Comments from USA coach Gary Gold and captain AJ MacGinty

There has been no shortage of public commentary on yesterday’s World Cup Qualifier result that saw Chile defeating the USA in what was an historic upset. USA Head Coach Gary Gold and captain AJ MacGinty spoke to members of the media following the match. Below are some of their comments.

 

Gary Gold…

…on the result:

“I think they were very, very good today. But it was our undoing, just letting them back in the game by our ill-discipline. That’s a little bit frustrating.”

“I can’t fault the guys for the energy, the passion, how hard they tried and how badly they wanted it. I have absolutely no excuse whatsoever. We were our own worst enemies.”

“Things were going along nicely, and then there was a card. From that there was a momentum swing. We made a couple errors after that, and they took their chances.”

“There was no reason think that they were going to go away. They didn’t go away against Canada, they didn’t go away against Uruguay, they didn’t go away last weekend. There’s no way that we ever thought that they were ever going to go away.”

…preparations:

“It would be amazing if we could just spend a little bit more time together… a lot more time together… and be playing more together, and learning these lessons. As opposed to coming in fleetingly and then having to panically assemble and disassemble.”

…on Chile coach Pablo Lemoine’s selections and strategy:

“We had been monitoring their roster throughout the whole of the SLAR season. They had a reasonably strong rotation policy with the forwards. Having [prop Matías] Dittus on the bench just clearly showed us that they thought this game was going to be close, and they wanted to finish strong. Fair play to them, that’s exactly what happened.”

“I think Pablo made a good decision. Obviously now it looks like an exceptional decision. Credit where it’s due. He didn’t want the last 20 minutes to end like last week when they were streamrolled. You saw it today. I think we started off really strong in pack. We did out-scrum them in the beginning. I think he anticipated that, and I think he just wanted to be within a shout when he did roll on the big boys.”

…on looking ahead to the Repechage and potential squad changes:

“We’ll see what happens in terms of the qualifiers. Then we’ll dust ourselves off and get back up and live to fight another day, which thank goodness we do have. We’ve got another opportunity to go to the Repechage.”

“We’re not really due at this stage to be together between now and then. There’s so many young players in the MLR who are putting their hands up and doing so well. We really want to give them an opportunity and we have to weigh up the balance between bringing a new guy in and introducing them to test match rugby versus trying to keep our cohesion. We’re not cohesive. We haven’t got the opportunity to spend 10-12 weeks like Selknam did and be able to give those opportunities. So that’s the continual balancing and juggling act that we have, between those two dilemmas.”

“We haven’t even thought about the Repechage. Not for any other reason, just that Chile has been consuming us. We watched them every single week in SLAR and watched them improve. We knew our work was cut out for us. We saw what happened to Canada. I’m just really impressed by South American rugby and how it’s turned the corner. So our time and energy has been completely focused on them. Now we’ll have to turn our focus onto the next teams we have to play.”

 

AJ MacGinty…

…on the result:

“It was a tough old game. Towards the end we just made too many errors and shot ourselves in the foot. All credit to Chile but of course we’re disappointed with how the game went. Kinda being in command, feeling like you’re in full control, then letting it slip and then it’s like a dog fight.”

“We gave it everything. Of course it’s going to be hard for this to settle in. It’s just blank expressions in the change room. Everyone is hurt from it. I wasn’t there, but I know lads felt it when it happened in Uruguay.”

…on taking a 19-0 lead after 30 minutes:

“We went three tries up, and we were imposing ourselves on them and putting them under massive pressure. I could see a look of disbelief in their eyes. We had started very well and were in charge of the game. Credit to Chile, they tackled hard and they’re tough at the breakdown. They scrambled really well, they made us work really hard for our scores. It just seemed that the first time they got in the 22, they scored, and the second time they got in the 22 they scored. We allowed them to rack up points too easily.”

“Going into halftime we still had the lead. We came out and scored the first points again. But it was that to-and-fro, back-and-forth, we allowed them straight back in the game in the second half. Not sustaining, and building on the lead, that was probably the biggest killer for us.”

…on tactical kicking:

“In the second half we probably gave them too much time on the ball, with our restarts and our kicking game. Too much time to be able to hit those long ones and gain territory. The kicking game in the second half was massive, and unfortunately we didn’t dominate as much as we wanted to.”

…on choosing a penalty goal instead of a lineout with the score 26-21 near the hour mark:

“I just felt getting clear of that one-score lead and taking three was a good option. The heat, the altitude, can we put them into a position where they’re chasing the game. That was why we went for the three. It just comes down to how the game unfolds after that. They ended up coming back and scoring and then it’s a tighter game.”

“The last 10 minutes, an error on my part trying to get field position, I put it out on the full. It just kinda burst our bubble a bit. That led to them getting an opportunity to kick three and get the lead. Then we were chasing the game.”

…on preparations:

“Little errors, conditions, fatigue all played a factor. We had five weeks together, we should have been good enough to put together something to beat Chile. They were close games away and at home. We’re just gutted.”

“It has been a very good five weeks together. All roads were leading to good things, but the result didn’t go our way. That’s the sport. You’ve got to put it behind you and move on.”

…on looking ahead to the Repechage:

“It’s tough because we separate straight away. Some guys, their rugby is finished because the MLR season is over. So it’s kind of a rest period for them but it’s obviously crucial that we stay fit and we keep ourselves in good condition to be ready to go for the sort-of back door into the World Cup.”

“It is a close-knit group. We will definitely keep in contact, and listen to the takeaways. Like how did we let that slip? What are the improvements, and where do we go from here? We’ve got to have a good look at ourselves. The difficulty is we’re not together to do that sort of review.”