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: