Bigger odds even than the minnows from Spain or Uruguay, the Americans are 2,5000-1 to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy on November 6.

Much of the dismissive attitude of the bookies comes from the Eagles' disastrous 100-point defeat by England in September, which sends them into the World Cup with their pride and self-belief torn apart.

Before that mauling by England you would have considered the USA certainties to beat Romania, with the possible chance of a shock against Ireland.

Qualifying turmoil

They hardly qualified for the World Cup in the best of health though.

In the Americas qualification group they edged through with a 21-16 win over Uruguay - having lost to Canada and Argentina - and that victory came after the side suffered eight successive defeats.

The majority of those defeats, in the 1998 season, arrived without the Americans' key player and captain Dan Lyle being on the field, as he had been injured.

Lyle is the one true world class player in the Eagles squad.

An inspirational character, he can certainly drive them to victory over the Romanians and respectability against Ireland and Australia.

Handful of pros

And despite the match against England, Lyle believes things are changing in the US camp. _We have a lot better feeling within the team than in the past.

"In the pack we have five or six professional players with lots of experience, and the guys have been showing that in training,_ says Lyle, who plays for Bath in the Allied Dunbar Premiership.

Off the field coach Jack Clark is leading a mini revolution that could take many years to come to fruition.

He organised a £750,000-a-year deal with BSkyB and a sponsorship contract with adidas. The money has allowed him to pay players, and provide funds to USA Rugby for other programmes.

He is realistic and admits the US are still on a steep learning curve. He said: _It_s important to win, no doubt, but it is also important to improve.

"It_s not my job to try to convince the team that we want to win badly. I want the team to want to improve performances._

World Cup squad:

Forwards: Dan Lyle (capt), Fifita Mo_unga, Shaun Paga, Alec Parker, Eric Reed, George Sucher, Tom Billups, Joe Clayton, Luke Gross, Dave Hodges, Kirk Khasigian, Marc L_Huillier, Ray Lehner, Rob Lumkong, Richard Tardits and Mark Williams.