The USA Men’s Eagles fell 3-22 to Fiji in the 2024 Asahi Pacific Nations Cup semifinal, and will look toward the bronze medal match next week. It was a close match for most of the game before a physical Fiji found their dominance and controlled the remainder of the game.
The squad showed strong improvements in defense and physicality against Fiji, and will continue to work on their game play as they had into the bronze medal match. Toby Fricker made a statement debut as the starting #15, and Rand Santos made his Eagles debut off the bench, adding two new Eagles to the roster.
The Eagles will play either Samoa or Japan in the bronze medal match, which kicks off Saturday, September 21, at 3am ET.
“You feel like you have a little momentum in the game, and it just stops. I am pleased of our offside discipline. Fiji is an exciting attacking team and I thought defensively we did well to sustain pressure and apply pressure ourselves.
The big thing was working on getting bodies in the front. That was important for us, to get our SOS right, our speed of set right, and then get bodies in front consistently.”
“We wanted to meet their physicality, I think that was a big part of our game. It was one of our pillars going into the game, so it did feel like at times we were able to put the shots in, force knock ons, put them on their backs, just that second half got away from us.
We put a big emphasis on our bench and being energized. They come in and have to raise the tempo of the game. I’m super proud of these guys. We have a couple young bucks who get to be their authentic selves when they come into a team like this so that’s really important for us. We just have to keep working hard.”
The semifinal match began with a Fiji kickoff that went to touch off USA hands, giving Fiji the early play with the first line out. A kicking exchange ensued, and debut Toby Fricker’s steady hands caught the ball and sent it to Nate Augspurger on the wing, who broke away to gain territory.
The USA encroaching on scoring territory, a penalty by Fiji gave the Eagles the opportunity for a penalty kick. Chris Mattina slotted the ball through the posts, putting the USA on the board first. The Eagles were solid in the first half, showing strong defense and putting on pressure where it mattered. Some shining moments saw Ruben De Haas with a box kick that went long and close to scoring territory.
As the USA made their way downfield, a breakaway and offloads between Chris Mattina, Nate Augspurger, and Tavite Lopeti brought it down to the try line, but Fiji stole the ball back at the try zone. Fiji continued to demonstrate their physicality and dominance, but the USA kept up the defensive pressure. A Fiji penalty gave USA another penalty kick opportunity, but Mattina just missed it past the posts.
The Fijian side continued to play fast and hard, putting themselves in a strong position to score. Off a scrum, they made it over the try line, but the TMO called it back because they couldn’t see a clear grounding. Unshaken, Fiji found themselves on the positive side of a penalty, taking a kick and scoring soon after to put themselves up 10-3 going into halftime.
At the start of the second half, Fiji’s dominance was on full display. They quickly broke away to gain ground, but Toby Fricker showed his strong defense and won the ball back. But Fiji were quick to get back on attack and put up two tries in the second half.
A yellow card to Fiji for dangerous play gave the Eagles a 10-minute power play. They had some good attacking play, but a forward offload ended their momentum. Another clean break by Augspurger put USA closer to the try zone for a five-meter scrum, but the Eagles lost their momentum with a knock on.
Fiji were quick to defend and kept the USA from scoring territory, ending the game with a 3-22 loss to Fiji.
| NAME | CLUB | CAPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jack Iscaro | Old Glory DC | 10 |
| 2. Sean McNulty | Miami Sharks | 3 |
| 3. Paul Mullen | Utah Warriors | 39 |
| 4. Viliami Helu | San Diego Legion | 10 |
| 5. Jason Damm | RFCLA | 5 |
| 6. Paddy Ryan | San Diego Legion | 10 |
| 7. Cory Daniel | Old Glory DC | 6 |
| 8. Thomas Tu'avao | Utah Warriors | 9 |
| 9. Ruben De Haas | Cheetahs | 33 |
| 10. Chris Mattina | San Diego Legion | 6 |
| 11. Nate Augspurger | Chicago Hounds | 46 |
| 12. Tavite Lopeti | Seattle Seawolves | 15 |
| 13. Dominic Besag | Saint Mary's College | 5 |
| 14. Conner Mooneyham | Anthem RC | 4 |
| 15. Toby Fricker | New England Free Jacks | 1 |
| 16. Kapeli Pifeleti | Saracens | 14 |
| 17. Jake Turnbull | Anthem RC | 10 |
| 18. Pono Davis | Houston SaberCats | 2 |
| 19. Greg Peterson | San Diego Legion | 47 |
| 20. Tesimoni Tonga'uiha | NOLA Gold | 8 |
| 21. Bryce Campbell | Chicago Hounds | 47 |
| 22. Rand Santos | Univ. California - Berkeley | 1 |
| 23. JP Smith | Seattle Seawolves | 5 |
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 vs Canada | 28-15 (W)
USA vs Japan | 24-41 (L)
USA vs Fiji | 3-22 (L)
USA vs TBD | Bronze Medal Match
Saturday, September 21 | 3am ET
Live on Peacock
