Putting U23 Game In Perspective
Putting U23 Game In Perspective
The USA U23s did indeed win fairly convincingly 41-12 in the opening match against the UXI Invitational XV, but what does that mean?
Let’s take a look.
UXI Sport is a private education group that runs six different rugby institutes around South Africa. The players in the program are not professional rugby players; rather they are talented rugby players working on their career development and also their rugby development. They might become professional rugby players, but they might also pursue careers off the field.
The UXI Invitational XV included mostly players from UXI Sport’s Western Province International Rugby Institute plus a few players who study at UXI institutes in the northern part of South Africa. the players were all about 19 to 21, so, overall, maybe a bit younger than the USA players.
Several USA-based rugby players actually attend UXI institutes, usually at the WPIRI, every year. Among them was Will Sherman, UCLA and USA U23 lock, who attended the UXI sessions at Stellenbosch University.
“UXI welcomes American players it’s a nice pathway for US boys to come over,” said UXI Sport National Program Director Anton Moolman. “There are young men, aged 19 to 21, all studying and following a high-performance rugby program.”
Assessment from UXI Program Director
‘The game went really well. We had a great first half and it was 12-all at halftime," said Moolman. "We were really competitive, but the physicality of the game was where the US had the ascendancy, especially up front. Their lineouts functioned really well. We scored two fantastic first phase tries in the first half and we managed to hold our own in the set piece. But once we made substitutions, the age gap showed.
“Nonetheless it was a great outing, and for the US Under 23s it was a great way to start their tour. The field was a little bit muddy and they played well; they went to the corner and they drove.”
Learn more about the UXI WPIRI by emailing Gary Coetzee at gary@uxisport.us
GRR’s Assessment
While these are all fair observations by Moolman, and it is true that several tries came from the lineout-and-maul, the USA also did score some nice open-field tries, with Campbell Robb’s first score and Keel Farrell’s try right after perhaps being the best.
(Watch here: video is cued up for Robb’s try)
(Watch here: video is cued up for Farrell’s try)
Missed chances. While the game was 12-12 at halftime, the USA U23s had to have come out of that first half thinking that they missed chances. Four times in the first half the USA had prime scoring chances and failed to get points:
1. A run down the sideline to within three meters ended in a penalty to UXI.
2. USA got over the line but were held up. From the ensuing scrum UXI forced a knock-on.
3. USA got a lineout 10 meters from the UXI tryline but couldn’t secure the ball.
4. USA had the ball within five meters. They lost the ball but went back to a scrum, attacked from there, and later knocked the ball on.
Had they converted on two of these (and we left out any that weren’t really close to the tryline), the USA U23s could have taken a 24-12 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the USA conversion rate inside the red zone wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot better. Most of that came down to calming down a little bit and being more confident that the try would come.
Injuries. Two UXI players, fullback Ferron Beukes and wing Thomas Braun, collided when trying to catch a kicked ball. Both had to leave the field. That didn’t help them.
Quotes from Players
“Very competitive team, especially off set piece,” USA player Darius Law said of UXI. “They got us a good few times ... very quick, very fast, and it was a very fun game to play. Definitely some work-ons. I'd say set piece, defense, a bit.”
“What I really appreciate is I think everyone knows we're not there yet,” added Alex Hernandez. “Everyone is learning, is willing to learn from each other, and improve from there. And I think … that type of culture is something that any team needs. I think we did pretty well on the scrums. It's South Africa. They're known for scrumming, so I think, you know, we've got some respect with it right there.”
“[A work-on is] just working on getting more comfortable with each other, with who's to your left and who's to your right and, having fun while we're doing it, too,” said Coby Baker. “It's been unreal. I mean, shout out. All the coaching and the staff that we have with us, they're all amazing.”
“Our mentality was, the whole 80 minutes, stay in it,” said JT Toia'ivao. “You’re tired, look to your buddy on the left, on right right … stay in it. Mess up? Stay in it. And, you know, our impact players, they stayed in it and they brought it.”