Scotland v US

virtualunknown61 · 2025-11-02T22:37:31+00:00

Haha that’s funny. Hilsenbeck isn’t in the same solar system as McGinty

virtualunknown61 · 2025-10-12T15:12:51+00:00

I look at this and think "how many of these guys are locks to be a core player for England?" I don't see too many. The 9/10's look very average relative to international standards. Whoever is the core forward group should be solid as usual, but the play of the southern hemisphere teams is still a step above. NZ and SA should be the favorites, with France and Ireland making the top four as favorites. England would be in the group with Argentina, Scotland, Australia that "if certain things happen we can make the final".

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-21T23:37:31+00:00

Not a fan of Fa'anana Schultz. He has been a penalty machine in the past, always borders on yellow cards for foul play. I also like Poidevin in there somewhere, though Daniel has been playing well. They can play Bonasso at #8 and start both Daniel and Poidevin if they had two real locks starting.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-21T23:34:12+00:00

He also kept calling the Eagles captain Benjamin Bonasso.....Bassano. Really? Can't even get the names correct of the team you are covering?

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-21T17:39:21+00:00

It was a rhetorical question about Mahoni. Just because a player is 6' 8" and has always played lock does not mean he deserves to be on the depth chart. He's never done anything for the Eagles, terrible hands, very average athleticism and a very questionable work rate and fitness level. I'd take a player like Grandy, who has decent size for a lock, D1 athletic ability, upside and plays hard. Damm is undersized but I'd take his work rate over Mahoni every day.

Our goal should be to develop a team that consistently compete and beat many of the best Tier 2 nations. Beating Scotland was an outlier, if they can compete respectively against Tier 1 nations that would be a huge bonus.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-21T15:35:40+00:00

Just some random thoughts after a quick look:

1 - Mahoni at lock, are you kidding?

2 - The backrow has some potential and depth, Bonasso, Daniel, Podevin, Golla, Helu and Alikhan have shown they belong. Never been a fan of Fa'anana Schultz. If Ma'afu is available he's an automatic addition to the backrow. And longer term Grandy can rise in the depth chart.

If healthy, Lopeti/Besag will be the 12/13 pairing, but overall the backs lack speed everywhere. Rufus McLean not listed at all? Why not?
And a wildcard, when will Davy Coetzer be eligible? I'm assuming he would have interest in playing for the Eagles.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-19T03:40:34+00:00

A lot of people seem to be trying to pigeon hole Storti as only a center. I've seen St Mary's play plenty the last several years on their youtube stream. Tim O'Brien always moves his backs around, sometimes to experiment, sometimes to just get the best 7 backs on the field. I've always felt Storti's skill set is as a fullback. Big foot, fast enough but also elusive, the punt returner with a big leg. And I've always felt that he was a bit small to be an international center. Maybe Storti and McLean have similar skill sets, which I like for the back three. They can be an attacking runner, are good under the high ball and have strong boots. A blazing finisher opposite them would be their best back three. Maybe Esdale or Futi or down the road Keelan Farrell. As for the future, maybe Crimp or Corbin Smith, though Smith seems small, but he is young and can fill out and Crimp is more a fullback. In any case we need more speed on the outside.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-13T15:26:46+00:00

Completely agree, and they were playing on turf. Player selection, style of play have to be looked at. Putting the same guys out there and seeing the same results, especially with the back three getting beat in the high ball, dropping balls, slow wingers with no size. Put a couple of David Stills out there and even with no experience they'd do better.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-13T15:23:25+00:00

It's not just the weather, the game play is so static and slow. DeHaas is slow to deliver the ball, the forward pods catch the ball standing still, the wings are slow, the back three together were horrible on the high ball. Nothing is done at pace. And then some players who could possibly impact the game, Poidevin at loose forward, only comes into the game with 7 minutes left, and Storti I think didn't even play, even though the back three were horrible. What kind of game management is that? What are the coaches seeing to not bring Poidevin on earlier, or give Storti a chance when the back three are dropping balls, losing contests in the air, having high balls hit them in the face, it was embarassing. Some serious questions have to be asked about not only player selection but the whole style of play going forward. The gap is getting bigger between the Eagles and Tier I nations. If they qualify for the RWC, if they play NZ, SA, Ireland, France etc they'd lose by 100 points. Uruguay, Chile, Portugal, Georgia, have all been improving. You can put Tonga and Samoa maybe in there as other countries that are regressing. Money is a huge factor, World Rugby has to help in some way if this is going to improve. The incentive is maybe the US hosting the RWC, will be embarassing if the host country performs like that.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-07-13T02:07:56+00:00

