Got our asses (USA) handed to us by South Africa. Next up, a
breather, Samoa.
Ebner was moved from fullback to outside center for the Samoa match.
USA aim for massive improvement
2008-06-10 12:36:10
The USA Under-20 team management have announced its lineup for the Round Two match against Samoa in the International Rugby Board (IRB) Junior World Championships in Wales.
USA will want to improve drastically on their first round performance, in which they were demolished 108-18 by a rampant South Africa Under-20 side.
"The game film clearly showed weaknesses in our tackling and ability to put South Africa on the floor," coach Salty Thompson said of his team's loss against South Africa.
"We also had too many unforced turnovers. We've worked hard to improve our tracking and footwork in the tackle.
"We've also got a better team understanding and organization of our phase play offense. The team is making better decisions on and off the ball.
"The focus tomorrow against Samoa has to be team defense," Thompson added.
"Samoa will spread the field and be elusive on the ball. They are gifted players who are extremely dangerous going forward. We need to play with discipline, commitment and structure."
According to a USA Rugby media release, the Samoans, buoyed by their first success against top tier European opposition, have made a number of changes, particularly in the forwards, although they keep faith with twins Alvin and Aaron Smith in the centre with Sanele Vavae Tuilagi starting on the wing with Tupou switching to fullback.
Salty Thompson, by contrast, has not rung so many personnel changes, although a number of players do switch positions with Kevin Erskine moving to the back row and Nate Ebner coming in from fullback to centre outside Thretton Palamo, the youngest ever player to play in the Rugby World Cup after his appearance against the Springboks last year.
United States: 15 Tim Moxness, 14 Adam Ducoing, 13 Nate Ebner, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Zach Test, 10 Ty Siceloff, 9 Sean Treacy, 8 Taylor Mokate, 7 Kevin Erskine, 6 Liam Murphy, 5 Scott Lavalla (captain), 4 Scott Metcalf, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Bill Wynne, 1 Stevie Johnston.
Replacements: 16 Mike Shepherd, 17 Max Paganini, 18 Teddy Barron, 19 Ryan Mctiernan, 20 Austin Cella, 21 Steven Sablan, 22 Gareth Jones.
Date: Tuesday, June 10
Venue: Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Kick-off: 17.00 (16.00 GMT)
Referee: Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe (England), David Jones (Wales)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)
