The 2011 Rugby World Cup is presently being contested in New Zealand from September 9th to October 23rd.
This small nation of 4 million is hosting the planet’s third largest sporting event after the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup. These games are held every 4 years with 20 national teams competing. Starting in 1987, this is the seventh time it has been played, and the perennial favorites, the New Zealand All Blacks, are hoping to win for the second time since their success in the inaugural event.
The United States Eagles are considered a “minnow” in the competition, as Rugby is still not a mainstream sport in this country. While Rugby players in countries such as England, Ireland, France, South Africa and New Zealand are fully paid professionals, on a par with major sport athletes in the US, rugby here is basically an amateur sport. We have never beaten a “Top Tier” country.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t try. Our men put their careers and personal lives on hold for years at a time, just for the chance to wear our national colors and claim the honor of representing the USA in the World Cup. So far in the round-robin competition they have played Ireland close and lost 10-23 and beaten a similar-to-themselves amateur Russian team 13-6. Being Americans, we expect to win, but we close out the tournament against two professional opponents; Australia and Italy. A victory in either of these matches would be considered an epic upset.
I’ll be watching and hoping.
USA, USA, USA
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