Copied from: Ian Parker, PA Sport

The United States rugby team is understandably a little short on star power.

With no professional league and little tradition for the game beyond the college level, talented rugby players are few and far between in the Home of the Brave.

But if one name deserves top billing in the USA squad, it is Newport Gwent Dragons centre Paul Emerick.

The 27-year-old is one of the few Americans to carve out a professional career for himself in European rugby, and he has become a mainstay in the Eagles team since making his debut against Spain in 2003.

Emerick is a rare example of a player who was able to cultivate his talent in North America.

While many of the top-level US players from recent season - not least Emerick's Newport team-mate from last season Mike Hercus - leave home and learn the game abroad, Emerick stayed home in Iowa, playing locally before enrolling at the the University of Northern Iowa where he played for the Panthers.

Having wrestled as a youngster, Emerick made a name for himself as a strong tackler, while his pace makes him a dangerous offensive threat.

He claimed collegiate All-American honours in 2001 and went on to establish himself as a regular at the youth levels for the national team.

He played for the A team against Scotland in 2002, and after he had made his senior debut, his play caught the eye of Italian club Amatori, who imported him for the 2004-05 season.

Emerick later moved to Overmach Parma, and would help them defeat Newport in the Heineken Cup play-off match in 2006.

Newport were impressed by what they saw, and promptly signed Emerick on the same day as Hercus, who learned the game growing up in Australia, joining the club from the Scarlets.

After three years of playing for the Eagles, Emerick finally got to make his debut at Test level when he played against Canada in the Barclays Churchill Cup Bowl final last June, albeit suffering a disappointing 52-10 loss which only served to emphasise how much work is remaining for the Eagles.

Still only 27, Emerick will soon find himself in the position of needing to come up with some new ambitions.

Back in 2002, and still a student, Emerick was asked what he wanted to achieve in the game. He had two answers - playing the game professionally, and representing the USA at the 2007 World Cup.

He will head to the World Cup secure in his future at Newport, having signed a new two-year contract with the team in early June.

Only a handful of other players in the USA system - not least Hercus - boast similar experience.

That is something Emerick believes must change before the Eagles can improve on their current world ranking of 14.

Given that the IRB are currently considering cutting the World Cup to 16 teams, the USA must improve to be sure of making the final cut.

"Most of the players we face are professional and they are exposed to league rugby for an entire season," Emerick said earlier this year.

"The standard in England, Scotland and Wales for example is far higher than anything we have domestically in the US, where everything is still amateur.

"Our players need to experience that level of competition and that will help our speed of execution.

"We're trying to close the gap and bring these boys up to speed - having a professional league will help that enormously."

Emerick may get his way.

Plans are afoot in the States to launch a professional league which will attempt to tap into the huge numbers of American football players who are forced to give up the game after they leave college.

Such a route was followed by former Eagles great Tom Billups, now part of the national team coaching staff and a key figure in the development of Emerick, but desperately few others.

Such a proposal will take time to become reality, but it could realistically begin to bear fruit in time for 2011.

Until then, the burden of leading the Eagles rests firmly on the broad shoulders of Emerick.