The USA Men's Eagles faced a powerful England side today at Audi Field in Washington D.C, but not without leaving their mark in the final play.
The match, which not only delayed kick off, but incurred stoppage time at the 29 minute mark due to inclement weather, ultimately finished with England taking the win 5-40 over the USA in front of a sold out crowd of 19,079 fans.
Head Coach, Scott Lawrence commented on the tough test, “England have a good kicking game and they keep teams in their own half. That’s not just us, that's their international play. We had a good chance to get our defense right and we learned a lot of lessons from the contest, and saw a lot of different pictures. We were brave when we defended and we threw our bodies in there. We learned a lot about our own players.”
The game kicked off with England establishing an early dominance, crossing the try line twice, putting the USA Men's Eagles under pressure. However, at the 29-minute mark, weather warnings forced both teams to vacate the pitch.
Resuming play, England continued on the attack, securing an additional try before halftime, although unable to convert, putting the Eagles behind 0-19 at the break.
In the second half, England maintained their pressure, adding three more tries. Just as the clock struck 80 minutes, the USA Men's Eagles found a burst of momentum and space. A strong USA lineout secured possession, getting the ball into the hands of Christian Poidevin, who thundered down the field before offloading to Shilo Klein. Klein dove across the try line, putting points on the board for the USA and bringing the final score to 5-40.
Looking ahead to the Pacific Nations Cup, he continued; “We’ve got a bunch of new players in, so we’ve focused on cohesion, communication and clarity. It starts there, getting on the same page with our plan and the way we communicate, the way we work together. We’re starting to work on combinations that we didn’t have coming in at the start, so that’ll be our main focus besides the regular building blocks of putting the team together.”
Two more names were also added to the all time USA Men's Eagles list, as Ezekiel Lindenmuth and Rufus McLean made their debut and earned Eagles Numbers.
The Pacific Nations Cup starts August 22 in Calgary against Canada kicking off their Rugby World Cup qualification campaign.
| Name | Club |
|---|---|
| 1. Ezekiel Lindenmuth* | Houston SaberCats |
| 2. Kaleb Geiger | New England Free Jacks |
| 3. Pono Davis | Houston SaberCats |
| 4. Marno Redelinghuys | Houston SaberCats |
| 5. Tevita Naqali | Old Glory DC |
| 6. Benjamin Bonasso | Miami Sharks |
| 7. Cory Daniel | Old Glory DC |
| 8. Jamason Fa’anana Schultz | Old Glory DC |
| 9. Ruben de Haas | NOLA Gold |
| 10. Chris Hilsenbeck | Chicago Hounds |
| 11. Toby Fricker | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| 12. Tom Pittman | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| 13. Dominic Besag | Saint Mary's College |
| 14. Rufus McLean* | Houston SaberCats |
| 15. Erich Storti | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| 16. Shilo Klein | San Diego Legion |
| 17. Jack Iscaro | Old Glory DC |
| 18. Tonga Kofe | Utah Warriors |
| 19. Viliami Helu | San Diego Legion |
| 20. Christian Poidevin | San Diego Legion |
| 21. Makeen Alikhan | Anthem Rugby Carolina |
| 22. JP Smith | Seattle Seawolves |
| 23. Lauina Futi | Seattle Seawolves |
Scott Lawrence | Head Coach
Alama leremia | Backs And Attack Coach
Nick Easter | Forwards and Defense
Rodolfo Broggi | Lead Performance Coach
Jimmy Harrison | Head of Analysis
Matoko Noudehou | Performance Coach
Blake Bradford | Scrum Coach
Steve Brett | Skills Coach
Michael Sheridan | Athletic Trainer
Jenn Roney | Assistant Athletic Trainer
Willie Berlanga | Sports Massage Therapist
Joe Powers | Team Doctor
David Hadfield | Performance Expert
Nick Colling | Team Manager
USA vs Belgium | 36-17 (W)
July 5 | American Legion Memorial Stadium | Charlotte, NC
Tries: D. Besag, V. Helu, T. Lopeti, M. Alikhan, C. Daniel, B. Bonasso
Conv: A. MacGinty (3)
USA vs Spain | 20-31 (L)
July 12 | American Legion Memorial Stadium | Charlotte, NC
Tries: B. Bonasso, A. MacGinty
Conv: A. MacGinty (2)
Pen: A. MacGinty (2)
USA vs England | 5-40 (L)
July 19 | Audi Field | Washington DC
Tries: S. Klein
