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| World Cup Squad Speculations - The Forwards |
| National Teams - USA Men | |||||
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It’s less than six months to the World Cup, and for top players in the USA this is the great event of their rugby lives.
And it’s worth it. Playing in the World Cup and, for those precious few USA players who have experienced this, winning a game is a special, special moment. So who will experience that special moment and who won’t? USA Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan has essentially four months to really decide, during which time players could suffer injuries or drops in form, or new players could emerge (remember that in March of 2007 Chris Wyles and Taku Ngwenya were afterthoughts). Here are our thoughts as to which players seem to have a lock on a place, and which positions still have a door or two open. (And we’re only going to say it once so we don’t have to keep saying it … barring injury …): Prop. Not that long ago O’Sullivan and his coaches had some tough selection decisions to make. Then some of those decisions were made for them. A year ago Jake Sprague and Brian Howard were possible Eagles, but Sprague got sick and Howard had to choose a livelihood over rugby. Eric Fry has an excellent chance (although what he’s going to do for games if his club is suspended one wonders). There’s the possibility that Anthony Purpura or Tala Esera could push their way in, but all the other hopefuls, it seems to us, are either too green, or not what O’Sullivan is looking for. Should O’Sullivan try for a scrum specialist in this group? It might be a good move – make sure the scrum has a fallback guy. But in the last ten years virtually every time a USA coach has had to choose between scrum-first or mobile-first for a prop, he has picked mobility. Hooker. No one has really been considered other than Phil Thiel and Chris Biller. Thiel has the added plus of being able to play prop, too. Is anyone else even close? Maybe Chicago Lions #2 Phil Abraham or Chris Baumann, who is with Glendale. (If you want evidence of the long-term cost of not having a national all-star championship, the lack of international depth at hooker is it. Hooker, more than any position in the forwards, is less about the raw numbers – height, weight, squat and 40 – and more about the totality of play.) Lock: We’re only going to list three players here: John Van der Giessen, Samu Manoa and Hayden Smith, because the rest get their own category. These are the only really dedicated locks (even so Smith plays some flanker and many would consider Manoa a No. 8) on the national team. Why? Well Bruce McLane spelled it out on a RuggaMatrix show in the fall. It is very hard to have a guy who only plays lock on the Eagles unless he starts. If he’s on the bench, then he needs to be someone who can play lock, flanker or No. 8. Having said that, though, the World Cup is a different kettle of fish. The squad is 30 players, not the 26 usual for other tours. With so many big games in such a short period of time, you need cover at second row just as you need it elsewhere. Locks who are loose forwards, and loose forwards who are locks: O’Sullivan has gone for these tweeners more often than not, because he can do a lot with them and he knows he’ll get plenty of work out of them no matter where they go. The three locks/loosies are Lou Stanfill, Nic Johnson, and Scott LaValla. Each is a little different. Johnson, in our opinion, should be given the No. 8 slot and left alone. LaValla has all the tools, is probably the best lineout jumper of the three, and could well be captain of this team in the 2015 World Cup. But when everyone’s healthy he will find it hard to break in past old, more experienced players. Stanfill has shown heart and the coaches love that. He does the difficult and unglamorous stuff well, and can play 4, 5, 6 or 8. All three of these players, because of their brains, heart and versatility, are indispensible to the Eagles. Flanker and No. 8: We’ve got four names: Todd Clever, JJ Gagiano, Inaki Basauri, and Peter Dahl. None of these is really a true No. 8, although Clever has played there. We like Clever at openside flanker more than No. 8, partly because, as you look above, the USA system is awash in guys who can play a capable No. 8. Complicating matters, however, is the fact that Basauri and Dahl are also more #7s than anything else. Dahl is perhaps the most old-time, classic ball-grappling openside, and now back from injury, he’s been playing great. Basauri was hurt in the fall tour and we haven’t seen him back, so one wonders if he grabbed his big chance only to see it snatched away again. Gagiano can play virtually everywhere, but isn’t our favorite anywhere. If there’s room for one more, is there a one more to make room for? Candidates include Vai Notoa from Hawaii, or Matt Hawkins from Belmont Shore, or a young guy who such as Ryan Roundy or Cam Dolan. Perhaps it’s their time after 2011. (When we wrote this we, for some reason, left out Pat Danahy. That's a dumb move because Danahy is similar in many ways to Gagiano and LaValla, and could bump either out of the squad. Our apologies.)
For sure: Chris Biller Samu Manoa Nic Johnson Todd Clever That leaves three spots open. With all the tweeners, it seems there’s room for a specialist loose forward, and that looks to come down to Inaki Basauri or Peter Dahl. And there’s a place for another front row guy. It might be a hooker, since Thiel can also play prop, but we figure it will be Eric Fry, or maybe Tony Purpura. There is still an opportunity for a hooker to put his hand up here. This list also has space for a second row such as Alec Parker or Brian Doyle. From that group, can you get a starting lineup? Here’s ours: Subs (5): Others:
The Eagles did that with Todd Clever in 2003, and Thretton Palamo in 2007. There are some candidates in the backs for such a player, but certainly a youngster would be appropriate to fill the 17th place among the forwards. |
Top to bottom: MacDonald and Manoa (Ian Muir), Pittman for London Welsh (Muir), Smith for Saracens (Muir), Johnson (Luis Vidales), and Clever going for the high ball (Georgia Rugby Union)
