The locker room was vibrant tonight as the USA Men’s Eagles came back from a series deficit of 13-points to defeat Canada (38-16) in the opening stage of Rugby World Cup qualification. Now holding the No. #1 seed for Rugby Americas North, the United States will square off with Uruguay on October 2 and 9 where the winner officially qualifies for France 2023 in Pool A.
Match Recap
Last week, the Eagles lost to Canada for the first time since 2013 in what was an incredibly uncharacteristic performance. But tonight told an entirely different story. The front row was dominant and physical at every set piece and through tight phases at the goal line. Highlighted by young prop David Ainu’u, hooker Kapeli Pifeleti and veteran Joe Taufete’e, the trio were a noticeable powerhouse through their 60+ minutes of play. Taufete’e suited up at prop instead of hooker for the first time since the beginning of his international career, displaying a versatile side to his abilities that complimented the U.S. setup all night.
Captain AJ MacGinty led the squad beautifully through each drive as players delivered against their individual roles in spades. Four tries were scored in the first half, including a hat trick by Hanco Germishuys, after which Ruben De Haas captured the spotlight with a stunning drop goal and breakaway on the next attack. Christian Dyer and Joe Taufete'e found the try zone, as well, building momentum that lasted for nearly 80-minutes of play. Lineouts also saw dramatic improvement and the U.S. maul spun like magic, once again, yielding numerous trips over the goal line.
Canada had difficulty keeping up with the Eagles despite two yellow cards against Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and an opening series that nearly resembled mistakes from last week. Penalties allowed the Canadians to put six points on the board off the boot with only a penalty try thereafter in the 80th minute. Despite all efforts, the USA’s long-time rivals simply couldn’t create any momentum to build an attack and jump the scoreline.
Head Coach Gary Gold said
“They brought energy, you know. We wanted to play a ball-in-hand game and I hope we showed that. Canada are good as you saw that last week, and if we didn’t respect them and we did stupid things in our own half, then we’re going to get into trouble. When we did kick the ball, we wanted to exert pressure onto them and Ryan and Christian led that very well.
“I was a bit nervy at some stages. On the one hand, you want to tell players to be brave, to play brave rugby. And when they do it, you can’t have a problem with it. The biggest favor Canada gave us is a smack across the face last weekend. I don’t think we’ve got anything to shout and scream about at the moment. We’ve still got some hard work ahead of us.”
Next Up
The Eagles will take a 10-day break before returning to camp for their next series with Uruguay. Winner on aggregate will officially qualify for Rugby World Cup 2023, taking the Americas 1 position for a battle with New Zealand, hosts France and Italy in Pool A. Uruguay are expected to bring a challenging task for the United States, considering their strong performance at Rugby World Cup 2019 that saw them upset Fiji in the pool stages.
The United States will host the opening match on October 2 at Infinity Park in Glendale, CO. Kick off is set for 6 PM Mountain Time on florugby.com. Tickets are available at usarug.by/RWCQ. Match #2 takes place on October 9 with kick off and broadcast details to be confirmed over the coming weeks.
TRIES
Hanco Germishuys x3, Christian Dyer, Ruben De Haas, Joe Taufete’e
CONS
AJ MacGinty
PENS
AJ MacGinty
DROP GOALS
Ruben De Haas
USA Roster
1. David Ainu’u
2. Kapeli Pifeleti
3. Joe Taufete’e
4. Nate Brakeley
5. Nick Civetta
6. Jamason Fa’anana Schultz
7. Hanco Germishuys
8. Cam Dolan
9. Ruben De Haas
10. AJ MacGinty ©
11. Ryan Matyas
12. Bryce Campbell
13. Tavite Lopeti
14. Christian Dyer
15. Marcel Brache
16. Dylan Fawsitt
17. Chance Wenglewski
18. Paul Mullen
19. Siaosi Mahoni
20. Andrew Guerra
21. Nate Augspurger
22. Will Magie
23. Mike Dabulas*
*Denotes new cap.
Men’s XVs National Team Staff
Head Coach | Gary Gold
Asst Coach | Rob Hoadley
Asst Coach | Steve Brett
Asst Coach | Shawn Pittman
Head of Strength & Conditioning | Huw Bevan
Asst Strength & Conditioning | Josh Schnell
Performance Analyst | Jimmy Harrison
Team Doctor | Sam Akhavan
Head Physiotherapist | Kristen Douhan
Athletic Trainer | Ron Klingensmith
Massage Therapist | Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager | Oscar Alvarez
