Man I’m Portuguese living abroad and I never heard about this match , the World Cup or anything rugby related by the Portuguese media ! Incredible what these boys have achieved with the little they have ! It’s all hard work and passion ! I wish them good luck and hope they keep on making Portugal proud ! 💪🏻👍🫶🏻🇵🇹
@@JackJones-tu5pi I remember when Japan "made it tough" on the Irish by knocking them out of the world cup so its not that crazy to believe Portugal gave them a good training game.
Le Portugal a montré de belles choses lors de ce match, ils ne sont pas à la coupe du monde par hasard, dommage que le stade ne soit pas rempli, c'était pourtant un beau spectacle, mais patience, si les résultats sont là le public finira par suivre. Bonne chance à vous amis portugais Pour la coupe du monde.
Forca Portugal! I am a fan divided this World Cup....proudly supporting my new country Portugal and my old country South Africa. Well played, Portugal! A great game....muito bom. Boa sorte, Portugal!
Oui dommage, ça explique sans doute pourquoi le stade n'est pas plein, espérons pour le rugby portugais que les médias main stream relaieront la coupe du monde, le Portugal a vraiment montré de belles choses sur ce match.
No...they were too busy talking about Benfica, and about womens world cup, under 23, under 19 and under 17 footie, futsal, beach football and...footvolley😂
Like the American commentator said, the game against Fiji will be electric for Portugal due to similar playing styles and the Lobos have shown that they won't be pushovers in France despite all the attention on their Pool C opponents.
Portugal are going to get decimated in France. They won't win again, they won't be competitive. Can't feel badly, it's seen as a sport for the bourgeoisie over there.
@@jalejandromartin7642 I'm just going off of recent results of Fiji. And the quality of the players on the Fijian team. But Portugal could upset them if fiji take them lightly like they did Uruguay last World Cup.
Awesome stuff from the Portuguese. That said, it's unbelievable how far North American rugby has regressed. I really hope Major League Rugby gets the US back in the mix.
Thanks for these highlights, really well put together! World Rugby should really be putting them up if they gave a sht about growing the game, ah well, it's Rugby Z's gain right? Portugal really showed their class here, it will be tough against their group, but they have some stars who can make big names for themselves if they get the chance
Great game from Portugal, with lots of precision and a tad of improvisation. Superb performance ! Now, I wonder... are USA losing their rugby ? I remeber some 15 years ago, when they could play a World cup without shame and play tests with pride. Where are they going now, what has happened to their knowledge of the game ? Worrying.
1st try by USA should have been disallowed. Tackle the player with no ball and high tacke. Grande Rodrigo Marta. Grande jogo dos Lobos. Impressionante! Obrigados!
Portugal is the least physical team of the tournament. It has been a years long struggle to find weight for the forward pack. Portugal can't hold itself against slightly more powerful teams...still it will be fun to watch, cause once those backs brake opponent lines, there's no turning back.
They will not face teams with more disorganized defenses than the US mustered. Bad teams can make mediocre teams look very good. The US are a very poor team, poorly coached. Gary Gold had them organized. The current coaching staff appears to be as clueless as the players.
So much promise in these Tier 2 nations. USA and Canada need teams in Super Rugby Pacific, along with new franchises from Latin America. Might sound crazy but if you base the teams in Vancouver, California or Hawaii they´re actually quite closely aligned Likewise Portugal, Spain, Romania and Georgia (and maybe Russia whenever they´re not committing war crimes anymore) should have franchises in the URC, or possibly the French Top 14 should be expanded to encompass the rest of the continent. Either way they deserve more attention from the major unions.
Not trying to take anything away from Portugal as they played fantastic, but North American rugby - Canada , and USA have been the least improved countries in the last 4 years I must admit. Love to hear what you all think!
The US left tthe tackles at home , (just one on the try line basically,not enough) no resistance whatsoever ,left wide open spaces everywhere , where's the coaching.
