USA Men’s Eagles take away big lessons from loss against Japan

Sat, Sep 7, 2024, 1:15 PM
TD
by Taylor Dean
Calder Cahill
Calder Cahill

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. 

Comments from Head Coach Scott Lawrence: 

“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.”

Comments from Captain Greg Peterson: 

“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.”

Match Recap

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.

USA Men's Eagles Roster | USA v Japan | September 7, 2024
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

USA Men’s Eagles Staff | Pacific Nations Cup

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 Men’s Eagles Schedule | Pacific Nations Cup

USA vs Canada | 28-15 (W)

USA vs Japan | 24-41 (L)

Playoff Rounds start Sat, September 14

Watch Live on Peacock

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