost twice fairly convincingly, while the Eagles played Russia 17 months ago and won in a shutout.

While the stats might hint the USA is stronger, Eagles hooker Peter Malcolm says Germany shouldn’t be overlooked.

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And in fact Potgieter is thinking the same thing about his upcoming opponent.

“[The USA] has a very strong squad, with many professionals playing in the strong European leagues," Potgieter said. "It is already clear that we are dealing with a very strong opponent who is sure to be on the same level as Romania or Georgia. This will be a very good and tough test for us, but that's exactly what we want."

Look back at that table above and you’ll see a USA loss to Brazil. That’s a game the Eagles should remember, because it carries a crucial lesson: Taking any international game for granted is a mistake.