@@mindfullness1987 America has more active players than most countries because they are so big. Interest or not, with a Pro league for the past 4 or so years youd expect them to atleast make the World Cup
United States host the 2031 Rugby World Cup - They'd want to get their ass in gear - seems like they are dis-improving year on year. Would love to see them do better
@@MrPiccolopit’s a lot more then that. There are club level players that are just as physically gifted as NFL players that never get looks. This wasn’t even the best out of the Eagle’s pool. We actually have great youth rugby, but the people in charge of USA rugby make decisions that we have been questioning for years.
@@Thanoshadapoint yeah. I played in international school sevens and I was amazed by the athleticism and skill of our American counterparts and how quickly they picked up the game. They were as good as any of us.
This was dismal on many levels. That said Portugal played well. My father always used to say “some days you get the Bear and some days the bear gets you”. The loss to Chile at home was the all time low point. The Gold Era left us lost in a malaise of a hope of set piece power and away from the energy, athleticism and fitness that won some internationals. USA will be we be at elite level but must rebuild to even compete at tier 2.
Portugal plays much better than Rumenia. If the Eagles have defeated the Oaks as we saw, it's suitable to have a match between Azzurri & Oaks without story. We'll see.
Poor defensive organisation and too many missed tackles from usa. Difficult to watch but can be improved. Portugal were excellent and will be exciting in France.
USA are much better than last year to be fair - with a domestic game (MLR) noticeably improving each year & more test match exposure from lower tier 1 & upper tier 2 teams I think their place in RWC 2027 is a good bet. For context - Georgia & Portugal in particular have benefitted most from the European Europe Championship for tier 2 / 3 nations.
Portugual win is against a team who didn't qualified for the world cup. Fidji is going to destroy them, i don't know how they can stop pleyrs like tuissova or waniqulo.
@@monsieursarcasme7064 Thats if they play them. Fiji might play a second string team like they did against Uruguay in 2019. I mean its unlikey, but Fiji better be careful because they have a habit of struggling against teams they should beat easily.
Really excited for that game but go watch Fiji Japan from last week. I think Portugal might get steamrollered. I'm interested to see how os lobos fare against Wales though cos they've looked shite all year
@@monsieursarcasme7064I called it. Fiji have a habit of making games they should easily win into a struggle. Could just see how skilful the Portuguese players were as well.
@dacholo3l snowboarding would be the swedes dominating. Beach soccer the Brazilians dominating. Mongolians are the best archers . Sumo wrestling should be more popular in the U.S due to the obesity.
All the space on the blindside at 42:08.. these are small decisions with big consequences, especially if the wing and looks like scrum half stacked behind a maul they thought would drive over.
Portugal would push italy with this style and flair plus other teams like japan! Interesting! Usa are rebuilding and the players are fairly new to all this exppsure to other rugby playing nations. They'll grow better for it
Disappointing effort by the Eagles, especially after defeating Romania. Compared to the rest of the world we're going backwards--not sure if it's the players or the coaches. When I watch high-level college rugby in the U.S. it's clear we have some talent--why can't we develop that talent? It was painful to watch #22 and #23.
The Eagles will continue to struggle if they can't produce their own game managers. Starting flyhalfs and srumhalfs all Irish and the back ups are Bokkes.
California rugby tour thanks for Shari Eubanks for getting that all organized 3 hours plane 8 days car and your spring dues can be made out to USA rugby. College rugby.
The US Eagles need to go back home and work on basic rugby skills. I’ve never seen a team that was that sloppy on passing and basic ball handling in general!!!!!!
Slaughtered by Portugal FFS, just shows how bad the yanks are, fortunately they only play their own games, that no one else plays...and they call them "world series". One way to win I guess.
