GLENDALE, CO - The USA Men’s Eagles truly found the gas pedal in front of a sold-out crowd in Glendale, Colorado this evening, defeating Canada 47-19 and kicking off the Pacific Nations Cup with strong footing. This being the home stretch of a final four matches ahead of the Rugby World Cup in Japan, Gary Gold’s squad ticked the appropriate boxes in a quality preparation test.
“We wanted to be one of the more physical teams in this tournament, and lead that into the World Cup. I think we brought that today,” said starting Lock Ben Landry.
The United States scored in a number of fashions at Infinity Park, the first of which came from a rolling maul and dive over the line by Dylan Fawsitt. Another from an acrobatic dot down in the corner from Captain Blaine Scully. A loose ball heading for touch kept in-bounds by a bounce off the field flag was in perfect position for Scully to dive and ground the ball. Coming off the ground, Scully immediately looked to the referee in full confidence he kept the ball live and earned five points.
The following 20 minutes saw each side trading possession through the aerial game. Flyhalf AJ MacGinty used the boot to his advantage per usual, slotting a few impressive penalty kicks and corner conversions to further cement his value off the tee. As halftime approached, the United States had a comfortable 20-0 lead.
Into the second half, Canada would catch a break with a picked off pass at midfield and run away try. It was a short stretch of momentum for the Canadians, however, as the visitors found it difficult to build and attack through the end of the match.
Men’s Sevens Martin Iosefo, stepping in with the fifteens in lead up to Japan, showed some of that World Series flash with ball carries for space. From set piece to scrum, all cylinders fired for the USA against Canada.
To add the proverbial cherry on top in the final minutes, rising star Ruben De Haas revived his appreciation for scoring late on Canada with a brilliant steal in space and race away try. Mimicking his winning try from the Americas Rugby Championship in Seattle this March.
Unfortunately, not all positive news out of tonights victory as lock Nick Civetta went to the ground in pain during the final 10 minutes. After attention on field, Civetta was carted off the field with a lower right leg injury.
The USA Men's National Team XVs will return next week for their second clash in the Pacific Nations Cup against Samoa in Fiji. Kick off is set for 10:30 PM ET on NBC Sports Gold.
MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM XVs STAFF
General Manager | Dave Hodges
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Assistant Coach, Attack | Greg McWilliams
Assistant Coach, Set Piece | Shawn Pittman
Assistant Coach, Defense | Jaque Fourie
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Huw Bevan
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Assistant S&C and Analyst | Tom Kindley
Team Doctor | Mark Sakr
Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan
Head Athletic Trainer | Kevin Ng
Athletic Trainer | Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager | Chris Hanson
Assistant Team Manager | Mark Drown
