By Austin Willis

The Eagles head into their opening matchup of the 2018 Summer Series with a 7-0 all-time record against Russia, but that doesn't necessarily mean the USA should be expecting a runaway victory Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver.

Since 2004, the Bears have provided tough tests for the Eagles on several occasions, with their closest match being at the 2011 World Cup, where the USA escaped with a 13-6 win. 

Watch USA vs. Russia LIVE on FloRugby
Saturday, June 9 | 7 PM CT

The last contest between the two nations in the 2016 Summer Series was also competitive. While the USA held the Russian Bears scoreless and came away with a 25-0 shutout, the Eagles only scored one try and needed six penalty goals from A.J MacGinty to secure the victory.

If past history is any indication, the USA should expect Saturday's game to be closely contested as well. Here are three key factors for the Eagles entering the test and two areas of the game the Russians need to take care of if they want to pull the upset.

USA: Take Advantage Of The Russian Defensive Line

In 2016, the Russians played an outside-in defensive pressure. They sought to stifle the USA interior backs and keep the Eagles from getting the ball wide. Russia did this very well for most of the match, as its squad was able to keep center Shalom Suniola and Thretton Palamo from gaining extensive meters and at times forcing poor cutout passes. 

If the Eagles are able to move the ball around the park like they did in the Americas Rugby Championship, the Russians will be in some trouble. Wing Mikey Te’o was the lone try scorer in the 2016 contest and was dominant in the ARC, but he's out with a knee injury. The USA will need others to show a bit of magic instead.

The Russians also found themselves offside frequently in 2016, and that gave MacGinty several chances to capitalize on kicks at goal. To repeat their penalty success, the USA forwards will have to run just as hard as they did in 2016 to make the Russians anxious enough to camp in an offsides position.

USA: Make Those Penalty Kicks

The story of the match in 2016 was MacGinty’s perfection from his kicks at goal. While the new USA backline has found much success in the buildup to this match, it is going to take another strong kicking performance from the flyhalf, as the Russians are no strangers to penalties.

On the plus side, the USA has six really strong goalkickers on its roster, which means if someone is having a bad day, a change can be made.

USA: Shake Off The Jitters

The start of the 2016 test looked nothing like the finish. Both teams started the game with loads of energy even in the 93-degree Sacramento heat. For the Russians, this energy seemed to strengthen their defensive pattern, but for the Eagles, the energy turned to jitters. The USA was put on its back foot early on thanks to a few early mistakes, including a knock-on to a wild pass into touch. Those miscues were compounded with a blindside carry into touch and a penalty from being overaggressive in the maul. 

The Eagles were able to fight their way out of their own end and camped in the Russian half for the next 72 minutes. It would benefit the USA to come out with energy but not try to get too tricky early in the game. 

Russia: The Kicking Game

The pressure Russia was able to apply to the USA came almost exclusively through the kicking game. In 2016, it was clear the Russian backs had little chance of breaking the line with ball-in-hand, but the grubber and chip-and-chase kicks were on. Early in the game, the Russians pinned the USA deep in their own zone but cost themselves points with mauling errors. If the Russians can reach the same level of success from the boot and find success finishing when close to the line, they could trade blows with the Eagles.

Russia: Do They Have The Depth?

It will be interesting to see what kind of depth Russia has been able to develop in the last two years. The Russian bench was somewhat of a disappointment in 2016, as its overall pattern became clunky and out of sorts. The game slowed down to a stall and scrum after scrum saw Russia left scoreless. Of the eight USA subs in 2016, only one remains on the roster, while Russia returns 11 of its 23-man roster. Denver will be cooler than Sacramento, but the depth will be important if the Russians can keep it close with the kicking game.