Congrats to Portugal but that was an awful display by the US. Thank goodness they will not be at the World Cup. I can’t begin to think about how badly this team would be shredded by Tier 1 nations. As rugby moves forward the US always seems to take a step back. Maybe the MLR, which is heavily dominated by overseas talent, needs a rethink to get more Americans playing week in and week out. And perhaps this is unfair but the level of athleticism that the US displays seems to have gone in the wrong direction. We can’t field a back three equal to that of Portugal? American rugby seems to be perpetually stuck in neutral. On a good day.
Good game Portugal. I don't think we're (USA) fielding our best team right now, looks like a lot of experimentation of younger guys with the vets for coaching purposes. It was good to see Golla the last 2 matches, and now Futi got to make a debut. He was a standout in the MLR this year and Golla was Rookie of the Year. Dyer and Augspurger also are good players that belong there IMO. The Free Jacks, the team that won the MLR is made up of a lot of Canadians and NZ fellas, so unfortunately we can't even poach from the leagues best team of the year. Sad days... Obviously Rugby is not exactly popular here in the states, there is a lot of sports our athletes can play and Rugby is low on the list. Our players don't get paid a lot either to play. Playing Rugby is just a part time job for most of the players I would bet. USA looked tired and ugly. So that aside, Portugal looked really good, they looked a little undersized upfront so that might be an issue come WC time. But if the backs are in form they are going to be a fun watch.
The FreeJacks flanker Joe Johnston is US qualified and has played at the B level. I am not sure why he was not given a look. And while he doesn’t have the look of a test level player, Kyle Ciquera, fronted up against a lot of good props and never took a step backwards. He should have at least been brought into camp to have a look.
@@DouglasLyons-yg3lv Totally agree on Kyle. I just think they are doing some experimenting and hopefully we will see them tool around a bit. I certainly think USA can field a good team and get into 2027.
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I HOPE I could someday see the Americans play against the All Blacks or France in the World Cup 🙏💪
From the Land of the Long White Cloud
New Zealand, that was an ABSOLUTE pleasure to witness..
KIA ORA PORTUGAL..
Man I’m Portuguese living abroad and I never heard about this match , the World Cup or anything rugby related by the Portuguese media ! Incredible what these boys have achieved with the little they have ! It’s all hard work and passion ! I wish them good luck and hope they keep on making Portugal proud ! 💪🏻👍🫶🏻🇵🇹
what a spanking, Portugal are great to watch, they are going to have many new fans playing this style of rugby.
Merci à Lagisquet !
Well done Portugal ! the Portuguese rugby has been improving.
????? Je traduis" Bien fait (ou joué) Portugal ! Le rugby portugais s'améliore/progresse (est entrain de s'améliorer/ progresser).
I can see why Robbie Henshaw said they gave Ireland a tough training game during the week. Great stuff Portugal.
I think he was being polite mate …. 😂😂 Portugal make it ‘tough’ for Ireland? Ahahahaha
@@JackJones-tu5pi I remember when Japan "made it tough" on the Irish by knocking them out of the world cup so its not that crazy to believe Portugal gave them a good training game.
Le Portugal a montré de belles choses lors de ce match, ils ne sont pas à la coupe du monde par hasard, dommage que le stade ne soit pas rempli, c'était pourtant un beau spectacle, mais patience, si les résultats sont là le public finira par suivre.
Bonne chance à vous amis portugais
Pour la coupe du monde.
That last try was outstanding! Well played Portugal
No try, watch again.
@@geo141000 Noooooooooo. it was so good! was it because of a forward pass?
@@graham1002 I think he was out of play.
Well done to number 22 for USAone of the best try stopping tackles you'll ever see. Portugal 🇵🇹 too good thou.....
Forca Portugal! I am a fan divided this World Cup....proudly supporting my new country Portugal and my old country South Africa. Well played, Portugal! A great game....muito bom. Boa sorte, Portugal!
Traitor
@@lwazimazwi638 I like living where the lights are on...
@@geoffreylotz3661 you will never be Portuguese my friend. You are a South African.
