Few people gave the USA Eagles a chance of victory against Fiji but their never say die attitude saw them come within a whisker of causing the first upset of Rugby World Cup 2003 on 15 October.
Trailing by six points with only seconds left in the Pool B match, flanker Kort Schubert popped up on the left wing to touch down for the Eagles to leave Mike Hercus with a kick to win the match.
Hercus pushed his kick past the right upright to deny the Eagles a first Rugby World Cup victory since their debut success against Japan in 1987 and condemn them to a ninth consecutive loss.
“It was an exhilarating moment to score a try in such an important situation,” revealed Schubert, whose try was his second in Test rugby and came on his Rugby World Cup debut for the Eagles.
“I took a great pass from Mike Hercus and was in the right place at the right time. To score any try in the World Cup is a special moment, one that I won't soon forget.”
Shocked but satisfied
Given the delight at scoring the try, what went through the flanker’s mind as his teammate lined up for the conversion?
“I was still a bit shocked from the try, but when I realized it had gone wide, I couldn't help but feel disappointed,” admitted Schubert.
“At the same time [though], I felt a sense of satisfaction because the team came from behind and earned the opportunity to win the game.
“I take immense pride in our performance on the day. Nobody gave us a chance; nobody believed we could compete with Fiji.
Gaining respect
“Although we didn’t win we turned a lot of heads in the rugby community and earned some due respect for the efforts we displayed.
“As I look back on the performance, I think our team showed tremendous heart and a ‘bend, don’t break’ mentality. We competed for 80 minutes and never gave up.”
However the Eagles are not content to sit back and receive the praise from their performance with attention having already turned to their next Pool B match with Scotland at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Monday.
Success against Scotland?
“We did a lot of good things against Fiji,” explained Schubert. “We will be looking to build on these areas as well as to identify and improve upon our mistakes.
“The Scots will be a much improved team from their last outing and the match will demand a more precise and determined effort from us in order to be successful.
“However, if we can achieve the same defensive effort seen against Fiji while maintaining more possession and minimizing turnovers, we will be successful against the Scots.”