I have to start this blog by saying I am proud and impressed by how the U.S. rugby team accounted for themselves at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. While the competition for the Earl Ellis Cup continues in New Zealand, the team from the United States has finished their run and I have mixed emotions concerning the outcome.
To start, I was a bit disappointed in the overall U.S. media coverage of the World Cup. For a sport that should have natural appeal to the average American ,who has a unquenchable need for action and violence, the lack of marketing and media coverage was an egregious missed opportunity. That said, I found Universal Sports Networks coverage entertaining and enjoyable. Yet it seemed apologetic at times and did not take the opportunity to fully describe the grassroots movement that is rugby in America, the pssion of the sport, or even the fundamentals of the game. They treated it as they would have the America’s Cup competition or Pro-Am Bowling.
In that same note I think they missed an opportunity to create heroes for the next American Rugby team to strive to emulate. I started this RWC knowing almost the entire English line-up but only one American. How sad is that when I can’t even name my own countrymen in my favorite sport. In fact, I knew more names on the Irish team than on the U.S. team. This is partly due to the fact that I passionately watched every English 6-Nations match including the dramatic England v Ireland last match. In contrast the 6-Nations coverage was filled with players stories, rivalry drama, and even a bit of instruction.
Despite the media failure I came away from watching the U.S. in World Cup with a new group of heroes. I found myself rooting and cheering for guys named Ngwenya, Gagiano, Sifa, Malifa, And Smith. As a Flanker I watched the matches with myopic focus on the 6 and 7’s on the pitch. I have now become a unaoplogetic fan of the American flankers. Stanfill and Cleaver, despite their horrendous haircuts, were inspiring to watch. Their tireless and aggressive play was like watching a cross between Brian Urlacher and Peyton Hillis. They attacked every play with power and single-minded purpose and seemed to generate a mystical sense of possibility through selfless dynamic hardwork.
Additionally, the U.S. defense played the world’s top tier teams with inspirational gusto. The try-line stands against Ireland were more dramatic than what you will ever see on a Sunday in the NFL. The intensity and speed of the game created a tension that kept percolating to a higher level and every cycle that was stopped short by the U.S. line made me want cheer. Needless to say, I was proud of the effort of that game as well as the one against the Russians.
However, I was a bit disappointed in how Coach Eddie O’Sullivan approached the game against the Wallabies. I cannot argue with his logic; which was to rest the A team so that the team would have a better chance in the final game against Italy. A win versus Italy would have ensured the U.S. a spot in the 2015 RWC. I also recognize that the rest between games was unfairly slighted against the U.S. Only three days of rest between matches versus top tier teams is ridiculous and borderline unfair; especially, when teams like the All-Blacks had six and seven days rest between matches.
What I didn’t like was the fact that the Australian game was THE STAGE. It was the opportunity to show the world and particularly the U.S. media the gritty determination that is the essence of America. Coach O’Sullivan is complicit in the media’s ignoring the Eagle’s historic effort in the RWC by sitting his lead warriors at heir moment of glory. What would the world be like if Leonidas had sat the 300 when the Perisan "Immortals" took to the field? What if IKE sat the 101st during the Battle of the Bulge? He missed the social identity of America and in doing so lost an opportunity to expand the American support for the game.
Instead, of patronizing to the stubbornly aggressive and often reckless American nature that gave us the Boston Tea Party, Manifest Destiny, and Apollo 11, he chose to play it smart and safe. America does not want smart and safe. They want action and drama. We will take our Alamo's over smart and safe any day. We always have and we always will. They want heroes and epics. To me, that surrender was our biggest loss of the Rugby World Cup.
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