@@lwazimazwi638Yes, he can be both. You, however, will remain a South African moron.
The Lobos huh... Well done Portugal 🇵🇹
From South Africa 🇿🇦
Champagne rugby for Os Lobos.
un grand bravo aux portugais !! j'espère qu'ils réaliseront une belle coupe du monde sur cet élan !
I was there !! ❤ Great game and great supporters! And then next day... nothing on national portuguese TV news... Unbelievable LOL
Oui dommage, ça explique sans doute pourquoi le stade n'est pas plein, espérons pour le rugby portugais que les médias main stream relaieront la coupe du monde, le Portugal a vraiment montré de belles choses sur ce match.
You are right. It is quite shocking actually. We're unfortunately too immersed in soccer as the only 'real' sport. 🇵🇹
Not even with Marcelo in the stadium?!
No...they were too busy talking about Benfica, and about womens world cup, under 23, under 19 and under 17 footie, futsal, beach football and...footvolley😂
Comment about how portugal rugby is based on touch rugby.they definitley look like a touch team with their ball skills. Well played.
Impresionante la rapidez de los jugadores de Portugal, demostraron porque van al mundial. Saludos 🇨🇱
Mucha suerte para Chile.
@@heldercosta515 Igualmente.
Congrats Portugal from 🇲🇫 ! Amazing rugby
Thanks for posting
🤝
Brilliant running rugby. Refreshing to see players passing the ball instead of running straight into the tackle.
It was the polar opposite of England's anti-rugby style.
@@championthewonderhorse9733I hate watching england
@@user-gs4tn9pe6m most english people are bland anyway. 😄
Delighted for the Portuguese!
Well done, Portugal. Impressive stuff 👏 👏👏
Like the American commentator said, the game against Fiji will be electric for Portugal due to similar playing styles and the Lobos have shown that they won't be pushovers in France despite all the attention on their Pool C opponents.
Naw Fiji will be to physical for them, but Portugal have come so far in the past 4 years it's crazy!
@@yolo6945Don't be so sure,.
@@yolo6945Georgia were almost too physical for Fiji when they last played. It will be down to fitness I think
Portugal are going to get decimated in France. They won't win again, they won't be competitive. Can't feel badly, it's seen as a sport for the bourgeoisie over there.
@@jalejandromartin7642 I'm just going off of recent results of Fiji. And the quality of the players on the Fijian team. But Portugal could upset them if fiji take them lightly like they did Uruguay last World Cup.
Awesome stuff from the Portuguese. That said, it's unbelievable how far North American rugby has regressed. I really hope Major League Rugby gets the US back in the mix.
Such a massive improvement for Portugal.. considering they only scraped a draw against USA last autumn.
They could cause an upset at this world cup
Wow they(Portugal 🇵🇹) have really improve and will be a force to be recon with this world cup
They won't
Thanks for these highlights, really well put together! World Rugby should really be putting them up if they gave a sht about growing the game, ah well, it's Rugby Z's gain right?
Portugal really showed their class here, it will be tough against their group, but they have some stars who can make big names for themselves if they get the chance
Word.
haha thanks, doing what World Rugby doesn’t.
Spot on comment here. It's all just lip service until they regularly give these teams games against the big boys.
Very risk taking and provocative Portugal side, well done. It is always great to play with America. 🇵🇹
As I have said before, that Portuguese backline is world class.
Portugals attack is unbelievable, I don't think they will get a win in the rwc but I'm Shure we will see some flair and great tries.
That last try was UNREAL! :) good show
Great game from Portugal, with lots of precision and a tad of improvisation. Superb performance !
Now, I wonder... are USA losing their rugby ? I remeber some 15 years ago, when they could play a World cup without shame and play tests with pride. Where are they going now, what has happened to their knowledge of the game ? Worrying.
Portugal play beautiful rugby. That number 11 runs like Will Jordan.
