I once saw someone say what would you say the American style of rugby is. I'm not really sure we have one right now. Other than the fact that B-sides from Ireland, France and England right now are in a level well above the Eagles there's not a lot to say about the American First XV. Which is unfortunate because I am sure that every player that puts on the red, white and blue is extremely proud of the opportunity to represent our nation. Right now rugby in America is at a crossroads of how to grow the game.
They have tried to grow the game with test matches, no doubt trying to tap the nationalism that helps to support the Olympics, US Soccer and other obscure events. As far as a marketing standpoint I really can't argue against the inception of this idea. What's unfortunate is that the results haven't been favorable. Then there are two other discussions, should we focus on the college game? Should we focus on the excitement of sevens rugby and its acceptance for the 2016 Olympics?
Truly, both are great options. We just need to get people more accustomed to the basic rules. How to tackle, how to ruck, scoring and penalties. Sevens can accomplish this but people are leery of becoming a nation that specializes in Sevens only. I honestly would gladly be like Fiji. A team that is great in Sevens and top 10 in 15s. I think the America has the population that could utilize that could grab the attention of athletes for rugby sevens and get them interested from there in 15s.
But then there still lies the problem in America's rugby identity. Truly this is our largest problem. We play a game we love here without our own identity. While I don't know how to get us here, I would like for the Eagles to play rugby like the Life University Running Eagles. I could easily switch to a preference of the RSL champions SF Golden Gate. But it's this description from rugbymag.com that gets me:
"None of their games have been blowouts, but the Life MO is pretty clear: strangle with the forwards, don’t take a step back in the set piece, defend like crazy, kick for field position whenever possible, and if there’s a chance to run wild, do so."
This was just the 3rd season back in RSL for Life, and while it is unfortunate the dropped a home-playoff match to Golden Gate, this description is what I want from the national team. "Defend like crazy" evokes a sense of passion and desire that would remind me of American football teams like the Bears or 99-2010 Baltimore Ravens.
It's a team that plays with a purpose that plays with passion. They play hard and they come out and do the little things right. And then when their is space "to run wild" they do. The Americans do have plenty of athleticism. In rugby just like football though it is going to take all players on the field playing hard, and playing together to get the job done and to win.
That's what I want. That's what we should all want. And, if we were known for our defense we wouldn't lose 87-8. I wouldn't care if we went winless in pool play of the RWC. As long as we played defense like it was our life, and yielded less than 30 points to any opponent, I could be proud of our boys.
"None of their games have been blowouts, but the Life MO is pretty clear: strangle with the forwards, don’t take a step back in the set piece, defend like crazy, kick for field position whenever possible, and if there’s a chance to run wild, do so."
That's just me. I know people love tries and offense. That's why the Super Rugby competition from SANZAR is bonus points for 4 tries, but the Life MO is something that America would embrace.
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