USA defeat Canada 28-15 on home soil to book Pacific Nations Cup semifinal spot

The USA Men’s Eagles commenced their 2024 Asahi Dry Pacific Nations Cup campaign with a big border battle win on home soil tonight, defeating Canada 28-15. The win secures the Eagles a spot in the PNC semifinal, with their next match against Japan determining placement in the knockouts. 

The home crowd energized the Eagles as they faced off against their northern rivals Saturday night, as they won the territory and possession game to put up 18 points in the first half over Canada’s eight. Luke Carty was named the Super Dry Asahi Player of the Match for his gameplay vision work, and earning points in penalty kicks and conversion. Pono Davis and Sean McNulty earned their first Eagles caps as they ran out for the final 20 minutes of the game. 

The win sets the Eagles up well in their pool as they head to Kumagaya City, Japan, to play the hosts ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup semifinals. USA v Japan kicks off Saturday, Sept. 7, at 6:05am ET, live on Peacock. 

“We can certainly improve on our discipline. We did from our last two outings, so we’ll take the improvement but there’s some work to do there. Physicality was there, the speed of set was there, and they took the shots. When they had opportunities, they went for it tonight.

We’ll look at the last 20 minutes of the game, the way that we controlled the game, and closed it out. There are a lot of lessons there - sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, sometimes you win and learn, so we’ll take that one.”

“It was a really tough two weeks for us down in Chula Vista. The boys were working hard, and everything we implemented the past couple of weeks we implemented. There were a couple of points in time we dropped off a little bit, but the ability of the team to keep coming back and switching up momentum was unreal.”

“We worked pretty hard the last two weeks. We were away in camp in Chula Vista, and we all just stuck to the script. We worked pretty hard to get over the line. The forwards did their job, which made it pretty easy for me and all in all the result was a result of our hard work the last two weeks, so I think we were pretty happy with it.” 

The Eagles kicked off the game but quickly won the ball back, and while it was a messy start, the USA were strong on attack first. A knock on after good phase building gave Canada possession and the first scrum of the match, leading to a penalty kick near midfield to put Canada on the board first with three points. But not soon after the USA took their own penalty kick, and sure-footed Luke Carty tied up the score. 

The Eagles continued to build up momentum and go for some eye-catching plays, with Conner Mooneyham on the wing breaking through and gaining ground toward the try zone. A build through phases got the ball to Tommaso Boni who offloaded behind to Mooneyham to score the first USA try of the match. Mooneyham’s work continued on the wing, a kick over Canadian defenders got the ball to Nate Augspurger, and phase play took it back to the wing for Mooneyham to score again. 

Canada put in some work in their own phases, but good support play from the USA kept them from scoring multiple times. But a slip through USA defenses found the space for Canada to run down and score their first and only try of the first half. The Eagles were a little scattered as fatigue set in, and they quickly worked to organize as the game slowed down with penalties conceded on both sides. 

The Eagles remained dominant in the first half, though giving away penalties and some possession. But on attack, the team looked connected, as Luke Carty kicked the ball over Canadian defenders and ran past to catch it, passing over to Mitch Wilson who dove over the try line for a few more points in the first half, heading into the final 40 minutes 18-8. 

The start of the second half saw some re-energization from Canada, who took advantage of USA penalties as the Eagles tired out and lost their organization. The northern rivals put on the pressure on both sides, but a TMO call saw Canada force a deliberate knock on, giving them a yellow card and the Eagles earning a 10-minute power play. From that penalty, Luke Carty slotted another kick for three more points. 

An overeager USA side gave away a few more balls to Canada, while a big kicking game fought for territory. Off a USA line out, the Eagles made phase momentum, and Tavite Lopeti skipped through some defenders before getting the ball to Kapeli Pifeleti, who forced his way over the try zone. The referee originally called the play held up, but a TMO call reversed it, giving the Eagles another try and a solid conversion kick by Carty. 

An urgent Canada squad found their own momentum to finally score off a breakthrough, getting around USA defenders who worked hard to keep Canada at bay. But Canada’s handling errors were adding up as the minutes ticked down, and the Eagles held on to possession to end the game with a 28-15 win. 

Heading to Japan for their last pool match of the Pacific Nations Cup, the Eagles will focus on cleaning up their discipline as they prepare to face a strong Japan side.

Scott Lawrence | Head Coach

Alama Ieremia | Backs and Attack Coach

Nick Easter | Forwards and Defense Coach

Blake Bradford | Scrum Coach

Alex Ross | Head of Athlete Performance

Jimmy Harrison | Analyst

Declan Oorloff | Analyst

Rodolfo Broggi | Athlete Performance

Michael Sheridan | Head Athletic Trainer

Jennifer Roney | Assistant Athletic Trainer

Ron Klingensmith | Assistant Athletic Trainer

Willie Berlanga | Sports Massage Therapist

Corey Wells | Team Doctor

Marc Kowalsky | Team Doctor

Oscar Alvarez | Team Manager

Calder Cahill | Media Manager

USA vs Canada | August 31, 2024

28-15 (W)

TRIES | C. Mooneyham (2), M. Wilson, K. Pifeleti

CONV | L. Carty

PK | L. Carty (2)

USA vs Japan | Sep 7, 2024

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya City, JPN

Watch Live on Peacock

Playoff Rounds start Sat, September 14

Watch Live on Peacock