Portugal are so fun to watch, man!
1st try by USA should have been disallowed. Tackle the player with no ball and high tacke. Grande Rodrigo Marta. Grande jogo dos Lobos. Impressionante! Obrigados!
Well done Portugal,a country smaller than any American State
Sensational from Portugal
Portugal's players were fastest and their passes were really well setting up as well.
Portugal is the least physical team of the tournament. It has been a years long struggle to find weight for the forward pack. Portugal can't hold itself against slightly more powerful teams...still it will be fun to watch, cause once those backs brake opponent lines, there's no turning back.
They will not face teams with more disorganized defenses than the US mustered.
Bad teams can make mediocre teams look very good. The US are a very poor team, poorly coached.
Gary Gold had them organized. The current coaching staff appears to be as clueless as the players.
@@DouglasLyons-yg3lv Exactly.
So much promise in these Tier 2 nations. USA and Canada need teams in Super Rugby Pacific, along with new franchises from Latin America. Might sound crazy but if you base the teams in Vancouver, California or Hawaii they´re actually quite closely aligned Likewise Portugal, Spain, Romania and Georgia (and maybe Russia whenever they´re not committing war crimes anymore) should have franchises in the URC, or possibly the French Top 14 should be expanded to encompass the rest of the continent. Either way they deserve more attention from the major unions.
grande Vitoria Portugal !!! 🏉
Not trying to take anything away from Portugal as they played fantastic, but North American rugby - Canada , and USA have been the least improved countries in the last 4 years I must admit.
Love to hear what you all think!
The US left tthe tackles at home , (just one on the try line basically,not enough) no resistance whatsoever ,left wide open spaces everywhere , where's the coaching.
More like the last 8 years.
They'll have to sort something out when the USA host the World Cup
@@mindfullness1987 Because they have a pro league now for the last few years so improvement was expected
@@mindfullness1987 America has more active players than most countries because they are so big. Interest or not, with a Pro league for the past 4 or so years youd expect them to atleast make the World Cup
Beau rugby ça fait plaisir vivement septembre !
The way he says Lobos is so endearing 😊🇵🇹💯
Best pronunciation of players names I've heard from any non-Tuga commentator tho
United States host the 2031 Rugby World Cup - They'd want to get their ass in gear - seems like they are dis-improving year on year. Would love to see them do better
The MLR doesn't seem to have much impact on the national team at the moment.
Hollie Davidson WE LOVE YOU ❤️❤️🏴🏴
Damn Portugal! I see you bringing the hot sauce
Cheers from NZ.
Wow. It is as if the Eagles never watched any game film….
Their rugby has gone backwards in the last 10 years. Really sad
Yeah. It's kinda sad. They have loads of talent. Must be because NFL is just so huge there
@@MrPiccolopit’s a lot more then that. There are club level players that are just as physically gifted as NFL players that never get looks. This wasn’t even the best out of the Eagle’s pool.
We actually have great youth rugby, but the people in charge of USA rugby make decisions that we have been questioning for years.
@@Thanoshadapoint yeah. I played in international school sevens and I was amazed by the athleticism and skill of our American counterparts and how quickly they picked up the game. They were as good as any of us.
This was dismal on many levels. That said Portugal played well. My father always used to say “some days you get the
Bear and some days the bear gets you”. The loss to Chile at home was the all time low point. The Gold Era left us lost in a malaise of a hope of set piece power and away from the energy, athleticism and fitness that won some internationals. USA will be we be at elite level but must rebuild to even compete at tier 2.
bravo aux portugais
Good game. Portugal might struggle against the bigger pros in the WC though.
Great try saver from the US at 68 mins! Phenomenal tackle
Bravo Portogallo!!!! Olè 👍✊
Now that's a proper thrashing of the Americans 🇵🇹
Grande jogo!! Muito jogo com os pes!
Portugal plays much better than Rumenia.
