If the United States are to defy history and reach the knockout stages of the World Cup then they will need captain Mike Hercus to be on top of his game in France.

The Americans have never got out of the group section even though they have competed in every World Cup bar the 1995 edition in South Africa.

However, 28-year-old Hercus believes the Eagles have a chance of making the breakthrough.

"We wouldn't be competitors if we didn't aim to win every game we played in the World Cup," Hercus said.

"Being realistic we know it would be very irregular for us to beat England or South Africa but if we can beat Tonga and Samoa that's a massive success for us.

"For us I think a win would be a success and two wins would be a huge success.

"It would be the greatest thing for world rugby if we were in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. This year might be a tall order but hopefully we'll be there fairly soon. And I'm hoping I'll still be around when that happens."

Hercus may be the all-American hero, but he has strong roots in Australia where he spent most of his childhood.

Born in Virginia after his father had been moved to the USA by his employer, Australian airline Qantas, his family moved back to Oz when he was just three.

He may have an Australian accent, but he has an American passport and that is where his national allegiance lies.

Hercus showed his potential in the 2003 World Cup in an eventful tournament.

He powered the Eagles to victory over Japan - only their second win in World Cup history - but their 19-18 loss to Fiji was particularly agonising with Hercus missing what would have been a game-winning conversion.

However, it is still not certain that Hercus will be able to compete in France as his build-up to the tournament has been overshadowed by a persistent groin injury which eventually required surgery at the end of May.

It has been a difficult year for Hercus, who has struggled with injury problems and

his career has suffered accordingly.

Hercus, who is the most prolific international points scorer in the history of the American Eagles, was released by his Welsh club Newport Gwent Dragons where he spent much of his final months on the bench because of injury.

But he quickly returned to the States in April of this year with Super League club Belmont Shore, where he had played in the infancy of his career.

The fly-half had started out with Australian club Gordon before being lured to Long Beach-based Belmont Shore by Doug Pye, the club president.

There he got in touch with his American roots and set a Super League record of 111 points in 2002, although that landmark has since been eclipsed by NYAC's Ben Martin who recorded 121 in 2004.

Spells in the UK with Sale Sharks, Llanelli Scarlets and the Newport Gwent Dragons followed for the man who was born in Birth Falls Church in Virginia.

Hercus admits his return to the USA came earlier than he would have liked, but is confident that the future is bright for rugby on the other side of the Atlantic.

"My move should show people that I have a lot of faith in rugby in this country," he explained.

"Myself, Nigel (Melville) and Peter (Thorburn) all agree this would hopefully be a significant move for US rugby," said Hercus.

Melville, a former England international, is the new president and chief executive officer of USA rugby while Thorburn has taken over the coaching reins.

"We've got a good coach and a great chief executive officer," said Hercus.

"I was prepared to give up professional rugby to come back and I can already see the game has progressed in this country even in this short time I've been back."

He admitted he was disappointed with how his spell in Newport ended, saying: "I was having difficulties with injury, carried over from my time at the Scarlets."I tore my adductor muscle, I needed some time off when it got to the end of the season, and we had the big summer schedule with USA and the qualifiers and I didn't want to miss any of those.



"But I couldn't get any time off so they (Newport) put me on the bench instead to at least help reduce my playing time."



If he is fit, there is no chance Hercus will be on the bench in Paris where his performances are likely to be key to his team's chances of a historic run to the knockout stages