The USA rugby team is poised to make noise on the international rugby scene with the signing of their new coach, Peter Thorburn.

With the April 30 resignation of USA Eagles Rugby coach Tom Billups, and the signing of new coach Thorburn from New Zealand, could the Eagles be headed in a new and bright direction?

No offence to the previous head coach or head coaches, but if Thorburn can do for USA rugby what he has done for New Zealand rugby, then they are on the right track to make a big mark on the international Rugby scene.

Every rugby book I have ever read that mentions the USA rugby team says "imagine if the Americans took rugby seriously." By starting the USA rugby super league and more recently signing Thorburn as coach, they have already started in the right direction to make rugby more of a serious sport in the US.

Now if USA Rugby could grab some of the guys who miss out on the NFL and convince them to get involved in rugby, then the USA could have the kind of rugby players that would make them the envy of the international rugby world. But in the mean time, Thorburn will have to pick players already playing in the USA rugby super league.

Thorburn's resume is an impressive one. He has coached the New Zealand sevens team, coached New Zealand representative teams, such as the Colts, New Zealand "A" and Divisional 15. He was also an All Black selector from 1992-1993. He is mightily endorsed by current All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith and All Black legend Buck Shelford (unbeaten captain of the All Blacks from 1987-1990).

However, what stands out in Thorburn’s CV is what he did between 1985 and 1991 for the North Harbour union. North Harbour was a newly formed provincial union for the New Zealand NPC (National Provincial Championship) and having split from the NPC powerhouse that is Auckland they were and still are treated like a fat ugly sister.

They started in the NPC third division (the lowest division) and after an unbeaten season were promoted to the second division. Two seasons later and two finals later, North Harbour won the second division final to be promoted to the first division. Thorburn coached North Harbour over the next four seasons to respectable finishes of fourth, third, sixth and third in the first division of the NPC.

If Thorburn is capable of getting the Eagles to respond like the North Harbour team did, then who knows what they are capable of doing. All it could take is them knocking over several international teams ranked above them, and the USA might look at the game of Rugby more seriously.

With Thorburn, the USA rugby super league and the type of athletes that American football can produce, the rest of the rugby world had better take notice. The 1924 Olympic gold in rugby might not be the only thing the American rugby team is remembered for in international rugby.