If the Eagles have defeated the Oaks as we saw, it's suitable to have a match between Azzurri & Oaks without story. We'll see.
Romania are a world cup main stay team and Portugal look like they would turn them over more often than not.
Romania only got in because Russia got kicked out because of the war, so they are actually worse than they were in previous years
well done Portugal
Poor defensive organisation and too many missed tackles from usa. Difficult to watch but can be improved. Portugal were excellent and will be exciting in France.
USA are much better than last year to be fair - with a domestic game (MLR) noticeably improving each year & more test match exposure from lower tier 1 & upper tier 2 teams I think their place in RWC 2027 is a good bet.
For context - Georgia & Portugal in particular have benefitted most from the European Europe Championship for tier 2 / 3 nations.
The Portuguese boys play an exciting brand of rugby don’t they! Very good to see
First USA try was illegal. The scorer held the Portugal guy back, even though he wasn't holding the ball. Penalty to Portugal.
Portugal 15 are playing Rugby 7’s. Incredible speed and skill!
Fiji better be careful, don't wanna slip up like they did against Uruguay. Luckily they have more depth in the squad this time.
Portugual win is against a team who didn't qualified for the world cup. Fidji is going to destroy them, i don't know how they can stop pleyrs like tuissova or waniqulo.
@@monsieursarcasme7064 Thats if they play them. Fiji might play a second string team like they did against Uruguay in 2019. I mean its unlikey, but Fiji better be careful because they have a habit of struggling against teams they should beat easily.
@@monsieursarcasme7064it was then when we field some of our stars against Uruaguay in which they beat us last RWC. No teams should be taken lightly.
Really excited for that game but go watch Fiji Japan from last week. I think Portugal might get steamrollered. I'm interested to see how os lobos fare against Wales though cos they've looked shite all year
@@monsieursarcasme7064I called it. Fiji have a habit of making games they should easily win into a struggle. Could just see how skilful the Portuguese players were as well.
3:57 Jake Peralta from Brooklyn Nine-Nine
It's ironic when the septic yanks keep chanting " we are #1" but then lose badly in international sports.
@dacholo3l snowboarding would be the swedes dominating. Beach soccer the Brazilians dominating. Mongolians are the best archers . Sumo wrestling should be more popular in the U.S due to the obesity.
USA n Canada have fallen behind in rugby 😢
P11 has some real gas!
Yanks got spanked. North American rugby has really gone downhill.
For sure
And it’s sad given all the resources
Country is too big. Focus on New England and build the game within a 500 mile radius.
@@MrRugbylane how can this plan work with the training centre in Denver and biggest following in San Diego?
Grande jogo de Portugal. Vamos!!!
Watching americans play rugby must be how americans feel when they watch british people play baseball... it's hilarious and cute at the same time.
2 steps foward and 10 back for USA rugby, They could not match the speed of Portugal
An argument for more higher level test match exposure for tier 2 & 3 teams though imo.
@@Kawasakifreak1 absolutely
😂😂😂😂que baile!!!!!!
All the space on the blindside at 42:08.. these are small decisions with big consequences, especially if the wing and looks like scrum half stacked behind a maul they thought would drive over.
Portugal would push italy with this style and flair plus other teams like japan! Interesting! Usa are rebuilding and the players are fairly new to all this exppsure to other rugby playing nations. They'll grow better for it
The funny thing is that we did push both Italy and Japan last time we played them in the last 2 years, really close games
@@martimcabral8319 it's great to see 😁
Good game, Commentators could do with learning some of the terminology of our beautiful sport though 🤣
Disappointing effort by the Eagles, especially after defeating Romania. Compared to the rest of the world we're going backwards--not sure if it's the players or the coaches. When I watch high-level college rugby in the U.S. it's clear we have some talent--why can't we develop that talent? It was painful to watch #22 and #23.
what a narrow in goal area
Eagles are birds, what a spanking!
The empty stadium is really disheartening.
