Rugby-World-U.S. refuse to blame schedule for loss

By Julian Linden

MONTPELLIER, Sept 12 (Reuters) - United States coach Peter Thorburn refused to blame the World Cup schedule for his team's 25-15 loss to Tonga on Wednesday.

Thorburn said his team had begun to tire against the physical South Pacific islanders after playing their second game in five days but said it was America's mistakes rather than fatigue that proved decisive.

"We had the right to change players if we wanted to but the team we put on against England was what we believed was the best team and the same thing happened today," Thorburn told a news conference.

"It's a fact of life, you just have to live with it.

"Our main problem is that we made such a bad start, we were down 10-0 after five minutes and what happens with sides like Tonga when you give them a carrot it lifts their spirit really quickly.

"They got their tails up and they play on adrenalin for quite a while."

U.S. captain Mike Hercus said the Americans went into the game with the tactics of trying to tire out the big Tongan forwards but could not control the ball well enough to carry out their plan.

"We knew that the best way to tire out their forwards who we thought were vulnerable to running around on a hot day was to drain them on the side of the rucks, driving mauls," Hercus said.