The scoreboard shows the 17th-ranked Team USA Eagles didn\u2019t fare so well as a designated Tier 2 squad having to compete in the so-called \u201cGroup of Death\u201d\u2014it lost all its pool-stage matches against England (45-7), France (33-9), Argentina (47-17) and Tonga (31-19).<\/p>\n
Amidst all that, some games were postponed and canceled by the effects of Typhoon Hagibis, bringing high winds and rain, and leaving, by last reports, nearly 80 dead.<\/p>\n
Individually, Te\u2019o ended up tied for second on the USA roster with 10 points. The winger subbed in during the 18th minute for injured captain Blaine Scully against Tonga and scored two tries in five minutes to push the U.S. to its first and only lead during the tournament, a 12-7 advantage they took into the break.<\/p>\n
Now, reality sets in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in 2011, when I saw the World Cup for the first time, I decided I wanted to make the team, and eight years later, I\u2019m blessed that it happened,\u201d the 26-year-old Te\u2019o said during a phone conversation from Barcelona, Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad always encouraged me\u2014I\u2019m the youngest of five kids\u2014to always compete at the highest level, and this was it. But my identity to this point has been, I\u2019m a rugby player. I think I\u2019ve always wanted to be much more than that. I\u2019m trying to figure out what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2020 Olympics are in Tokyo next summer. With another chance to represent the U.S. team, Te\u2019o wonders if he could hook up with a club team in Europe and experience the game from a whole new perspective.<\/p>\n Or, should he could come back to Long Beach, where his father still lives, and start a journey as a firefighter.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m lucky to have been able to travel and meet new people now. I think I have more to life to bring than just kicking a rugby ball. But I\u2019m also always trying to spread the word about rugby,” he said. “The rules may be hard to understand, but I think it\u2019s growing with excitement. I haven\u2019t met anyone who has ever been to a game that didn’t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n Te\u2019o has had this period of recent discernment after spending months rehabbing a knee that had to be surgically repaired, and then coming back from a broken foot. He got back in touch with his spiritual side as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-day Saints. He’s started online classes to get a college degree.<\/p>\n Although Te\u2019o was the Long Beach Poly High defensive captain for the 2009 and \u201910 seasons, the 5-foot-9, 235-pound defensive lineman didn\u2019t get many college offers. He picked Long Beach Poly, instead of the Long Beach Jordan campus much closer to his North Long Beach home where his siblings went, so he could make a name for himself even if it meant taking the bus at 6 a.m. and not making it back home until after 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n After high school, he picked up on rugby, and in a span of three months, he was part of the Belmont Shores Rugby Club that eventually won the 15s Division I national championship, played for the Under-20 USA World team and then won a club 7s title with Belmont.<\/p>\n The lead-up to the Rugby World Cup included nearly 120 straight days of fitness training in Colorado, exhibition contests and the trip to Japan. Te\u2019o appreciates the off-the-field moments as well\u2014particularly when he and some teammates attended an elementary school for a community outreach event to hand out jerseys and balls, and experienced the school children singing the U.S. national anthem for them.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing the respect level they have for the game, it was so beautiful,\u201d said Te\u2019o. \u201cJapan has become rugby crazy lately. I see how they cherish things so much more in Japan; fans were crying at the end of their team\u2019s games. Our game against England was full of Japanese fans who wanted to show their support.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result, the host country has made the unexpected leap to the quarterfinals that start this weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI was watching their game (when they defeated Ireland) and was so happy to see another Tier 2 team win. Hey, they\u2019re one of us,\u201d said Te\u2019o. \u201cYou can see how hard they work and how disciplined they are. It\u2019s amazing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Te\u2019o wants to see what\u2019s next for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never tried to set goals that are too easy to reach, when you do that, you\u2019re not reaching far enough,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful to have come out of this tournament strong; physically, mentally and spiritually. I\u2019m happy that I\u2019ve been able to put my head down and grind it out, made this goal happen, doing things when others weren\u2019t watching me. I knew the blessings would come. I will continue to pray for guidance and hopefully, the answer comes soon.”<\/p>\n The Rugby World Cup continues in Japan this weekend with quarterfinal matches: England vs. Australia, Saturday at 12:15 a.m., NBCSN; New Zealand vs. Ireland, Saturday at 3:15 a.m., video streaming on NBC Sports Gold package; Wales vs. France, Sunday at 12:15 a.m., video streaming on NBC Sports Gold package; Japan vs. South Africa, Sunday at 3:15 a.m., NBCSN;<\/em><\/p>\n Semifinals are Oct. 26-27 and the final takes place in Yokohama on Nov. 2<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mike Te\u2019o can fully appreciate the goal he\u2019s just accomplished. As part of the 30-man United States National Team that finished its four-game run in the 20-nation Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, the Long Beach native admits that \u201cI\u2019m just grateful to have been able to play at the highest level, to gain experience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":17077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[149],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[545],"class_list":["post-6370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-rugby","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6370"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=6370"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mike-Teo-1.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/TeoArtUSRugby2nd.jpg\")