Until 2023, the United States was virtually ever-present at the Rugby World Cup, with the country only missing out on the 1995 showpiece in South Africa. Apart from that, the US team has played in every World Cup from 1987 to 2019. However, disaster struck in November 2022 when the Eagles had World Cup qualification snatched away from them by Portugal.
What was behind this and has the college system in recent times failed to produce players capable of keeping the US’ impressive qualification record going?
The cold hard facts
The reality is that being pipped to qualification by a team that the latest odds on rugby union list at 500/1 to win the World Cup suggests that the systems in place to produce the next generation of players are not functioning as they should.
With that said, it's also worth considering a string of bizarre events outside of the US’ control during their qualification campaign.
To start with, before the US went head-to-head with Portgual in the winner-takes-all qualification game in Dubai, they had two prior play-off matches against Uruguay and Chile in which they could have sealed qualification for the 2023 World Cup. On what was virtually the eve of the match against Uruguay, a handful of the US’ best players were ruled out of the game due to injury.
Proceedings got even stranger against Chile when the US was on course to win the play-off and about to score when the floodlights went out, owing to a torrential downpour of rain. When the lights came back on, Chile had benefitted from the chance to regroup and went on to win the match.
When it came to the last chance saloon against Portugal, a penalty conversion in the 81st minute of the game meant that the scores were tied at 16-16 but the US failed to qualify by virtue of Portugal's superior points difference.
The kick that sends @PortugalRugby to France #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/HWs8UHjMDb
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) November 18, 2022
There is undoubtedly a degree of bad luck there, but does it paper over the cracks at college level where the next stars of the game learn their trade? The US did, after all, have three chances to secure qualification that they couldn't take against nations that are merely making up the numbers at the World Cup.
The NFL's bright lights capture future stars
Historically, it has always been a struggle to keep interest in rugby alive after players graduate from college. Those who end up playing professionally, typically start out aspiring to play in the NFL only to choose rugby as a backup option if that dream fails.
Prop Joe Taufeteʻe is one example of this trend with the 30-year-old starring as a defensive tackle at Santa Ana College in California only for an ACL injury to end his hopes of playing in the NFL.
Taufete’e then turned to rugby and quickly became an international for the US. While Taufete’e deserves praise for excelling in a new sport, the truth remains that he spent his formative years at Santa Ana College playing American football and not rugby.
Jobs not done pic.twitter.com/O9cloagzX8
— Joe Taufete'e (@taufetee) September 12, 2021
Taufete'e's road to international rugby is not an exclusive one and the wider point is that players aren’t gaining that invaluable experience that is gained from solely playing the sport at collegiate level and because of that, the gap is widening between the rest of the world and the US when it comes to rugby.
This shift in trajectory will be a concern as the 2031 World Cup is set to be hosted by the US and if the country fails to perform on home soil then a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow the game will be lost.
There are certainly mitigating circumstances for the US’ absence from the 2023 World Cup but a lack of dedicated participation in US colleges is stunting the country's growth in the international rugby arena.
