2018 Junior World Trophy North American Qualifier

The USA Rugby Men’s Junior All-Americans (MJAAs) lost to a dominant Canadian U20s side in their first match of the World Rugby Trophy Qualifier series at Penberthy Rec Sports Complex at College Station, Texas. At the end of the first half, the match was close with the USA losing 15-10. During the second half, Canada took over winning 60-22. The second and final match of the World Rugby Trophy Qualifier will take place at Rice University on Sat, June 16 at 3:30 PM CT.

The Canadians opened the scoring with a try by wing Elias Ergas in the left corner 10 minutes into the match, 0-5. The USA answered back wih a penalty kick from Canada’s 22-meter line by Patrick Madden making it 3-5.

Canada increase their lead with a penalty kick by Brenning Prevost and the USA was fortunate when he missed two more. The Canadians were not to be denied when inside center Kevin Vertkas added a try, which was converted by Prevost, pushing the lead to 15-3.

Just prior to the break, Men’s Eagle and MJAAs Captain Ruben de Haas took an offload from No. 8 Santi Mascolo and ran in for a try. Patrick Madden then converted cutting the lead to 15-10.

The complexion of the match changed in the opening minute of the second half. Canada won a turnover Kevin Vertkas dotted down under the posts and after Prevost’s conversion the lead was 22-10. The lead was quickly pushed to 27-10 after a linebreak by Will Percillier led to a James O’Neill try. Tempers rose and USA’s Bronson Teles received a red card for punching a Canadian player.

Canada answered with a turnover leading to a try by Michael Smith and a conversion by Prevost. They also added a penalty try after a scrum penalty increasing the lead to 41-10.

The USA answered back with back to back tries. The first resulted when Ruben de Hass offloaded to Justin Johnson for a try and after Patrick Madden’s conversion, the lead was 41-17. The second resulted from crisp passes from Quinn Perry to Jack Bradfield with Campbell Johnstone finishing the try, cutting the lead to 41-22.

In the final ten minutes, Canada added tries by Michael Smith, Jackson Matthews and by Mosttyn Findley, resulting in a 60-22 win for Canada.

With the loss, the USA Men’s Junior All-Americans will face an uphill battle in the final match of the World Rugby Trophy Qualifier on Saturday, June 16th at 3:30 PM CT at Rice University. The match is near the venue for the the senior U.S. Men’s National Team’s contest with Scotland, so fans are encouraged to enjoy a full day of American rugby.

Admission to the Men’s Junior All-American v. Canada U20s match is free of charge.

MEN’S JUNIOR ALL-AMERICANS – 2018 WORLD RUGBY TROPHY QUALIFIER MATCH #1

USA Roster:
1. Payton Ilalio (Saint Mary’s College)
2. Dillon Shotwell (Sam Houston State University)
3. David Ainuu (Toulouse Rugby)
4. Ronan Murphy (Saint Mary’s College)
5. Bronson Teles (University of Arizona)
6. Bailey Wilson (Utah United)
7. Justin Johnson (Life University)
8. Santi Mascolo (Iona College)
9. Ruben de Haas (C) (Free State Cheetahs)
10. Sam Walsh (Scots College) (NZ)
11. Noah Niumataiwalu (Saint Joseph’s University)
12. Quinn Perry (Santa Monica Rugby)
13. Jack Wendling (Central Washington University)
14. Patrick Medina (Austin Blacks)
15. Patrick Madden (Cal Poly State University-San Louis Obispo)
16. Stephen McLeish (Lindenwood University)
17. Jack Wiles (St. Bonaventure University)
18. Daryl Bagley (American International College)
19. Will Waguespack (NOLA Gold Rugby)
20. Devin Short (San Diego Legion)
21. Ethan McVeigh (Old Mission Beach Athletic Club – Wallabies)
22. Campbell Johnstone (Mount St. Mary’s University)
23. Jack Bradfield (Cleveland Westside Rovers)

MEN’S JUNIOR ALL-AMERICAN STAFF – 2018 WORLD RUGBY TROPHY QUALIFIER

Head Coach – Scott Bracken
Assistant Coach – Michael Engelbrecht
Assistant Coach – Brendan O’Meara
Athletic Trainer – Catherine Donahue
Team Manager – Kevin McCorry
Director of Rugby – JD Stephenson

Canada U-20 Roster:
1. Gavin Kratz – UVIC Vikes (Victoria, BC)
2. Jack McRogers – McMaster University (Toronto, ON)
3. Tyler Rowland – UBC Thunderbirds (Toronto, ON)
4. Quentin James – Perpignan (Vancouver, BC)
5. Reid Davis – Bayside RFC (Surrey, BC)
6. Owain Ruttan – UBC Thunderbirds (Toronto, ON)
7. James O’Neill – Captain, UVIC Vikes (Cochrane, AB)
8. Michael Smith – UBC Thunderbirds (Vancouver, BC)
9. Will Percillier – UBC Thunderbirds (Victoria, BC)
10. Steven Commerford – Brock University (Toronto, ON)
11. Jack McCarthy – Vandals RFC (St, John’s, NL)
12. Kevin Vertkas – UBC Thunderbirds (Toronto, ON)
13. Seth Purdey – UCal at Berkeley (Shawnigan Lake, BC)
14. Elias Ergas – UBC Thunderbirds (Vancouver, BC)
15. Brennig Prevost – UVIC Vikes (Victoria, BC)
16. Tyler Wong – UVIC Vikes (Vancouver, BC)
17. Emerson Prior – Trent University (Toronto, ON)
18. Stephen Mallard – Swiler’s RFC (St. John’s, NL)
19. Ben Newhook – Vandals RFC (St, John’s, NL)
20. Jackson Matthews – UVIC Vikes (Montreal, QC)
21. Peter Ingoldsby – Exmouth RFC (England)
22. Brock Gallagher – James Bay AA (Edmonton, AB)
23. Mostyn Findley – UVIC Vikes (Regina, SK)

Scoring Report:

Full-time: Canada 60-22 USA

Canada:
Tries – Kevin Vertkas (2), James O’Neill, Michael Smith (2), Jackson Matthews, Mostyn Findley
Conversions – Brennig Prevost (5)
Penalties – Brennig Prevost

Penalty tries – (1)

USA:
Tries – Reuben De Haas, Justin Johnson, Campbell Johnstone
Conversions – Reuben De Haas (1), Patrick Madden (1)
Penalties – Reuben De Haas

Red card – Bronson Teles