USA's Nate Ebner recognises the importance of his team's spirit
Photo: Stephen Scullion
15 APRIL 2007
By Jeremy Inson
The USA take on Italy in the Division B semi final at the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007, a match few would have predicted at the outset, following USA’s showing at the 2006 tournament when they finished in 12th place following one draw and four defeats.
This year there has been a big turnaround after they won all three of their pool matches against Russia, Romania and Zimbabwe to finish fourth and qualify for the semi finals.
Full back Nate Ebner is the one survivor from the 2006 team and he knows exactly what the difference is attributable to.
“Our team motto is one team, one heart, one purpose. Last year our team didn’t have the camaraderie that we have here. That’s attributable to how many times we met last year compared to this year,” Ebner said.
Continual improvement
Ebner feels that it is the USA’s rigorous attitude to analysing their performances that is aiding their improvement.
“We’ve gotten better in every game, just working on everything. Every game we find a new aspect to where we were off. Defensively we need to spread more and offensively pick up the pace more,” as he explained to irbu19.com.
With the semi final on the horizon Ebner, who plays for Scioto Valley in Ohio, knows exactly where they will win the match.
“We have shown that we have a really strong defensive team and we will feed off that as they are a big team. But we are going to come in as hard as we can, play good defence and see what we can do,” he said.
For USA head coach Salty Thompson it is an achievement made despite having to work in tricky conditions.
“We do have our challenges, it is a large country. Finding those players is a task in hand and it occupies a lot of time for me, my fellow coaches and our scouts. Finding the players, developing the players and competing with traditional American sports are significant issues,” Thompson said.
North American derby
With Canada taking on Georgia in the other semi final, there is the possibility that it will be a North American derby in the Division B final, something Thompson believes will have only benefits for USA rugby.
“We can see that we have some mutual involvement in getting the best out of each other. I think they’ve helped raise the bar in North America and set the standard for a number of years.
“It is a vital link for us and we both realise it is significant. We’re getting better as a result of it,” he said.
For Thompson, an exiled Ulsterman, it has been an emotional return after 20 years in the USA.
“It’s been a bit of a dream, I’ve been running into people I played with and grew up with in the schoolboy era. I’m extremely honoured to lead the USA here and the performance is more than I could have asked for,” he said.
I’m extremely honoured to lead the USA here and the performance is more than I could have asked for.
USA head coach Salty Thompson
Riccardo Bocchino, Italy’s fly half and last-minute try scoring hero of their match against Tonga, believes that they will be in for a tough match with USA.
“I think they are very physical, athletic and have played well. I saw their match against Russia and I think we have to play well against them,” Bocchino said.
Italian confidence
Nonetheless Italy are confident ahead of the match, something that was boosted by their win over Tonga.
“Last year Italy lost against Tonga and with this victory we know that we can win the Division B championship and we know we can play well,” he said.
According to Italy head coach Stefano Romagnoli it is the mental preparation that will make the difference when the two teams meet.
“The problem now is thinking about the match with Tonga. It is finished. The team must think about USA, only USA. I think Italy have a good chance of getting to the final, but only if they think of the performance,” Romagnoli said.
It was the head coach’s advice on their mental approach that made the difference in the two point victory over Tonga.
“I told my players don’t think of the result, think of the performance. If you play for the performance, you can win. If you think of the result you could lose," he said.
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