Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Gary Gold is no longer the head coach of the USA Men’s Eagles, USA Rugby has confirmed. It comes after the Eagles elimination from the World Cup in the repechage qualifying tournament. The USA missed out on sealing a place at Rugby World Cup 2023 yet will host Rugby World Cup 2031.
Gold was the head coach of the USA Men’s Eagles from 2018-2022. The South African replaced New Zealander Dave Hewett who held the position on an interim basis for two matches. Hewett replaced John Mitchell who was in charge in 2016-2017.
Mitchell took the Eagles to a high. Under the former All Blacks command, the Eagles qualified for Rugby World Cup 2019 as Americas 1. This had never happened before. The USA overcame Canada to qualify and sent the traditional North American no 1 side into play-off’s against Uruguay and then repechage.
Gold coached the Eagles at the World Cup in 2019. The USA were winless in their matches against Argentina, England, France, and Tonga. The rugby played was positive despite the results. It followed what had been a strong start; under Gold the USA started with wins against Russia (62–13), Scotland (30–29), and Canada (42-17).
The win over Scotland in Houston, Texas was a prime example of why there was reason for plenty of anticipation about the USA moving forward. Sustained professionalism in the form of Major League Rugby (MLR) was another component. Instead, however, Uruguay and Chile both defeated Gold’s team during RWC qualifiers to qualify while Portugal claimed the final spot against the USA.
Attention has already turned to who will replace Gold. Will it be an MLR coach? Will it be a former USA player? Will it be a foreigner? With the USA hosting RWC 2031 it is mandatory that the Eagles turn around to be competitive and qualify for RWC 2027. Does this mean that the new coach could it be Eddie Jones? Could it be Scott Robertson?
