Watching the USA Women’s Rugby Team first lose to Japan, and then all three matches in the Pacific Four (Pac4) series, left this writer with more questions than answers regarding the upcoming World Cup. Luckily, I was able to interview the ever insightful Rugby Julia, of the Rugby Treehouse and The Maul Street Journal podcasts, to answer said questions.
Rugby Julia: “The results at PAC4 weren’t what we were expecting or hoping for, absolutely. It bears noting that while the coach isn’t brand new, he’s not entirely established yet, and USA women as a unit are seeking a revamping of play style and team composition. That said, the results weren’t encouraging. From an outsider perspective, one has to assume there will be more reworking, hopefully in the back line and on set pieces, especially lineouts.”
[Editorial notes: USA’s rugby head coach, Fukofuka, has not had consistent time with the team. His first match in charge was a win over South Africa on March 30th last year. Then, after a month’s break, the team reassembles for the three PAC4 matches. This was followed by a three-month break before they played two matches against Japan, and then another month’s break before playing three matches during the WXV Series. It’s hard to build a team and implement a new game plan like that.]
Julia: “Good question here. Considering how close to the [World] Cup the Fiji match will be, we’ll want to see Fukofuka’s vision of the team coming into focus by this match. We may see a slightly modified side for this match, but we’d hope it is getting close to the lineup we’ll see in the opening match against England.”
[The upcoming matches against Fiji (July 19th) and Canada (August 1st) are the last two warm-up matches before the World Cup.]
Julia: “Centralized contracts are a sticky conversation when it comes to USA Rugby. The way they’ve been deployed here, as super short-term with the specific goal of support through RWC, is the smart way to go in my opinion. We need to wait and see how central contracts can be tweaked to fit the unique needs a player faces being American (as opposed to, say, England where needs are actually quite different). Most importantly, the *team* is in support of these contracts, which is all a supporter can hope for.”
[An entire article can (and will) be written about centralized contracts. For now, just know that they are contracts made between national governing bodies, and national team players as an additional way for players to earn enough money to train full-time. As Julia alluded to, though, they are not free from scandals. More on that at a later date.]
Julia: “In my eyes, a pool match win would be considered a success for the team considering where they are in longer term development. I think that for the Eagles, of course winning is always the ultimate goal, but their eyes are also already partially on 2029 to really perform and, ideally, be in an incredibly strong position by 2033 for the home Cup. That’s not to say they won’t give it their all this year, but the program is taking a longer-term view of development considering the unique constraints, and I think viewers will see that in England.”
[In the pool with the USA is the number one team in the world, England, a very competitive Australia side, and the ever-hard-hitting Samoans. The USA is only ranked higher than Samoa at the moment after losing to Australia in the PAC4.]
Were the PAC4 results encouraging? Nope, but they weren’t completely indicative of the team’s potential. The Fiji match will most likely see a USA side very similar to what will be seen during the World Cup. The new contacts will definitely help the players train without worrying about money, but probably won’t make a huge difference this World Cup. They will be targeting the Samoa match for a win, but will have a good shot against Australia as well.
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