RWC 2015 Pool B: How are USA’s Rivals Preparing?

We’re in the home stretch towards the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The time for shaking up rosters and testing new players is nearing an end as all of the teams involved now shift their focus on final preparations. The USA just completed what can be considered a successful Pacific Nations Cup campaign. The Eagles have a few more games left before departing for England as they face Canada, Harlequins, and Australia in a busy next month.

The USA is pooled with South Africa, Samoa, Scotland, and Japan in Pool B at the upcoming RWC. Let’s take a look at how their preparations are coming along.

South Africa

Currently ranked 2nd in the World, South Africa’s run up to the RWC hasn’t gotten off to the start that they were looking for. After easily dispatching a World XV in a friendly, the Springbok’s dropped their first two matches of the Rugby Championship to New Zealand and Australia. The more worrying point is that South Africa held leads in both matches with less than 10 minutes to play. They have a final Rugby Championship match against Argentina this weekend and then head into their final RWC camp. Regardless of the unwanted recent results, this is South Africa we’re talking about. They are head and shoulders ahead of the rest of Pool B.

Samoa

Samoa just completed their Pacific Nations Cup campaign with a 2nd place finish and a 2-1-1 record including a win over RWC pool opponent USA. They also hosted New Zealand in a historic match that saw Samoa go toe to toe with the best team in the world. The most important point to draw away from their buildup is that they had an opportunity to test their depth at the PNC and showed well. Head Coach Stephen Betham also had a chance to rest some of their best players during the PNC. The entire squad now regroups as final selections for the RWC looms.

Scotland

While all of the other Pool B squads have been active playing matches, Scotland has been hard at work in training camp. The squad started their RWC buildup by training at altitude in the French Pyrenees. They followed by training the last few weeks at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby. They’ll face their first game action next weekend as they have four RWC warm up matches set over the next month. Scotland starts with Ireland, follows with a home/away against Italy, and finishes with France. Head Coach Vern Cotter is nder pressure as Scotland needs to build some momentum heading into the RWC as they face stern tests. Scotland hopes to get back to the quarterfinals after missing out in 2011.

Japan

Japan came into the lead up to the World Cup as a solid favorite not to finish last in Pool B, but did little to back up that claim during the Pacific Nations Cup. They finished the PNC with a 1-3 record with their only victory being over winless Canada. Head Coach Eddie Jones has some injury worries as they head into their final three pre-RWC warm up matches. Japan takes on a World XV before hosting Uruguay for a two-test series. The final three matches should provide an opportunity for Japan to work out their ills from the PNC and get some injured players back into the mix. Jones is gambling a bit in stating publicly that he would not be playing his best squad all at the same time until they face South Africa in the World Cup.

Pool B of the 2015 Rugby World Cup kicks off play on September 19th as South Africa takes on Japan at the Brighton Community Stadium in England.