Rugby World Cup 2011 Live Stream Or Italy v USA Live Stream 27 September 2011
Despite competing in every Rugby World Cup to date, the national rugby team from Italy has yet to attain major success, and will come to the 2011 Rugby World Cup with moderate expectations. Italy has shown its team can contain the top ranked nations, but domestic rugby in Italy is still developing and the team will use the RWC 2011 as a stepping stone to achieving honours in the future Rugby World Cup competitions.
Italy have been drawn in Pool C for the 2011 Rugby World Cup along with Australia, Ireland, Russia and the USA, and will be hoping to achieve a top two placing and make it beyond the pool stages for the first time in their Rugby World Cup history.
Italy participated in the first ever Rugby World Cup match at the 1987 World Cup, losing 70-6 to the All Blacks, and finished third in their group. In the 1991 and 1995 Rugby World Cup competitions Italy failed to progress beyond the group stages, although they came close to beating England in the pool stage of the 1995 RWC. The 1999 Rugby World Cup saw Italy unable to win a single game, and in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cup competitions Italy again could not move past the group stages, despite showing some improvement to their game.
Ranked 12th in the IRB rankings, and coached by Nick Mallet, the Italians will come to Rugby World Cup 2011 with a team displaying its usual passion for the game, and an ability to produce top notch loose forwards. Nicknamed Azzurri, the team from Italy will hope the back line finds direction to match the solid performances of the forwards at RWC 2011.
The USA Men’s National Team, nicknamed the Eagles, has a long and storied history. Gold medal winners in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924, the Eagles resumed playing international matches in the modern era in 1976 and compete against the top rugby nations in the world.
The Eagles are currently ranked #17 in the world after a 2010 November Tour and the 2011 Churchill Cup. After three weeks together, the USA looked to be coming into their own following two tough losses to England Saxons and Tonga in this year's Churchill Cup.
With three test matches before they head to New Zealand to compete on the world's biggest stage, the 2011 Rugby World Cup, USA Head Coach will look to sharpen the Eagles' talons and prepare them for a strong performance in the RWC.
With electric players heading into the squad such as fullback Chris Wyles, winger Takudzwa Ngwenya and physical enforcers like captain Todd Clever and Paul Emerick, the Eagles have a combonation of speed, tenacity, and physicality. The challenge is to get the team on the same page and firing on all cylinders before September. If that happens, expect fireworks fromt he Eagles in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
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