The USA Men’s Eagles found some confidence and momentum to come back at the beginning of the second half of today’s match against Japan, but ultimately the hosts powered through to a 41-24 victory over the USA.
There were small moments the USA lost opportunities, but they also had big positive moments, especially with two tries from Nate Augspurger, in his 45th test match, on the wing. As they head into the semifinals second in their pool, the Eagles will look at cleaning up their progressions and capitalize on opportunities.
With a week to recover and reset, the Eagles look toward a Pacific Nations Cup semi final against Fiji, kicking off 6:05am ET on Saturday, September 14.
“Congratulations to the Japanese team. It was a really solid performance from zero to 80 minutes this week. I thought from a young USA team, we did some good things in this game, but ultimately it was just a well-executed game by the Japanese team.”
“It was a great contest from both teams. I’m very proud of our boys and Japan came out very strong in that first 20. They're 9s took advantage of the penalties with the quick tap a few times, but they were what we expected them to be. We just failed to capitalize on small moments in the game, which made the score run away just a little bit, but I'm just proud of the effort.
We pride ourselves in love, work and energy. That’s what we build off, that’s our mantra for the entire team. A big point today was playing with American bravery and that was to inspire the next players for Rugby World Cup 2027 and 2031. There are a lot of good efforts from the lads and I think the fans back home were happy with that match, we’ll build off that more.”
Japan were the first to gain dominance in the game, as the kickoff ball bounced off USA captain Greg Peterson, setting up the hosts for the first scrum of the match. They held onto possession, and some quick, sneaky passes had Japan over the try line. But a TMO call saw the scorer in touch, calling it back to a Japan line out. A penalty conceded by the Eagles gave Japan a penalty kick, putting them on the board first by three points.
Unshaken, the Japanese used the boot to kick the ball over defenders and sneak a pass for the first try of the game. But soon after Japan knocked the ball on in their own quarter, setting the Eagles up for their first solid attacking chance. A penalty mid-scrum gave Carty a kick, putting the USA on the scoreboard with three points.
The next few minutes were a kicking game for territory, when a charge down by Japan put the ball into touch, giving the USA a line out. But Japan took back the attack, inching toward the try line. While the Eagles held the line well, Japan was able to push through and score another try.
Determined to get into Japan’s territory, Luke Carty kicked long, and they worked to bring it down field. The Eagles earned a line out at the five meter line, giving the squad a maul opportunity, where Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz carried the ball over the try line. An epic kick by Carty brought up the USA score by seven.
With some work to do in the second half, the Eagles came back out to the field with a face of determination. Japan matched that dominance, building momentum to scatter USA defenders and break away to the first score of the second half. They went on to keep up their energy, but a knock on gave possession back to the Eagles.
With more set piece opportunities at work for the USA, the squad used a five meter line out and maul, passing the ball to Nate Augspurger, who touched down on the wing for a USA try. A more energized USA side spotted a Japan error to take back the ball again, working to bring it back to Japan territory, where Nate Augspurger found another score on the edge. Luke Carty converted both tries, adding four extra points to Augspurger’s 10.
Japan remained unfettered through the Eagles’ resurgence, putting up another penalty kick score and a dominant try to increase their lead. From there, the rest of the match was a fight mid-field, where both teams worked to attack and defend, but neither found the opportunity to score again, ending the game 24-41 in Japan’s favor.
The Eagles had some positive moments through this Japan-dominant game that they will take away as they work toward the Pacific Nations Cup semifinals.
| NAME | CLUB | CAPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jack Iscaro | Old Glory DC | 9 |
| 2. Kapeli Pifeleti | Saracens | 13 |
| 3. Alex Maughan | RFCLA | 5 |
| 4. Viliami Helu | San Diego Legion | 9 |
| 5. Greg Peterson (C) | San Diego Legion | 46 |
| 6. Paddy Ryan | San Diego Legion | 9 |
| 7. Cory Daniel | Old Glory DC | 5 |
| 8. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz | Old Glory DC | 13 |
| 9. Ruben de Haas | Cheetahs | 32 |
| 10. Luke Carty | Chicago Hounds | 20 |
| 11. Nate Augspurger | Chicago Hounds | 45 |
| 12. Tommaso Boni | Old Glory DC | 8 |
| 13. Tavite Lopeti | Seattle Seawolves | 14 |
| 14. Conner Mooneyham | Anthem RC | 3 |
| 15. Mitch Wilson | New England Free Jacks | 10 |
| 16. Sean McNulty | Miami Sharks | 2 |
| 17. Jake Turnbull | Anthem RC | 9 |
| 18. Paul Mullen | Utah Warriors | 38 |
| 19. Jason Damm | RFCLA | 4 |
| 20. Thomas Tu'avao | Utah Warriors | 8 |
| 21. Tesimoni Tonga'uiha | NOLA Gold | 7 |
| 22. JP Smith | Seattle Seawolves | 4 |
| 23. Dominic Besag | Saint Mary's College | 4 |
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 | Head Analyst
Rodolfo Broggi | Athlete Performance
Michael Sheridan | Head Athletic Trainer
Ron Klingensmith | Assistant Athletic Trainer
Willie Berlanga | Sports Massage Therapist
Corey Wells | Team Doctor
Oscar Alvarez | Team Manager
Calder Cahill | Media Manager
USA vs Canada | 28-15 (W)
USA vs Japan | 24-41 (L)
Playoff Rounds start Sat, September 14
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