GRR: Rugby World Cup
LONDON - Captain Chris Wyles, Mike Petri and Takudzwa Ngwenya will all make a third Rugby World Cup appearance for USA Sunday as the Eagles face Samoa in their opening game in Brighton.
The USA’s Rugby World Cup arrives very, very soon with the first match against Samoa kicking off at 7am ET, 4am PT on Sunday, Sept. 20.
For the two USA scrumhalves, it’s a very different opening weekend. Mike Petri is playing in his third World Cup, and is the established starer. Niku Kruger earned his first cap this summer, and is just getting started.
LOS ANGELES (Universal Sports Release) – From September 18 through October 31, the eyes of the world will be on England for Rugby World Cup 2015. Throughout the 20-team, six-week long tournament, Universal Sports Network and NBC Sports Group will present unprecedented multiplatform coverage including more than 23 hours of broadcast coverage and more than 121 hours of live streaming.
The USA’s Rugby World Cup opener against Samoa is what the Eagles’ tournament hinges on.
In the upcoming RuggaMatrix America podcast, co-host Bruce McLane says exactly that - it’s all about Samoa, and up-and-coming USA center Thretton Palamo knows it, too.
Samoa looms on the USA’s radar as Sunday will come all too quickly.
That game will be the opening game of the Rugby World Cup for the Eagles, and likely will be the biggest game of the World Cup. If the USA wants to get automatic qualification for 2019 (by finishing 3rd in their pool or better), or wants to make the quarterfinals, they have to beat Samoa.