The USA have played in all but one Rugby World Cup.

Despite showing promise in the mid-90s when the sport turned professional, they have not kicked on to become the force some thought they could given the world’s deepest pool of athletes at their disposal.

The Eagles come into the tournament under a cloud after coach Mike Tolkin omitted 63-capped skipper Todd Clever from the 31-man squad citing “conduct violations”.

They also lost a warm-up match 19-24 in Philadelphia at the end of August to a Harlequins team boasting Sussex star Ross Chisholm, who said although they were competitive, they would struggle against the more established nations.

Brighton College old boy Chisholm said: “They’ll do alright at the World Cup, whether they’ll beat the top nations is a different story.

“As a nation, if you look at where they’ve come from a few World Cups ago, they’re in a much better place and I think they’ll just continue to push on in the 15-man game and the sevens as well.”

The 24-year-old complimented Eagles’ fly-half AJ MacGinty and said the backs were a threat, not least the fastest man on the circuit – Takudzwa Ngwenya.

He added: “I think they’ll challenge in the backline because they’ve got power and pace and their fly-half is a good ball-player with a decent kicking game. They challenged us a lot aerially and their fly-half created gaps for others.”

The stats match up with Chisholm’s assessment. Of the 21 World Cup games the US have played, they have only won three – against Russia and Japan twice – but have managed to cross the whitewash 32 times.

Chisholm, who played his junior rugby at Haywards Heath, said: “They’ve got some fantastic players in their side with the likes of Samu Manoa, Chris Wyles, Blaine Scully and I could go on.

“They are top players playing week-in-week-out for their clubs, so they’re a competitive side.

“I know they rested a few against us, but it was a tough game and their skill level and physicality was right up there.”

Gone are the days where the American squad would be made up of NFL castaways, but the crossover has not completely melted away.

The fullback, whose brother James captained England Under-20s last season, said: “They had some big guys, so it was tough. I don’t know if they’ve played American Football, but it definitely helps with their defensive line-speed and their collisions were pretty huge.

“It does marry and I think rugby it works the other way around too. You see a lot of defence coaches going over to America to call on the NFL expertise, so there’s a good link there and I’d imagine that will continue to grow.”

Whether or not the overlap is helping remains to be seen.

The USA concede, on average, more than 35 points every World Cup game.

But according to Chisholm, the sport is generating interest over the pond.

He said: “It was actually bigger than I thought it’d be. They’re massively into it, they’re buying into rugby and adopting it as their culture.

“It’s described as a rugby hotbed and I’d agree with that and I can only see it getting bigger and better. We had a decent crowd watching when we were out there, and there are more and more people getting involved through schools and colleges.”

Cuckfield-born Chisholm was happy to get some game time, and is keen to put a marker down ahead of their Premiership opener against Wasps at The Stoop on October 16.

He said: “It was nice to get a run out, but it was so warm that it was pretty hard to get a second wind.

“I missed the end of last season, so it was good to brush away those cobwebs and get back out there."

“I don’t think I did too badly, so I’m looking forward to the next two pre-season games ready for the season.”