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Keep the Tempo Up - Tolkin Looks to Scotland

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Keep the Tempo Up - Tolkin Looks to Scotland

AJ MacGinty on a break against Samoa. Not enough of these breaks were turned into something positive for the Eagles. They need to keep the tempo up against Scotland.

Sunday sees the USA face off with Scotland in a key game for both teams.

The Eagles need to win this game if they have any real hope of finishing 3rd in Pool B. Scotland needs to win to keep on track to make the Quarterfinals. Scotland played on September 23, beating Japan and vaulting to 1st in the pool. But USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin doesn’t think the Scots will have too much trouble handling the short break between games.

“Everyone has a plan for the short turnaround,” said Tolkin. “They're solid as a unit and a squad and those guys will slide right in. Scotland having four days rest is a false sense of security and it takes away from the focus that we have to work damn hard to win any World Cup game."

Tolkin said the quick turnaround would affect any team late in the game, and so his Eagles will need to keep the tempo of the game going.

 

Certainly they will want to get some of their more dangerous runners, including Samu Manoa and Taku Ngwenya, more involved in the attack.

“We know they want to get out to a fast start; they wouldn't want the game to drag on into the late stages and to have to slug it out for 80 minutes,” said Tolking. “I would expect a high octane pace from them. We're not in there to keep up with anyone, we would like to set the tempo ourselves. We would like to dictate some of the pressure."

So it's time to pull off a good old-fashioned upset, just as Japan did over a week ago. Shalom Suniula says the team does think about it.

"Every player, especially from the tier two nations, gained confidence from that game," said Suniula about Japan's 34-32 victory over South Africa. "They threw a grenade in our pool so we take confidence from that. It's gone viral, and for the team it's been inspirational."