This is a little complicated, but is more proof of the sort of shenanigans some of the big unions think ­they can get away with.

The original IRB schedule for this November did not include an Australia Grand Slam tour.  The Wallabies had the three Celtic nations on tap, and England were to play Argentina, New Zealand, and Fiji.  

The Aussies obviously wanted to add an England test.  England did not choose to add a fourth test.  I assume this was an issue of the club commitments, or at least the RFU's unwillingness to pay the clubs for an extra week of internationals.  So, the Aussies and RFU created a master plan to fix the problem.

England replaced their Fiji test with the more lucrative Grand Slam opener.  In order to placate Fiji for the lost game, the RFU would kick back a portion of the profits to Fiji, would set up a test against the USA in its place, and Australia agreed to play a June test against Fiji.  The deal gave Australia a Grand Slam chance, England more money, Fiji more tests and money, and USA another test.

In the last few weeks the Fiji/USA test has been canceled.  Since the cancellation, Fiji has scrambled to get a game with Romania.  What happened?  According to Nigel Melville, as reported by American Rugby News, the RFU backed out of obligations.  They said they would work out the financial details so that Fiji could travel to the States on their dime.  Instead, they balked and tried to stick the US with the bill. 

Note how this plays out on the public relations front.  Back in the spring the media trumpeted the story.  "The Slam is on!"  "Unions cooperate for the betterment of world rugby!"  "Philanthropic RFU plays Santa Claus!"  England comes out smelling like roses, if you will excuse the pun.  Then, six months later they back out of the deal and leave Fiji to dry and the story on most rugby sites is a paragraph about the USA dropping the ball. 

Effectively, England told Fiji to bug off so they could make some extra cash against Australia.  When things like this happen, you see why some are questioning how beneficent the big boys in the IRB really are.

I have see­n so many st­ories about the "sleeping giant" of rugby, the USA, that I cringe every time the Eagles play and show just how far they are from being anything close to giant-like. Often international rugby fans will ask, "What's wrong with USA rugby?"­

The answer to that is a long, complicated one, but let me list two, quick ones, that were recently reinforced by USA coach Eddie O'Sullivan in this interesting interview at americanrugbynews.com.

1. They don't have the right competition structures. The vast majority of the time they meet up with club sides or A teams, which provide no IRB ranking points or real excitement. Their test schedule is limited and they have little access to teams of similar quality.
    
2. They are still amateur. O'Sullivan recounts how the week of a test against Georgia this summer, three Eagles had to travel 3.5 hours to Aspen. Why? So that they could bale hay for another player that was rehabbing. This allowed the fourth player to play instead of doing work back home at the farm.

Somehow I doubt that Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies were working at Victor Matfield's ranch last week so that he could front the Haka. I also doubt the USA will ever "awake" until they can get a professional game going here in the States.

This particular Dropkick's favourite try of the World Cup so far: Takudzwa Ngwenya leaves Bryan Habana clutching at thin air as the American completes a brilliant end-to-end, corner-to-corner team try.