@@mindfullness1987 where I live and other countries have packed out stadiums when it’s played!. So, what ms your point?
The Eagles will continue to struggle if they can't produce their own game managers. Starting flyhalfs and srumhalfs all Irish and the back ups are Bokkes.
Can someone explain to me the yellow card and the try for the USA at minute 42? I clearly don't understand the rules well enough. Thank you in advance
Portugal can cause some trouble in pool C !
Is this the rise of Portuguese Rugby? Dang they annihilated USA
Industrial food vs natural food. See the speed of portugal....
Portugal, like Georgia, should be in an expanded 6N.
The boys from the old school club would never allow it
Wasn’t the first us try a penalty? He gets tackled, falls to the ground and never releases the ball before standing back up
U.S.A is not ready for rugby!🫤
Portugal 5...Georgia 4...Fidji 3... Wales and Australia qualified.
My cousin is Rodrigo marta
😢😢😢 wow USA
I didn’t understand something, did the Portuguese become strong or the USA is weak ?!
@dacholo3202 Galoshes
California rugby tour thanks for Shari Eubanks for getting that all organized 3 hours plane 8 days car and your spring dues can be made out to USA rugby. College rugby.
The US Eagles need to go back home and work on basic rugby skills. I’ve never seen a team that was that sloppy on passing and basic ball handling in general!!!!!!
Slaughtered by Portugal FFS, just shows how bad the yanks are, fortunately they only play their own games, that no one else plays...and they call them "world series". One way to win I guess.
2:50 - Is grabbing the neck alllowed in this sport?
Congrats to Portugal but that was an awful display by the US. Thank goodness they will not be at the World Cup. I can’t begin to think about how badly this team would be shredded by Tier 1 nations.
As rugby moves forward the US always seems to take a step back. Maybe the MLR, which is heavily dominated by overseas talent, needs a rethink to get more Americans playing week in and week out.
And perhaps this is unfair but the level of athleticism that the US displays seems to have gone in the wrong direction. We can’t field a back three equal to that of Portugal?
American rugby seems to be perpetually stuck in neutral. On a good day.
eua for usa?
It's Portuguese TV basically despite American commentary
Exactly what the commentator above says. It means "estados unidos de américa"
@@brunogiandinoto3346*estados unidos da América actually
thank you
The U.S. does not deserve to host the world cup!
Ok so rugby isn't huge in the US but surely when can do better than this. Pretty sad.
Muito bai os lobos
Most rugby players in the states know 1 or 2 players from their club who should be on the US team . These selections for USA rugby is terrible.
Good game Portugal.
I don't think we're (USA) fielding our best team right now, looks like a lot of experimentation of younger guys with the vets for coaching purposes. It was good to see Golla the last 2 matches, and now Futi got to make a debut. He was a standout in the MLR this year and Golla was Rookie of the Year. Dyer and Augspurger also are good players that belong there IMO.
The Free Jacks, the team that won the MLR is made up of a lot of Canadians and NZ fellas, so unfortunately we can't even poach from the leagues best team of the year. Sad days...
Obviously Rugby is not exactly popular here in the states, there is a lot of sports our athletes can play and Rugby is low on the list. Our players don't get paid a lot either to play. Playing Rugby is just a part time job for most of the players I would bet.
USA looked tired and ugly. So that aside, Portugal looked really good, they looked a little undersized upfront so that might be an issue come WC time. But if the backs are in form they are going to be a fun watch.
The FreeJacks flanker Joe Johnston is US qualified and has played at the B level. I am not sure why he was not given a look.
And while he doesn’t have the look of a test level player, Kyle Ciquera, fronted up against a lot of good props and never took a step backwards. He should have at least been brought into camp to have a look.
@@DouglasLyons-yg3lv Totally agree on Kyle.
I just think they are doing some experimenting and hopefully we will see them tool around a bit. I certainly think USA can field a good team and get into 2027.