Rugby World Cup 2019: USA boss calls on tier one nations to commit to playing regular tier two opponents

United States head coach Gary Gold wants games like tomorrow’s Rugby World Cup clash against England to become a mainstay of the international calendar, and believes post-Six Nations and pre-Rugby Championship tours could be the ideal way to increase competition across the globe.

The recent attempt by World Rugby to create the Nations Championship failed in June after it received opposition from certain unions over the timescale and format of the competition, squashing the governing body’s attempt to help develop the tier two nations.

The San Francisco agreement, which was reached in early 2017 to provide the framework for the international seasons running from 2020 until 2032, brings an increase in those matches, with England set to tour Japan next summer and the USA in 2024 in post-World Cup years. But with the USA taking on England in what will be only their sixth encounter – and first for 12 years – former Bath, Newcastle and Worcester boss Gold suggested that the death of the Nations Championship doesn’t have to be the end of the attempt to bring the developing and established international teams closer together.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say the Nations Cup has to be re-established,” Gold said on the eve of the USA’s opening World Cup match. “The truth of the matter is I’m not a politician and I don’t know enough about what did and didn’t happen there.

“The tier two nations, whether that’s Georgia or Japan or ourselves or Fiji or Samoa and Tonga, do need to be playing more tier one teams on a more regular basis. There’s no question about that.

“Getting the scraps off the table once every two or three years isn’t going to do a lot to improve that. If there were a solution where we could potentially play them a lot more regularly that’s not necessarily the Nations Cup… maybe after the Six Nations and before the Rugby Championship in that July window there could be a window where tier one teams play tier two teams, and we welcome them to our country. An England or Ireland or Scotland or Australia or New Zealand could come to America and play a few Tests there as a preparation for the Rugby Championship, or post-Six Nations.”

The issue has taken a spotlight once again following the impressive showings by the smaller nations at Japan 2019. The current tournament is on course to be the third-lowest scoring World Cup ever, and with not a single team clearing the 50-point barrier yet, it’s fair to look at the likes of Tonga and Fiji and argue that their continuing improvement is justification to bring nations together in some format, be it regular test series or one global championship.

“Generally speaking the tier two countries have been more competitive,” said England boss Eddie Jones when asked for his standout opinion of the World Cup so far. It was Jones of course who lead Japan to the greatest upset in World Cup history when they beat South Africa four years ago, and Gold paid tribute to what his team achieved to show the rest of the tier two nations of what can be achieved.

Gold also went as far to suggest that if Japan fail to make the quarter-finals – at what would likely be the expense of Scotland – it should be classed as a surprise.

“The work that Eddie has done has helped put rugby on the map,” Gold added. “I think the Rugby World Cup is just going to accelerate that even further. I think you can probably see Japan rugby being the supposed tier two team that are going to improve the greatest and the quickest.

“I’ll really be surprised if they don’t qualify for the quarter finals of this Rugby World Cup.”

While the dream for the US is to follow that lead, the next big step in their development – as it was Japan’s – looks to be hosting the World Cup itself. It’s understood that America is firmly in the running to host the tournament in 2027 or 2031, with World Rugby determined to expand into a previously untapped territory, and with the advantage of its own professional league behind it in Major League Rugby, Gold believes hosting the tournament will improve rugby union across the States as it did football in 1994.

“Instead of thinking that we’ve got to improve our game enough in order to deserve to host a Rugby World Cup, I actually see it as the other way around,” Gold explained. “If the USA were able to host the Rugby World Cup in 2027 or 2031, I think that would give a lift to the game. There’s certainly enough interest.

“We’ve seen a couple of years ago when Ireland came to the States and even when the All Blacks came to the States, even though the Eagles got hammered in that game, it sold out Soldier Field.

“There’s certainly enough folk in the States who love the game of rugby and they want to see us play better teams.”