2011 Rugby World Cup

Wow. That's actually a pretty huge win.

 

I was up till the wee hours watching the game last nigh, completely shocked the Canadians won. I expected that after the Tongan try near the end of the first half that they would roll in the second half with the wind at their back.

I had not seen Canada play in a while and was shocked at how much more physical the Tongans were in the tackles.

 

None of the Pacific Island teams (Tonga, Fiji, Samoa) shy away from contact.

 

I was more surprised at the lack of physicality by the Canadians giving that they are not a real finesse team. They just looked over matched.

 

USA-Russia will air live on Universal Sports at 3:30 am ET tonight. This is probably the best chance for a US win at this year's tourney.

 

20 minutes in -- so far, so good. US 10-3 Russia. Eagles handling and tackling well, only seen one missed attempt at goal so far. Nervy stuff, though.

 

Gah. Two successive 10-plus phase possessions deep in Russian territory, one turnover and one missed penalty. Can't be leaving points on the table.

 

Yeah. They missed two kicks and were inside the 5 meter a few times. Don't think 10 points will be enough to win this.

 

Halftime, US 10-3 Russia. It got awfully scrappy near the end of the half, US with 5 handling errors. Two Eagles forced off with injuries, too.

Good start, but 10 points definitely isn't going to cut it.

 

Man, it's pouring there right now.

 

It makes the shots of Americans -- men and women -- shivering in bikini tops all the more patriotic.

 

Two bullets dodged by the US early in the half. Eagles still tackling well, but Russia piling on the pressure.