As I have said in the past, I have gotten into Rugby ever since coming over here to China. This past weekend was the kick off of the Rugby World Cup. The first round is a pool round, similar to that of the Soccer World Cup, and USA played England in the first game of the "pool" round (n0te that the US is in the red in this picture). To give you some background, England won the world cup 4 years ago and is clearly seen as one of the top programs in the world. On the other hand, the US is not even close to a top tier team. Think of the game as being USA basketball (this would be England) playing Venezuela (this would be the US). The two prior games that were being played right before the England vs US game also featured top tier teams against teams that aren't considered to be that good. The first game was between Australia and Japan (Australia being the powerhouse) with the result of this match being 91-3. The second game featured New Zealand (the powerhouse) against Italy with the result being 76-14.
Now I attended the game with my British friend at a place that was full of England supporters. Needless to say they were looking for a result that rivalled that of the previous two games mentioned above. The Americans actually played really good and most of the people left the bar that we were at with some respect for the US, with the final result being 28-10 in favor of England. Now even though they won by 18, most of the people were thinking that they would win by at least 30, so this 18 point differential was, to say the least, a disappointment. The guy I went with was so ashamed of their performance that he bought the drinks for the night, after the game it was a feeling like even though England won, that they lost the match, it was kind of weird. Anyway, all I have to say is that, I actually think the US can make it out of the first round if they play this strong against Samoa and Tonga (note that they will most likely get blown out of the water by South Africa who is another top tier team).
Now I attended the game with my British friend at a place that was full of England supporters. Needless to say they were looking for a result that rivalled that of the previous two games mentioned above. The Americans actually played really good and most of the people left the bar that we were at with some respect for the US, with the final result being 28-10 in favor of England. Now even though they won by 18, most of the people were thinking that they would win by at least 30, so this 18 point differential was, to say the least, a disappointment. The guy I went with was so ashamed of their performance that he bought the drinks for the night, after the game it was a feeling like even though England won, that they lost the match, it was kind of weird. Anyway, all I have to say is that, I actually think the US can make it out of the first round if they play this strong against Samoa and Tonga (note that they will most likely get blown out of the water by South Africa who is another top tier team).
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