Rugby World Cup: USA Eagles coach hails side’s ‘clinical’ win over Hong Kong, eyes winner-takes-all clash with Portugal
- Gary Gold says his side will have their work cut out for them in final game of qualifying tournament in Dubai
- Everything riding on last match at The Sevens Stadium, with place in Paris up for grabs for winners
USA Eagles head coach Gary Gold hailed his side’s “clinical performance” in their 49-7 win over Hong Kong, which sets up a winner-takes-all clash against Portugal for a place at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The two countries are unbeaten in the final qualifying tournament in Dubai, and Portugal’s 85-0 hammering of Kenya in the early game laid down a marker for Friday’s clash.
And after coming through a bruising encounter with Hong Kong, Gold said it would be pointless denying that the chance of injuries had played on his mind during Saturday’s game.
“This was always going to be a very difficult week for us, obviously it’s the second week on tour, transition week, we knew what Hong Kong was going to bring, which is a physicality which we had to handle,” Gold said.
“You can’t lie or deny that the thinking in the back of your head is that you just don’t want to pick up an injury, and you’ve got next week still to come, and that does play a role.”
From the start of the tournament, the expectation was that the US and Portugal would be the two teams contesting the final spot in Paris, and Gold’s side have long been considered the favourites.
That pressure comes with its own challenges, and the US coach said his approach had been to focus on objectives one at a time. In the game against Hong Kong that meant targeting the set-piece.
