The USA Eagles might have opened their Rugby World Cup campaign with two consecutive defeats, but head coach Mike Tolkin is adamant his side can claim victory in at least one of their remaining Pool B fixtures.

Comfortably beaten by a superior Scotland side in Leeds last Sunday and defeated by Samoa in Brighton the weekend before, Tolkin's men have now shipped seven tries in the tournament to sit bottom of their group.

However, the scoresheets from those opening defeats -- against Scotland and 25-16 against Samoa -- fail to tell the full story of two credible USA performances. The Americans pushed the Pacific Islanders close and were leaders at half time against the Scots. Shaky second halves have been their undoing.

They now face a difficult call over the next eight days; whether to chase third and put out their best XV against South Africa or target Japan -- an opponent they beat for the first time since 2003 earlier this year -- and ensure they finish fourth. Either way team manager Tristan Lewis admits the USA must "pick ourselves up and move forward" from the opening two games. 

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Tolkin, too, is unfazed by the task ahead. "There's not a game we go into where we think we can't win," he said after the defeat to Scotland. "Perhaps if we did the things that we set out to do early in the week against Scotland, to come out in the second half, maybe the momentum changes for us. Absolutely, there's no doubt about winning a match.

"We've been inconsistent. We've had flashes of some very good play, of dominant play, with physicality both in defence and attack. At moments we've looked real good, with injections of real adrenaline. But at some parts, we've made technical errors, not being able to execute and lacking discipline."

Back in June 2014, the USA played Scotland at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium. The result then was no different to last Sunday's - another USA defeat. But in Leeds, Eagles fans were certainly treated to an improved performance from their men.

In Houston, the American scrum was a mess. They lost prop Olive Kilifi to the sin bin for collapsing a scrum and promptly conceded a penalty try. Fast forward to the World Cup and the scrum has been holding up well, making the best of the USA's hulking pack.

In fact, the sheer size of the American squad has ensured they have been able to go toe-to-toe with the pool's more established rugby nations. Giants forwards such as Titi Lamositele, Hayden Smith, and Samu Manoa mean the USA are not going to be outmuscled, even if they are eventually outsmarted.

However, Tolkin is right to point the finger at inconsistency. Take the set piece, for example. While the scrum has been working well, the USA's lineout against Scotland was often worse than useless - it actively benefited the opponents.

Hooker Phillip Thiel failed to hit his men with the first four throws, handing possession back to Scotland at a time when they were on the ropes. A little more composure in the technical aspects of the game and the Eagles may have been more than 13-6 ahead at the break.

"We certainly had the opportunity to [go further ahead]," Tolkin said of the first half last Sunday. "In the first quarter of the game, we had some momentum, penalties getting us into attacking parts of the field, and we couldn't execute lineouts. We had the possibility of putting the pressure on, but we'll never know because we didn't execute.

"Coming out we knew it was going to be important to establish ourselves and gain territory. Just the opposite happened. After that, we seemed to be constantly playing from penalties or playing out of our own end. It became really difficult and that second half was really frustrating. Any momentum we had was stopped and we played a lot from deep."

Next up for the USA are South Africa, who shook off the humiliation of their defeat by Japan to thrash Samoa 46-6 in their last outing. Victory over the 2007 champions is practically unthinkable for the Eagles, languishing as they are 11 spots below them in the World Rugby rankings.

They should go into the clash against the Springboks well-rested and prepared for the game at the Olympic Stadium, however, with the players given extra time to relax on Tuesday following a day spent largely camped on the M1 as the motorway came to a standstill due to serious crashes in both directions. The Eagles' coaching staff were hard at work in Hertfordshire, though, and may feel they can target a South African side who face Scotland only four days before.  

In truth, a tilt against Japan remains far more realistic, with the Brave Blossoms ranked a mere four places above the USA. In all likelihood USA will be out of tournament by the time the two sides meet on Oct. 11. But a win would give American rugby another shot of one of Tolkin's favourite words -- momentum.