United States national rugby union team
Nickname (s) | Eagles | ||
Association | USA rugby | ||
Trainer | Gary Gold | ||
captain | Blaine Scully | ||
WR abbreviation | United States | ||
WR rank | 17. (68.10 points) (as of February 4, 2020) |
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Most international caps Todd Clever (76) |
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Most Points Scored Mike Hercus (465) |
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Most attempts scored Vaea Anitoni (26) |
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First international match Australia 12-8 USA (September 16, 1912)
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Highest win Barbados 0:91 USA (July 1, 2006)
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Biggest defeat England 106: 8 USA (21 August 1999)
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World Championship participations: 7 Best result: One victory each in 1987, 2003 and 2011 |
The United States national rugby union team represents the United States at the international level in the sport of rugby union . It is the World Association International Rugby Board (IRB) in the second strength class (second tier) divided. The first international match was played against Australia in 1912 . The team has qualified for the world championship four times and has been participating in the annual Churchill Cup since 2003 . The Americans celebrated their greatest successes several decades ago when they became Olympic champions in 1920 and 1924 . The responsible association is called USA Rugby .
history
British immigrants introduced rugby to the United States in the mid- 19th century . In 1872 the first clubs were founded in the San Francisco Bay Area , mainly British. In 1874 the first international rugby game in North America took place in Cambridge (Massachusetts) between the universities of McGill and Harvard . The two universities still face each other every November and play for the Covo Cup according to the original rugby rules.
In 1876 the Universities of Yale , Harvard, Princeton and Columbia founded the Intercollegiate Football Association , which played by rugby rules (apart from a slight difference in scores). American football was later developed from these changed rules . The first international game was played in 1912 at Berkeley University , the guests from Australia won 12: 8.
Before the 1920 Olympics , rugby had not been played in much of the United States for over a decade. The sport was only widespread in California . When the national team arrived in Antwerp , Czechoslovakia and Romania had withdrawn from the tournament, France and the USA remained the only participants. The Americans surprisingly won the game 8-0 and became Olympic champions.
With a view to the 1924 Summer Olympics , a national team was again put together. The team also included a number of American football players who had never played rugby before. The Americans beat Romania 39-0 and faced France in the final. They had another surprise when they beat the reigning European champions 17: 3. Shortly after these games, the IOC dropped rugby from its program and rugby sank in the USA into complete insignificance.
At the beginning of the 1960s, interest slowly reawakened. The USA Rugby Association was founded in 1975 and in 1976 an international match took place in Anaheim after a break of more than 50 years. In the years that followed, the Americans established themselves just below the top of the world. In 1987 they were invited by the International Rugby Board to the first World Cup and won their first World Cup game against Japan . At the 1991 World Cup , they lost all three preliminary round matches, and in 1995 they failed to qualify.
The qualification for the 1999 World Cup succeeded, but again there were only defeats in the preliminary round. At the 2003 World Cup , the Americans were again victorious against Japan, but once again missed the quarter-final qualification. Four years later, they couldn't win at all. At the 2011 World Cup , Group C won a victory over Russia . In 2015 they were eliminated from the preliminary round of the World Cup without a win or point.
successes
International matches
As of September 7, 2019
country | Games | Won | Lost | draw |
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Argentina | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Australia | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Barbados | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Bermuda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Brazil | 4th | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Canada | 63 | 23 | 38 | 2 |
Chile | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
England | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Fiji | 6th | 1 | 5 | 0 |
France | 8th | 2 | 6th | 0 |
Georgia | 6th | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Hong Kong | 7th | 3 | 4th | 0 |
Ireland | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
Italy | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Japan | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 |
New Zealand | 4th | 0 | 4th | 0 |
New Zealand Māori | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Portugal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Romania | 9 | 7th | 2 | 0 |
Russia | 8th | 8th | 0 | 0 |
Samoa | 7th | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Scotland | 8th | 1 | 7th | 0 |
Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Spain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
South Africa | 4th | 0 | 4th | 0 |
Tonga | 9 | 1 | 8th | 0 |
Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Uruguay | 18th | 14th | 3 | 1 |
Wales | 8th | 0 | 8th | 0 |
Total | 257 | 95 | 158 | 4th |
Results at world championships
- World Championship 1987 : preliminary round (1 win)
- World Championship 1991 : preliminary round (no win)
- 1995 World Cup : not qualified
- World Cup 1999 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Championship 2003 : preliminary round (1 win)
- World Cup 2007 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Championship 2011 : preliminary round (1 win)
- World Cup 2015 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Championship 2019 : preliminary round (no win)
Olympic games
player
Current squad
The following players make up the squad for the 2019 World Cup :
Known players
Individual evidence
- ^ World Rugby Rankings. world.rugby, February 4, 2020, accessed November 26, 2019 .
- ↑ USA Men's national team announce 31 player squad for Rugby World Cup Japan 2019. USA Rugby, September 8, 2019, accessed September 10, 2019 .
Web links
- USA rugby
- Rugby News ( October 16, 2008 memento on the Internet Archive )
- International match statistics for the USA on rugbydata.com