New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner is away from the team at the moment to pursue his dream of playing for the US rugby team in the Rio Olympics.
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Argentina scored a try in injury time to erase a 14-12 USA lead.
In the meantime, Patriots coach Invoice Belichick, who awaits the return of his particular groups standout, wore an Ebner rugby jersey to New England’s coaching camp follow the identical day.
Ebner graduated from Hilliard Davidson High School.
Ebner has the full support of his National Football League team. Rugby was his first sport, and he joined the us national team at age 17, but he switched to playing football while attending Ohio State University. Ebner, who has played special teams for the Patriots the past four seasons, was a rugby player long before he walked onto the Ohio State football team as a junior. There’s a real chance that the United States could win a medal.
Even if they don’t win, the tournament features down-bracket games to provide final rankings for the 9-12 seeds on Wednesday, August 10th.
“Nate’s a phenomenal athlete, and he’s got a rugby background growing up”, said team captain Madison Hughes after the match.
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Belichick told the Associated Press that “we’re pulling for him to bring back something around his neck”. And no, American soccer did not instantly turn out to be an Olympic sport. “I appreciate it”, he said. It remains to be seen exactly when Ebner will rejoin the Patriots, who open their preseason schedule Thursday night against the New Orleans Saints. “So, it’s a very safe game and I think people will see it and watch and there’s the contact”. That left the USA team, which also included one-time Lions practice squad player Carlin Isles, with a 1-2 record in pool play, which wasn’t good enough to advance to the medal round.
