Eagles have learnt their lessons
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:12
United States (US) Under-20 head coach Salty Thompson says his team has learnt valuable lessons in their pool matches at the International Rugby Board (IRB) Junior World Championship and will apply those in the play-off stages.
The young Eagles will face Fiji in the play-off rounds at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground on Wednesday.
The Junior Eagles head into the match following a 14-41 loss at the hands of Scotland at the weekend, while Fiji was dealt a 17-10 defeat by Canada. Both teams finished without a win in their respective pool rounds, with the US facing stiff opposition from South Africa and Samoa, while Fiji competed against England and Australia in their earlier matches.
"The Junior Eagles have learned a lot of hard lessons in the first three games," Thompson said on Tuesday, after naming the team to face the Fijians.
"Poor decisions, missed tackles or turnovers are punished ruthlessly with points. We are playing better rugby, but the quality of the opposition remains high.
"Fiji has played entertaining running rugby in their pool games against England, Australia and Canada. They present a challenge similar to Samoa with fast talented runners who spread the field and look for offloads in the tackle. We need to make our tackles, and counter their game with defensive pressure and structure," Thompson added.
United States: 15 Tim Moxness, 14 Adam Ducoing, 13 Thretton Palamo, 12 Nate Ebner, 11 Zach Test, 10 Sean Treacy, 9 Steven Sablan, 8 Taylor Mokate, 7 Barry Sheehan, 6 Liam Murphy, 5 Scott Lavalla (captain), 4 Kevin Erskine, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Bill Wynne, 1 Stevie Johnston.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Fitcher, 17 Max Paganini, 18 Teddy Barron, 19 Scott Metcalf, 20 Austin Cella, 21 Gareth Jones, 22 Ty Siceloff.
Date: Wednesday, June 18
Venue: Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Kick-off: 19.00
(18.00 GMT)
Referee: Taizo Hirabayashi (Wales)
Touch judges: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
