The USA Men’s Selects XVs recently concluded the Americas Pacific Challenge with two losses to Brazil A and Chile A. In the first international competition for the USA’s first secondary side since 2018, Head Coach Mike Tolkin weighed the outcomes with performances to develop his takeaways.
Tournament Recap
Drawing with Argentina came off the back-end of travel complications which forced the USA’s to miss the opening round of the tournament.
In their first contest against Brazil A, the United States delivered a strong start and carried the lead into halftime until the Brazilians came back following numerous USA penalties. The match was back and forth until the 67th minute when Brazil A shut the USA out for good, tacking on points after points for a 33-20 finish.
Chile A scored two tries off of several USA turnovers in the first half, despite an early yellow card. The United States displayed many positive passages of play but struggled to control turnovers. A solid multi-phased attack led the U.S. to its first tray in the second half, followed by another exciting score from Captain Bailey Wilson. Despite late momentum, Chile won it 29-14.
Comments from Head Coach Mike Tolkin
Top 3 Takeaways
- There is some strong emerging talent that could join the senior Eagles in the near future.
- With the senior Men’s Eagles busy playing the All Blacks, our professional overseas players not available and several university prospects unable to attend, there was a reasonable amount of depth in our Selects player pool which was a positive. We need to continue growing that pool, especially through our North American Academy Program.
- The South American teams provide excellent competition for us and playing them more regularly at every level will help us improve in our areas of weakness.
Players who really stood out
Ben Mitchell, Justin Johnson, Bailey Wilson, Harry Barlow, Jack Wendling were some of our top players, but there were definitely several others who put in noteworthy performances.
Top 3 Biggest Challenges
- We noticed an uneven match fitness and competition readiness among the squad, primarily because most players are in different stages of their state of play here. The pandemic created opportunities for some collegiate and club programs to compete while others were forced into a standstill for a longer period of time.
- Getting the rhythm right for the first game took some time. Our players did remarkably well to pick up and understand how we were trying to play on attack and defense, but we need longer connectivity for them to adapt to each other’s playing styles and gel. Training together and achieving continuity is often a challenge for the USA.
- The disruptions we experienced through several flight cancellations out of the States became our biggest challenge. Having to overcome that adversity over a number of days was frustrating, especially given such things were out of our control. But this also revealed the best in every player's individual character traits. As a group, we doubled down and worked without complaints to adjust as events unfolded with positive energy.
What’s next for these players?
As this was a mixed age-group, some will continue onto the December Winter Camp while others might receive invites to the senior Eagles camp next year.
How can the community support
The difference between winning and losing against these teams often lies in how we execute on the field, but it's important to consider the factors outside of our tours that can make a huge impact. To promote the health and prosperity of the Junior National Teams, we need the community to nominate strong talent for the pathways and support that talent by helping players generate the resources to attend camps, opportunity days, as well as attend and compete in community and club events if they have the ability to do so.
To nominate a player for a pathways program, click here.
