O'Sullivan steps down from USA post

I wish him well. He (and Nigel) have definately brought a degree of professionalism to the National team.

 

I'm sorry but your statement is ridiculous.
Are you saying that the National team under Billups or Clark was not as professional as under Eddie? This is nonsense.
Eddie and Nigel only collected professional-level salaries to run an amateur organization that remains amateur and in no better position than when they started.

 

disagree entirely. While I have no fault with Billups or Clark, they are fine men who did an admirble job. No question.

What I can say is that rugby can be very hierarchical game. What Nigel and Eddie have brought to the party is the ability to pick up the phone or send an email and get something DONE. They have a name and that (right or wrong) adds something. They have both done fine jobs. When Nigel took over in 2007 or 2008ish the game was dying here. DYING. He got some games back on ESPN, he helped get RWC games on NBC. This is no small measure.

Eddie also instilled a sense of professionalism by the way he ran the camps. That Churchill Cup game in Ottawa when we played England Saxons. I drove up for that game. There were USA players walking....yes WALKING into rucks in the 50th minute as they were exhausted. I'm not knocking any of the players but the level of a top flight athelete was not in attendance that day. Eddie has changed that in my opinion.

Again, no disrespect to Billups or Clark or whoever takes over next. It will be interesting to see if US Rugby goes with another foreign carpetbagger or someone like a Dan Lyle gets a shot.

 

Eddie O'Sullivan as a name has added nothing to the sport here. His contribution to the growth of the sport here if anything has been far less than the CRC in comparison (not a USA Rugby-organized competition by the way).

I put that more down to the Olympics announcement than anything and Universal got XVs as an add-on of "let's give this a shot". But good on having the games on TV.

this same team lost to the Saxons 87-8 last summer, it was an absolute disgrace of a game and a slap in the face to the organization that in the end funded the whole tournament; the reason for that result was to save them for Tonga, a game we wound up losing horribly anyway

I wouldn't say O'Sullivan did a good job or a bad job, he did an okay job. Look at the Canadians, with less resources, less name, less salary, and the same level players, Kieran Crowley at Canada blows Eddie O'Sullivan at USA's achievements out of the water (a few naysayers living on Vancouver Island aside). O'Sullivan's faults coaching the Eagles can be seen ironically in one of our victories, beating Russia 13-6. Anyone that watched that game: there's absolutely no reason Russia with 2 minutes left should've been in our half with a chance to tie. Numerically looking at results, O'Sullivan was better than Thorburn, better than Johnson, a little worse than Billups.

But if we're going to get a guy that does an okay job, hire American because we can pay him far less to get the same results and too much money is spent on the national team as it is to the point the colleges and high schools may secede altogether and take their CIPP money with them.

 

Tolkin maybe. He was the defense coach for the Eagles at the World Cup which was the part of our game that got high praise.