Watch the USA Quality for RWC 2011

American readers will be pleased to note that the USA Eagles qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup this past weekend with their second win over Uruguay in as many weeks. This means that the Eagles will appear in their sixth world cup out of the seventh that have been played thus far, with their only missed appearance being the 1995 incarnation of the event.

The Americans' competition will be tough, as they have been placed in a pool that includes Australia, Ireland, Italy, and a to-be-named European side. For now, though, we may as well just enjoy the full match footage of this past Saturday's qualifer, courtest of the USA Rugby Ustream Channel:

First Half:


Second Half:

Paying the Piper and Calling the Tune

We've talked about anthems before here at Armchair Playmaker, but we have to admit it's not a topic we expected to be on very often. Until this past weekend, that is.

The Springboks' loss to France was overshadowed by a debacle surrounding the performance of the South African national anthem. After the match, enraged Springbok representatives claimed that a poor rendition of the anthem insulted the vistors and affected their play.

Even after it was revealed that South African representatives were responsible for recommending the anthem's performer, France found itself apologizing. The singer offered his own explanation that he had been sabotaged, though some government officials in South Africa were unconvinced and went so far as to suggest the performance was an act of treason. (Though it bears mention that this particular anthem has been butchered in the past by home crowds as well, and more deliberately.)

We're hoping that the whole fiasco is over, but we are also reminded that the issue of suspiciously subpar anthem performances for visiting sides is not terribly uncommon. On the same weekend, for example, there were murmurs about a sound failure during the performance of New Zealand's national anthem before the All Blacks put away Italy. Earlier this year, the United States' loss to Canada was prefaced by an error in the American anthem's performance.

The idea of pinning a loss or a poor performance on a sabotoged anthem might be a stretch, although it wouldn't be the first time a hometown conspiracy was blamed for a rugby union loss. That said, one has to wonder if we might see some sort of regulatory efforts from the International Rugby Board to ensure consistent standards applied to anthems and other pre-match events.

In case you haven't yet got to hear the anthem heard 'round the world, here is a clip of that much-maligned performance from this past weekend:



And here's another performance of the anthem for comparison.



And just for good measure, here's one more effort to make amends by the now-infamous singer:



There's not much musical nous here at Armchair Playmaker, so you'll have to draw your own conclusions.

International Parity in League: How Close are We?

Almost a year ago, we commented on how New Zealand's shock World Cup win over Australia is great for the sport of rugby league because an international game dominated by one nation isn't very interesting. By the same token, New Zealand's draw with Australia in this year's Four Nations tournament continues to suggest that international rugby league is no one-horse race. The Kiwis, it seems, no longer have reason to fear the Kangaroos.

One problem, though, is that it has still often looked like there's no legitimate third contender in the sport to pressure those two antipodean rivals, England went ahead and beat New Zealand today. That means that the Four Nations final won't include New Zealand, and it also means that the tournament this year was competitive enough that tournament final will include a side with a loss (England) and a side with a draw (Australia). Only struggling France failed to emerge from the tournament without a win in the end, and even France led England at half-time when the two European sides met in the tournament.

A cynic might say that the emergence of apparent competitiveness between Australia, New Zealand, and England isn't much, and that it only means rugby league is at best a three-horse race (even if France competed gamely with them and there are other interesting international matches going on right now as well). Compared to rugby union, for example with its hundreds of member nations, three sides offering legitimate contention for the title is far from competitive. Right? Maybe. After all, how many teams have held the top spot in the International Rugby Board's rankings over their entire history since being introduced in 2003?

Let's see: There's England (ranked #1 at points during 2003 and 2004), New Zealand (ranked #1 from mid-2004 to late 2007 and during parts of 2008 and 2009), and South Africa (ranked #1 during parts of 2007, 2008, and 2009, including right now). That would be ... three sides?

Looking at things that way, international rugby league might be reasonably competitive after all, more so if England can rise to the occasion in next week's Four Nations final. In any case, it looks like rugby union is watching.

Here's a fan's view of a few moments from England vs. New Zealand:


We can't find much other video out there yet to post for today's matches, but here are some earlier tournament highlights:

Australia vs. England:


New Zealand vs. France:


Australia vs. New Zealand:


England vs. France:

Karmichael Knows?

We've mentioned Karmichael Hunt's much-publicized code switch from rugby league to Australian rules here before, and we had thought there wouldn't be a lot of reasons to mention him here much again given that this site focuses on the rugby codes and not the AFL.

We were wrong. Before his AFL career begins, Hunt plans to wear a shirt with sleeves for just a bit longer by playing rugby union for six months with Biarritz in France. This means that if all goes according to plan, Hunt will have played three football codes at a top professional level in the space of a year. So far, he seems to be enjoying the journey.

Some have already been questioning the intent behind Hunt's frequent code-hopping. We won't speculate on what's behind the sport-swapping, but if it's all about the publicity, Hunt may want to get Nike on the telephone. After all, this is starting to look very familiar to some of us in the United States:







The similarities grow even eerier when we recall that Hunt is a big fan of basketball and the NFL.

Here's hoping things go well for the multi-talented athlete. Fortunately for Karmichael Hunt, there shouldn't be any sign of "Rabbits" Warren (see video in link) or Fuifui Moimoi (see second video in link) in Biarritz or the AFL.

Americans, Meet Fuifui

The Melbourne Storm may have beaten the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League Grand Final, but the Eels put on a show as well--particularly on U.S. television. The Eels played in three of the four finals matches shown on Spike TV's weekly American broadcasts, making them the most-seen side in American during the series (the Storm appeared in two matches and the Gold Coast Titans, Canterbury Bulldogs, and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles were each seen in one match).

Among the most memorable Eels players for the American audience week in and week out must have been Tongan-born Fuifui Moimoi (who is also eligible to play for New Zealand internationally). He got audiences' attention with hits so big that they can only be appreciated fully with the aid of science (sometimes a little too big), though his memorable name may have garnered as much notice from new viewers as his tremendous play.

If you found yourself becoming a new fan of Moimoi's, but were as captivated by the cult figure's interesting moniker as you were by his tremendous efforts, you're not alone. Moimoi is the subject of a song focused on his name and acheivements, as seen below:



We assume he doesn't mind the song because it will be playing when he enters the boxing ring for a charity match (the bout has been delayed by the Eels' success). If you're not a fan, though, you can see examples of Fuifui's imposing play without the soundtrack:









Now and then, of course, Moimoi is on the receiving end as well:



Here's hoping Spike TV and other U.S. networks see fit to show us more of Moimoi and the NRL's other luminaries in the future!

Interchange Coming to Union?

About a year ago, we mentioned that union might want to consider a league-style interchange law for substitutions after a Tri-Nations match featured something of a curious blood substitution.

In the wake of the now-infamous "Bloodgate" scandal involving a faked blood substitution during a Heineken Cup match earlier this year, a similar solution has been proposed. Among 16 suggestions made by an England Rugby Football Union task force on how to improve the sport is the recommendation that open "rolling" substitutions be given a trial run in an English domestic competition.

The idea has some prominent supporters.England manager and former England captain Martin Johnson argued today that the practice may be needed to discourage dishonest substitution practices. Of course, the suggestion has its detractors as well, particularly those who are concerned that opening up substitutions would dramatically affect the size and build of players used, but it looks to be getting taken seriously.

