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USA captain sends heartfelt message after winless Rugby World Cup
By Josh Raisey
USA captain Blaine Scully has said that it was “an honor to serve” his team at the Rugby World Cup this year.
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The former Leicester Tigers and Cardiff Blues winger shared the message on Twitter after USA Rugby had posted a video message from him.
The USA lost all four of their pool stage matches at the RWC, falling to Tonga 31-19 on Sunday in Hanazono. After the result, Scully said in the video that “we have more work to do” and accepted “that’s where we’re at”.
While it was a tough campaign for Gary Gold’s side, Scully said on Twitter: “The results weren’t what we worked for but will always be proud to represent.”
The 31-year-old also thanked his teammates and everyone involved in the USA rugby team, as well as all the fans for their support.
This was his message:
It’s been my honor to serve the team as captain on this campaign. Thank you to my teammates & all involved for the relentless effort. Thank you to the American rugby community for the support. The results weren’t what we worked for but will always be proud to represent 🇺🇸. https://t.co/FhMr3aMvzK
— Blaine Scully (@BlaineScully1) October 14, 2019
Scully’s sentiments in the video are similar to his press conference, where he remains confident about the future of American rugby. He said: “(We can) continue to start from a place where we now know as a group, because there’s a lot of people who will be a part of this team moving forward, just how hard it is and what it looks like to be at the top one per cent of the game and the effort and the accuracy that’s needed to get results at Rugby World Cups.”
With the USA sevens emerging as a powerhouse of the game now, the 15-man format has not yet replicated that success, although they did show some improvement throughout their time in Japan.
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A disappointing opening match against England was followed by a much improved performance against France the week later, where Scully’s team were still very much in the game with 15 minutes remaining, although France did pull away at the end.
Two more defeats to Argentina and Tonga means the USA leave Japan empty-handed, but Gold, like Scully, is remaining positive as well about the future of rugby in the states. He said: “I don’t think anybody watching any of the games we’ve played can honestly turn around and say these players haven’t shown a huge amount of character. If you use that as a foundation to build a team on, you’ve got an opportunity to go places.”