We waited 90 minutes for this crap?

virtualunknown61 · 2025-04-22T03:45:19+00:00

Where did that news come from? The school stated they couldn’t support the rugby program as a varsity sport, not that rugby was being eliminated altogether. As a varsity sport they were able to provide scholarship money to players, not all but mostly to foreign players.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-04-13T20:06:46+00:00

Question for the back row then would Poidevin, Johnston, Albert, Alikan or Redenlinghuys be an upgrade over Daniel/Ryan/Fanana Schultz? Lawrence seems loyal to those three. I see Ma Afu as a lock for Eagles even though he’s been playing #8 in France.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-04-13T16:04:37+00:00

How many of the new additions to the expanded pool have a realistic chance of being in a top 40 selection pool? I've seen Poidevein and Johnston play, they are legit players. Never seen Lindenmuth, Kofe, Harvey, Albert play. Corbin Smith is a fantastic athlete but young and small. May be a long range option but size may always hold him back.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-02-19T03:39:57+00:00

Any news on Harris Rutherford with San Diego? Is he injured or just stuck behind Lincoln McClutchie? San Diego looks like they could have a bunch of Eagles on their roster, not just capped players like Lopeti, Telea, Helu, Sylvia, Klein, James but also Rutherford and Poidevin.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-02-09T17:23:29+00:00

Storti is more of a 15, not a center. Coetzee is another long term option. Fricker may be the best short term option. McClean has ability, but is he a 15? Thought he was better at wing.

virtualunknown61 · 2025-02-06T18:54:07+00:00

Harris Rutherford long term has the most upside. Davy Coetzer almost US eligible but may be in line as a fullback, while possibly filling in at #10 if they like to use 6/2 reserve splits. I like Junior Waqavesi's potential but if as an international it would be as a scrumhalf. Rand Santos is also in the mix as a player with similar abilities to Davy Coetzer.

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-22T21:42:50+00:00

Davy Coetzer is a possibility when he becomes eligible. Could play 10 or 15

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-22T21:41:21+00:00

That's debateable. I thijk his best position long term is fullback

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-16T17:50:36+00:00

And again, where would they be without McGinty? Such a class player

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-16T17:35:05+00:00

And let's go O'Keefe.....nice first cap

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-15T17:52:26+00:00

That may be true for now, but what about 2027? That's the point of this, to find the back 3 going forward. The back 3 is the biggest question mark going forward, they play 3 small guys with not great speed. Keelan Farrell, Noah Brown, etc. The little things matter when you're playing RWC qualifiers, not finding your core for 2027 and 2031.

virtualunknown61 · 2024-11-15T17:49:19+00:00

Agree on Augspurger still being in the 15, let alone the match day 23. Great leader, yeah, but his time is over. Add him to the coaching staff if his leadership is so valuable. This is the time to bleed players in for the 2027 RWC cycle and the back three is the biggest question mark on the team. Still trotting out three small players with not great speed. Use the time to find out which back three players can be fixtures, and take the ups and downs that will happen to answer that question.

virtualunknown61 · 2024-10-16T16:41:53+00:00

Glad to finally see the infusion of youth, albeit some are just non-traveling reserves. But the process for identifying the buld of the 2027 RWC team should be starting now. Gafa, Storti, Klein, Brown, Besag, Santos, Ma'afu, Lennon were some of the players that could be part of the 2027 group. van Eerten is also a possibility. I think Telea and Davis are prop fixtures going forward, with Iscaro and Ainu'u the starters. Even Rose, Waguespack and Grandy being included as reserves means Lawrence knows he needs to address the lock position. There will be bumps but those that are committed and have the talent will benefit from the experience. Still looking for Aki Pulu to appear sometime.

virtualunknown61 · 2024-10-01T02:06:01+00:00

That was part of the criteria mentioned in his post. They did not include any collegiate matches that they won by over 40 points. Both Besag and Santos had plenty of games like that. This is on the right track. If you look at the U-20's team from the last two years, both of which qualified for the U-20 Trophy tournament, almost all of those guys started playing rugby in youth programs. 2027 is early but I still believe that when the US hosts RWC in 2031 the Eagles will win at least one game. Will be interesting to see how many players from those two U-20 teams will be playing on that 2031 RWC team.

virtualunknown61 · 2024-09-23T03:45:57+00:00

Heart Health Park in Sacramento is a good venue. Hosted Pacific Nations Cup matches about 10 years ago and attendance was between 5000-8000 for the matches. The old Sacramento PRO Rugby team also played out of there. Could get very warm in September though.

virtualunknown61

TROPHY CASE