With the opening round of pool fixtures in the books, we finally have our first look at all of the competitors in this year’s Rugby World Cup. Scotland was impressive after dealing surprising upstart Japan its first loss of the tournament, while USA put up a valiant effort in its loss to the Samoans.
Can the Eagles stay toe-to-toe with the daunting Scots and walk away with the Red, White and Blue’s first-ever win at the RWC? Read on as we take a closer look at this upcoming bout set to take place in Leeds this weekend. Keep your eye on the other happenings in Pool B with our preview for South Africa vs. Samoa right after this.
[sc:Other240banner ]Scotland sent Japan crashing back down to Earth with a 45-10 drubbing this past Wednesday. The Japanese were just fresh off of a monumental upset of the Springboks for their first match of the tournament, but found little traction in their second match against the Scots.
Scrum-half and team captain Greig Laidlaw was not going to allow the Brave Blossoms the benefit of carrying the positive momentum from the win over South Africa to linger any longer. Laidlaw put up four conversions for Scotland in the process, and ended the game with a team-high 20 points.
And just when Japan’s Amanaki Mafi got it going to keep his team within striking distance, the No. 8 suffered an unfortunate injury shortly after his first try of the game, leaving the door wide open for the Scots to come blitzing. Center Mark Bennett dealt the most damage with his second try of the day to put Scotland up for good. Fellow teammates John Hardie, Tommy Seymour and Finn Russell also found the whitewash in the match.
With such a high-powered offense, the Scots should make quick work of the Eagles this Sunday. The team has not lost to USA in all four of their previous encounters in Test matches, where they racked up a total of 24 tries to the Americans’ paltry two.
The Americans have not been known to excel in previous Rugby World Cups, but they showed a lot of grit in the 25-16 loss to Samoa in Brighton last Sunday. USA came as close as 14-8 at the half, only for Samoan fly-half/fullback Tusi Pisi – sibling of the infamous duo Ken and George Pisi – to amass four penalties and keep the Manu up with a comfortable lead.
Even with the defeat, some solid productions from captain Chris Wyles and fly-half AJ MacGinty have got to be uplifting for the American squad. Wyles scored the most impressive try of the match, while MacGinty knocked in two penalties to become the team’s early points-leader in the tournament.
And since the Eagles have found it really tough to find the whitewash in their previous meetings with the Scots, they would be better off forcing Scotland to create turnovers and convert on such penalties, much like MacGinty had done in the match against the Samoans.
USA actually has a 12-9 edge in combined penalties over the Scots in its past meetings. And if the team can contain the Scots to about 24 points on Sunday just like they did in the 24-6 loss back in 2014, those little chunks of points from penalties could go a long way towards an upset.
Again, 24 (or less than that) is the number that USA must keep in mind, because in the other three matches that the Eagles have played against Scotland prior to the one from last year, they lost all of those by no less than 24 points.
Writer’s Prediction
Scotland jumps on USA early en route to a 52-13 victory.
