Proud to be an American- U.S. Rugby in the RWC 2011

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.

Sympathy for Namibia

Now I know how Namibia feels after they lost their match to South Africa Springboks 87-0. The Rockford Ravens similarly gave us a clinic in the sport of rugby. I lost count of their tries at around nine. They proved to be big, strong, and had an eye for making sound passes and timely cutbacks, which shredded our defensive line. I took two to three Gladiators to bring one of their runners to the ground. This left them with an advantage in every ruck and gave them the ability to overload our backs on the wings where they seemed to score at will.




We played hard and with guts, but guts are not enough at this level. I had the disappointment of re-injuring my arm at about the 30-minute mark of the game. It is frustrating because I was having a decent game. I only had one penalty (an all-time low for me) and was collecting a respectable number of tackles. In fact, it was on a tackle that I got hurt. I continued to play but later compounded the aggravation to my shoulder toward the end of the first half while making a futile dive to stop a breakaway Rockford back from scoring another try.



During the second half of the game I anxiously watched my teammates continue to heroically weather the punishment as best they could. As I paced on the sidelines, I ached to get in and help but a knifing pain in my back and shoulder cautioned me otherwise. I don’t know if my decision making process would have been different had I been an impact player. Although I was consistently making tackles and engaging in rucks my individual efforts did not seem to reap any game changing results. I guess I felt that if I kept playing I would be risking the rest of the season for a lost cause and still not help the team like a fresh pair of legs and a stout pair of shoulders would.



I have spent the weekend second-guessing myself even though my right shoulder continues to hurt when kept at certain angles (I dare not tell my wife how it feels as she will happily remind me that “she told me so”). I am a bit low feeling that I am not providing the lift my team needs and that I am not producing like I thought I would this season.

Forgive the whining, this article is not intended to be a “whoa is me” cry-fest. In fact, it gives me pause to appreciate players from places like Namibia, Romania, and even the U.S. These teams have been trounced by the world’s best during this World Cup tournament and continue to return to the pitch each match with the hope that they will “Shock the World”. This weekend I have wondered what is going through the minds of their coaches, captains, and players? Are they reflecting in all the things they did not do or are they enjoying the fact that they are given the opportunity to compete at this level and on this stage?



I like to think that they are similar to me, who, after swallowing the bitter pill of losing reflects on how he can do better and then looks forward to giving it another go. I feel that at my age I am only allotted a finite number of games; and like a punch card, each game gets me closer to the final punch. When that punch is I do not know but it is certainly closer than I want it to be. I know that the shoulder pain will eventually go away as will the memory of last Saturday’s beating. I hope the helpless feeling I felt on the sideline will disappear next practice as well. I just need to figure out how I can contribute more so that my team can finally quench our thirst with a sweet refreshing taste of victory.