January 3, 2017
USA Rugby Men’s U19 Team Beat Canada to Win Series
Photo: USA Rugby U19 Team
Doug Coil
The USA Rugby Men’s U19 team won against Canada 27-19 in Game two of their series against the USA Monday afternoon Jan. 2at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. Canada won the first match 29-22 on December 30, but based on point differential, the USA won the series.
In game two, the USA started the match with the first two tries by Ruben de Haas and Ben Broselle before Logan Martin-Feek try and Ethan Hager conversion narrowed the score to 10-7. Just prior to halftime, there was a infraction at the breakdwon which resulted in a penalty try to the USA. Ruben de Haas slotted the conversion for a 17-7 lead at the break.
In the second half Canada regained the momentum with tries by Christoph Stangl and Owain Ruttan and a conversion by Brennig Prevost. The USA then seized the momentum with Ruben de Haas scoring a try in the corner and then converting from touch for a 24-19 lead. In the waning minutes a Quinn Perry penalty kick sealed a 27-19 win for the USA.
USA Head Coach JD Stepehson said in an article by Goff Rugby Report that “We were never worried about the outcomes, because this is a developmental assembly. We were looking for players to improve and develop and handle the physicality and pressure. They did that. We’ve got a good group of coaches here but in a short turnaround, to make adjustments it’s on the players, and they did a good job.”
In the recap article on Rugby Canada, Matt Tidcombe indicated that Canada’s Head Coach Dean Murten said “The USA came out very strong to start the game scoring an early try. We had a good spell in the USA 22 but could not convert the possession into points. The USA defended well holding us up over the line twice. Unfortunately, we gave away too much ball in the first half, and did not have the set piece dominance we had in game one. We finished the first half off by taking a sin bin.
“With one man down to start the second half the USA added a few more points to the total. Once the sin bin was over and after few changes we started to play the way we set out to play. Unfortunately, we made a few unforced errors and did not manage to score. With 15 minutes to go Evan Norris made and outstanding line break and appeared to score. The try was disallowed. The boys eventually scored with six minutes to go. However, it was too late, we finished the game with a knock on one meter short of the USA try line.”
USA U19 lineup to face Canada U19s Jan 2, 2017
- Jonas Petrakopoulos
- Connor Pederson
- David Ainuu
- Joshua Schnell
- Campbell Robinson
- Nafi Maafu
- Justin Johnson
- Bailey Wilson (C)
- Ruben de Haas (VC)
- Marcos Young
- Ben Broselle
- Quinn Perry
- Sean Lumkong
- Calvin Gentry
- Kelsin Papunu
- Dillon Shotwell
- Jeremy Ockomichalak
- Sean Dowling
- Will Waguespack
- William Mailau
- Conor McManus
- Sam Walsh
- Patrick Madden
- Liia Monis
- Sosefo Mailangi-Ray
- Ryan James
Canada’s Men’s U19 Squad vs. USA (Jan. 2, 2017) (Starters reported by Rugby Canada)
- Gavin Kratz
- Kyle Joe
- Damon Adams
- Aidan Foley
- Jordon Montgomery
- Peyton Eagar
- Michael Smith
- Jackson Matthews
- Matthew Ye
- Logan Martin-Feek
- Jake Lan
- Quinn Ngawati
- John Jubenvill
- Ethan Hager
- Seth Purdy
Replacements: Jack McRogers (H), Marco Cazza (P), Emerson Prior (P), Christoph Stangl (BR), Brandon Schellenberger (SH), Brennig Prevost (FH), Josh Long (C), Mostyn Findlay (C), Evan Norris(Wing), Miguel Palig (Wing), James Hammond (FB)
