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Sports Then and Now



Is USA Rugby Ready to Take the Next Step? 6

Posted on August 31, 2011 by William Taylor

The USA Rugby team is preparing for the upcoming World Cup.

When you think of sport in the United States, you might think American Football, Basketball, Baseball, maybe even Hockey. If you think outside the box, you might notice that Soccer is getting big over there. But Rugby? Surely not.

In fact, Rugby is now new arrival to ‘The Land of the Free’ – it has been around for well over a hundred years, and this November will be 99 years since they played their first international – a 12-8 loss to Australia.

Since then, however, their game has come a long way, and in 1987, they made their first appearance in the newly formed Rugby World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Between then and now, they have featured in every tournament since the 1995 one when they missed out.

Their World Cup debut came against Japan, in Brisbane. The States ran out 21-18 winners that day in an entertaining encounter. But their honeymoon period soon ended, with defeats to Australia and England ending their World Cup dream. Read the rest of this entry →

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