USA not thinking beyond Scotland

USA full-back Kristian Freed says they are not thinking beyond Thursday’s clash against Scotland, despite earning a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The Tomahawks’ progress from Group D was assured by Tonga‘s victory over Cook Islands, and they will now face Australia in a last eight clash at Wrexham.

They take on Scotland at the Salford City Stadium, with the Bravehearts needing a win to put themselves in pole position to top their own group.

Freed said: “We just have to physically recover from the Wales game and then there is no looking past Scotland.

“We watched the Tonga v Cook Islands game as a team but for us there is no thinking past our next game at all, we are all thinking about Scotland.

“Any hype that is going on, we won’t listen to it, we will just keep trying to do our own thing and keep it in-house.

“It is just such a wild ride, in the team we have just got so much belief in ourselves and we just look to do the small things right.”

Freed plays his club rugby back in the States for Connecticut Wildcats, and he believes that the Tomahawks’ success at the World Cup will do nothing but help promote the game in the USA.

He added: “We don’t give ourselves too high expectations, it is just getting through the whole process. 

“It is very surprising to see so many USA fans around the grounds, but it is awesome. It gees us up when we see those American flags in the stands.

“We like to carry that on our shoulders, that we are representing Rugby League in America, we definitely want the game to grow over there.

“I think that we are doing the USA proud and I would like to think that this is going to get a lot of heads turning as we try to grow the game, for sure.”