Will this be one way the rugby codes grow more similar than different over time? We'll see. In any case, something need to be done to stop the substitution cheating. As the video of the "Bloodgate" incident shows (follow the link to view the clip), it's certainly hard to catch the cheats under the current system (at least while the match is on). It certainly isn't as obvious as this "reconstruction" we found online, anyway:

Waiting for Invictus? American Rugby Union Documentaries can Tide You Over

The 2008 film Forever Strong may have been rugby union's most visible recent appearance in American media, but another film dealing with rugby union in America is on the way soon. This year, the big news about rugby union in the movies is the upcoming release Invictus, which focuses on South Africa's 1995 World Cup victory. On a quieter scale, tohugh, we'll see the appearance of a documentary on the history and present state of rugby union in America titled A Giant Awakens.

The documentary, whose title is a play on the "Sleeping Giant" term often used to describe the state of rugby union in America, will not be released in major theaters but will aim for other exposure via film festivals, television, sales, rentals, and online streaming delivery.

Visit the film's official site for more information on its pending release, and have a look at the trailer below for an advance look:

A Giant Awakens - Trailer HD 1 from sylvain doreau on Vimeo.

In the meantime, you may want to have a look at the 2008 documentary Try for another chance to see American rugby on film. It is available for twenty U.S. dollars, and can be previewed below:

Springboks, We're Really Happy for You ...

In the wake of this week's big music scandal over Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards (which even got the U.S. President's attention), we decided we'd better get in on the fun everyone is having with photo and video spoofs of the event. Considering that the Springboks clinched their first Tri-Nations series win since 2004 this past Saturday, Armchair Playmaker couldn't help but imagine what things might have been like had West been around to comment:




If you think that joke has already grown old, then at least you can enjoy these highlights from the match:

NRL in the USA

For U.S. viewers, at least one good thing has come from the otherwise depressing saga of Setanta Sports' ongoing financial crisis, though it's happened indirectly. After Setanta U.S. quietly dumped their National Rugby League coverage, the Spike TV cable channel has picked up the slack by showing one tape-delayed match a week starting this weekend and running through the end of the season. Spike is on many cable packages, so many more Americans can have a look than before. If you're undecided about whether to flip the channel starting tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time, have a look:

Wimps Need Not Apply | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

Follow your Favorites on Twitter

The Twitter online social networking tool is a hot buzzword right now, though not everyone may understand how it works or what it's for.

In a word, Twitter is a site that allows people to make accounts and post very short sentences about what they're doing, sites they'd like people to read, questions for others, etc. In that way it's not so different than a blog, but with entries of only 140 characters each. (No, the Armchair Playmaker site doesn't have a Twitter account to go with this site--we just don't have enough to say for two sites!) (UPDATE: A day after this post went up, we decided we couldn't resist snooping on the stars and make an ACP twitter account.)

One of its most popular uses, though, is not to post but to read others' entries. Users can make an account and "follow" another user to see what that user posts, so many people choose you "follow" friends and celebrities.

We're not weighing in on whether the Twitter phenomenon is a passing fad or here to stay, but given the topic of the bog we may as well point out that there are a number of rugby union and rugby league personalities who use Twitter. Here are just a few of the well-known people and organizations from the rugby codes you can "follow" with Twitter to see what they have to say (or, if you don't have a Twitter account, you can just look at their sites anyway):

-David Campese, former Australia rugby union star (not to mention uncle of current league star Terry),
-Will Carling, former England rugby union captain,
-Canterbury of New Zealand, popular union and league kit provider,
-Karmichael Hunt, best known at the moment for his impending jump from rugby league to AFL,
-Leinster Rugby, the 2009 rugby union Heineken Cup champions,
-Victor Matfield, South African rugby union star,
-Ewen McKenzie, who may need to change his "LeLink" Twitter name after getting sacked last -night as coach of Stade Francais, and
-Lote Tuqiri, former Australian union and league star who has used Twitter a fair bit of late to keep his fans informed.

You may find more of your own favorites if you look for youself. If you can't resist the Twitter phenomenon, have a look at the video below to learn how to get on board. Just beware that you might be part of the majority of Twitter users who quit the service in the first month.

Anyone we missed who you'd like on the list? Leave a comment below with your recommendations.