Eagles Remain Undefeated in Americas Rugby Championship Win over Canada

February 18, 2017

Eagles Remain Undefeated in Americas Rugby Championship Win over Canada

Doug Coil

The USA Rugby Men’s Eagles traveled to Burnaby, Canada for the third leg of the Americas Rugby Championship at Swangard Stadium on Saturday and came away with a 51-34 win. The Eagles are tied for first place with Argentina XV with a 3-0 record and 14 points in the standings. Canada is in third place with a 2-1 record and six points in the standings.

The match was seen live in Canada on TSN GO at 8pm ET/5pm PT and also on The Rugby Channel.

Recap

The USA Men’s Eagles began the match with fast as Bryce Campbell offloaded to Ryan Matyas for a try. Shaun Davies converted and it was 7-0 after two minutes. The USa then won a lineout and soon after Mike Te’o went in for a try in the corner. Davies mised from touch, but the score was now 12-0 after 6 minutes. Six minutes late Will Magie slotted a penalty kick to give the Eagles a 15-0 lead after 11 minutes.

Canada then mounted an attack, but their first opportunity for points from a penalty kick by Robbie Povey went wide. Povery would redeem himself as he found a gap and offloaded to Taylor Paris for a try in the corner to narrow the lead to 15-5. Povey missed the conversion from touch.

Canada then narrowed the lead when Phil Mack scored a try from a 5 meter scrum. This time Povey converted and the score was 15-12.

The match then went back and forth before Shaun Davies slotted a penalty kick with 9 minutes remaining in the half for a 18-12 lead. Povey cam back with a kick of its own and it was 18-15 with five minutes remaining.

The USA then attacked inside Canada’s 22 meter as Will Magie attempted drop goal went wide right. The USA then closed out the first half from a lineout and mauled their way in for a try by Tony Purpura.With the Davies conversion the score was 25-15 at halftime.

The last try came after a penalty by Canada’s captain Ray Barkwill on a tackle on Todd Clever.

Second Half

Canada had the first opportunity to score in the second half, but Povey’s penalty kick was wide left. The USA then put points on the board as Mikey Te’o wnet in for the Eagles 4th try, eraning the Eagles a bonus point. Davies conversion was missed, but he Eagles increased their lead to 30-15. Todd Clever then added another try from a maul and Davies converted to increase the USA lead to 37-15.

On the restart Cam Dolan powered his way into contact. From a scrum to Canada, Gordon McRorie offloaded to Taylor Paris who was in for his second try and the lead was cut to 37-20.

The Eagles increased their lead after Davies took a qucik tap and John Quill barrelled his way in for a try. With the Davies conversionthe score was now 44-20 with 14 minutes to play.

Canada came right back as George Barton received a chip kick for a try. With McRorie’s conversion the score was 44-27. That quickly changes as Mikey Te’o chased down a kick grounding the ball for his hat trick try. Davies converted and the USA went over the half century mark for the second week in a row. The score was now 51-27.

Canada would add the last points of the match when Admir Cejvanovic went over for a try and with McRorie’s conversion it was 51-34.

Ben Cima would have the last opportunity to add to the point total, but his penalty kick was just wide.

Both teams gained bonus points in the USA win. Mikey Te’o was the Man of the Match and helped to gather momentum as the Eagles travel to play Chile and Argentina XV in South America. The Eagles will hope that the win against Canada will pay dividends when the team plays Canada in the World Cup Qualifiers.

The match was a high paced match that saw both teams maintain possession with limited kicking. Seeing an offensive match is thrilling for the crowd, but I imagine that looking at the defense by both teams will occur.

The USA will lose a number of their European players, however the momentum gained should bode well for the undefeated Eagles. They share the Americas Rugby Championship lead with Argentina XV with 14 points.

The Eagles will leave shortly for Chile and hpe for their third consecutive bonus point win. That would set up their concluding match against Argentina XV for first place in the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship.

Canada will also travel to South Americas where they face Uruguay in a battle for third place. They then conclude the series against Brazil.

Canada v USA Men’s Eagles

Canada: 1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Ray Barkwill (capt.), 3 Matt Tierney, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Reegan O’Gorman, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 Ollie Nott, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Taylor Paris, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Nick Blevins, 14 Dan Moor, 15 Brock Staller 16 Benoît Pifféro, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Liam Chisholm, 20 Lucas Albornoz, 21 Gordon McRorie, 22 Gradyn Bowd, 23 George Barton