Scott Lawrence: 'It's important to keep an eye on your depth and succession planning'

Scott Lawrence and his USA Eagles are just twenty-four hours out from arguably their biggest test to date under his tutelage.

Tackling a high-flying Fijian side in the Asahi Pacific Nations Cup semi-final, Lawrence's side has the opportunity to jump up the World Rugby rankings and crucially secure a place in the final against either Japan or Samoa.

Getting to this position by securing a victory over continental rivals Canada at home in round two, the Eagles immediately flew to Tokyo for their second clash against Japan.

Despite coming unstuck against Eddie Jones's side, the US showed plenty of promise, with a second-half comeback bringing them back within seven points with twenty minutes to play.

Using this as a starting point to begin the conversation, RugbyPass asked Lawrence about his team's struggles at the contest's bookends, having fallen into an early deficit and then seeing a comeback fizzle out.

"In a competitive test match, it's usually won or lost in the last twenty," Lawrence said.

Sticking to his guns, the former backrow reiterated that his team had a blueprint with which they were working, and this would not change this weekend, albeit the plan itself has different protocols for each match situation.

"Our game plan is what it is, and it'll stay the same, but we have a few things in place that we can run when we have a lead and when we don't have a lead.

"We picked a strong bench this week, I think that's important. We went from 18% productivity to 41% from our bench between Canada and Japan. So we'll look to improve that again."

This productivity from the bench has seen Lawrence freshen up his side with several changes following a gruelling travel schedule and two high-tempo fixtures. Discussing these moves, with regular captain Greg Peterson dropping to the bench, being the most notable change. Lawrence said it was always part of a bigger plan to rotate the squad, with player welfare at the forefront of the decision.

"When you look at a tour of this length and the intensity of the games, I think it's important to keep an eye on your depth and succession planning in each position. So it was always a focus, and then Alex Ross (High-Performance Director) did a nice job of letting us know where the load was on the players and how we could manage that.

This weekend, the Eagles face a Fijian team that is a major threat at the breakdown, with 48 attempted steals, 13 of which were completed. The Eagles know that they will need to bring a clinical and physical edge to counter this threat.

"I think our game plan is going to stay the same in that regard, but we got a lot of really good learnings from a Japanese team that was very good at the breakdown.

"Our ability and urgency to be over our own ball and to be taking bodies out are going to be super important against the Fijians, who are going to be strong over the ball and at times, they're going to leave the ball and try and stay on feet.

"So making good decisions around the breakdown is going to be a huge part of the game for us, no doubt."

Playing their part in rugby's hot new trend of utilising a quick tap when earning a close-range penalty, the Eagles scored their second try against Japan following some clever play from this set piece.

Setting up with four quick carries that garnered the Brave Blossoms' defensive attention before flyhalf Luke Carty, fullback Mitch Wilson, and winger Nate Augspurger flipped the point of attack, the Eagles stretched their hosts' defensive to the max. Finishing the play with a beautiful floating pass from Carty to Augspurger while Wilson ran a hard dummy line was a clear example of the ingenuity teams are employing in this area.

Diving over in style🤿🇺🇸#PacificNationCup | @USARugby pic.twitter.com/7EOWQGryZP

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) September 8, 2024

Confirming that the quick tap has become more of a focus this season, Lawrence said, "We've got a plan which certainly wasn't on our shot list before to be going through too many quick taps, but it is now."

"For us, it's about kicking on our own terms.

"It's something you've probably heard in the past, but we're going to play the game at our tempo and in the areas where we need to kick. It's going to be important that we are set and that we get a good kick chase.

"Obviously, they are good in space, and so if the ball gets scrappy and the ball gets loose, we've worked really hard on getting connected in defence, but also just getting to that ball first."

Named as captain for this weekend, the Eagles' two-try hero from the Japanese test Augspurger offered his perspective on the defensive side of things. Exposed early in this department, with Japan spotting a gap between the front line and sweep defence to score their first try, the skipper remained steadfast in his team's ability in this department.

"We have some really good communicators on the outside, so our outside backs take a lot of pride in being able to facilitate the comms," Augspurger said.

Breaking down the specifics of what his team has been working on to ensure this department is ready to go heading into the semi-final, Augspurger stressed that a clear line of communication was needed when facing a team such as Fiji, which revels in chaos.

"Let guys know that we got to get off the line, and the other part is it's setting our short side, getting a stronghold call and putting names on people. I think our communication has been a big point of emphasis for us this week, and we've had some growth in that, so we're going to need it in full swing. Moreover, anticipating those kicks in behind is important.

"We work hard as a back three for each other to ensure we're covering those spaces. Obviously, in the deep area, as a team that brings line speed with the little chips in behind, it comes down to anticipation.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't say our nines are working extremely hard behind the line as well to help with that.

"If my wing doesn't get the ball at all, then I'm having a good game. That's when I'm usually doing a pretty good job."

Given the unique nature of the Pacific Nations Cup as a melting pot of styles, philosophies, and cultures from different corners of the globe, the opportunity to face a team in Fiji that is less than a year removed from playing in a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal intrigues a veteran operator in Augspurger.

"It's been a dream of mine to play against the Fijian XV-a-side team," the winger said.

"I was fortunate enough to play against them in sevens, so this has been on my calendar. I've been hoping to get this opportunity, so I'm just going to relish every bit of it to go up against the Fijians."

Concluding the conversation, the head coach asserted once again the key areas that he wanted his team to strive for as the backbone of their performance.

"We're just looking for consistency and performance from the guys, and that comes down to the three pillars of our campaign, which are discipline, physicality and bravery with the ball."

The Eagles will face Fiji at 19.00 local time (11.00 BST) at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in central Tokyo. Fans can watch all of the PNC action live and on-demand on RugbyPass

TV.

USA Line-Up vs Fiji | Asahi Pacific Nations Cup Semi-Final

1. Jack Iscaro, 2. Sean McNulty, 3. Paul Mullen, 4. Viliami Helu, 5. Jason Damm, 6. Paddy Ryan, 7. Cory Daniel, 8. Thomas Tu'avao, 9. Ruben De Haas, 10. Chris Mattina, 11. Nate Augspurger (C), 12. Tavite Lopeti, 13. Dominic Besag, 14. Conner Mooneyham, 15. Toby Fricker

Replacements: 16. Kapeli Pifeleti, 17. Jake Turnbull, 18. Pono Davis, 19. Gregory Peterson, 20. Tesimoni Tonga'uiha, 21. Bryce Campbell, 22. Rand Santos, 23. JP Smith