USA Rugby in 2016 Rio Olympics: Nate Ebner and Carlin Isles Roaming the Field in 26-0 Win Against Brazil
Team USA will defend the gold medal in Men's rugby for the first time since 1924 Paris Olympics. Thanks to host country Brazil and an effort to reintroduce the sports, rugby is included in Rio Games and the Americans is out for a repeat after 92 years.
Team USA managed to bump from a 17-14 loss during the opener against Argentina, the Americans remained on track after the second match with a 26-0 win over host Brazil. The result ensured USA's chances of reaching the finals although with blemished record.
Inclusion of rugby
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To recall, few host countries are willing in include rugby in the list of events and the World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said that it was since 10 years ago that the effort was rekindled. Brazil became the catalyst for rugby when it trained almost two thousand coaches in 2015, resulting to hundreds of schools adopting the sport.
Anyway, to recap the previous matches, Team USA was trailing behind the Argentine squad with 12-0 in the second half when Patriot's Nate Ebner commits charging runs and hard hits. Coach Bill Beichick's men also tried to scour the field and attack every available opportunity but Team Argentina prevailed by beating the clock with a final 17-14.
Ebner is again instrumental in the following game against Brazil where the match ended with 26-0, denying the host country any chances for the try.
Fulau Niua scores for the Team USA at the very first try and repeats the process in the final play of the first half. The second half results in consistent try from Carlin Isles who capitalized on his trademark zooming speed. Then Maka Unufe scored a try for the finishing touches in the dying minutes.
Ebner's contribution
The biggest contribution came from Ebner, albeit spending two minutes brooding at the bin because of a yellow card. Ebner is the only active rugby player from the Pro League to make an appearance in Rio Games so Team USA is expected to rely on the New England Patriots' safe in the upcoming matches.
Next schedule
Team USA will compete again on August 11, Thursday at 12:30 a.m. against Fiji for the continuation of the Group A clash. The other two strong oppositions from the group, Argentina and Brazil will start their match thirty minutes earlier the same day.
The following day will then become a very busy day for men's rugby since the quarterfinals is scheduled to start at 4:00 a.m. straight through the semifinals.
