IRB Rugby 2013 Summer Tests : USA vs Ireland Match Preview, Rosters & Analysis

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 1, 2013

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The USA Rugby Eagles will take on a dangerously understrength Ireland squad in their second International Rugby Board (IRB) test match of the summer at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on June 8. 

On paper, their encounter will represent one of the larger challenges USA Rugby's senior men's team has undertaken in recent times outside of a World Cup. For the 16th-ranked Eagles, the match is also a rare opportunity to put on a world-class rugby event on home soil.

USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville expressed his excitement about the upcoming contest when he spoke to Bleacher Report at the Global Rugby Forum, in Philadelphia.

"We are extremely excited to be welcoming Ireland to Houston for this world-class caliber test match. It will be a great opportunity for us to once again tap the fantastic enthusiasm for rugby that exists in Houston, as well as being a stern test for the Eagles."

It hasn't been the smoothest start to the summer for Melville's Eagles. Like Ireland, whose stars are now traveling the Pacific Rim with the British and Irish Lions Tour, USA Rugby's overseas players were largely absent from their first test of the summer against Canada on May 25. 



That contest ended in a 16-9 defeat at the hands of an equally underpowered Canadian team. Those two traditional rivals will meet twice more in August for a home-and-away series, as part of the World Cup Qualifying process. By the time those matches take place at summer's end, both North American squads will look significantly stronger.

But first, both must worry about the ninth-ranked Irish. Or, is it the other way around?



When the time comes, the Eagles should be bolstered by the return of several of their top-flight overseas players, including Shawn Pittman and the lighting-fast Biarritz winger Takudzwa Ngwenya. These additions—and Ireland's own depth chart issues—should theoretically...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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