U.S. Men’s National Team lost 59-22 to the Maori All Blacks in the final match of The Rugby Weekend on Saturday, November 3 at Soldier Field. In the first match, the USA Women’s Eagles lost 67-6 to the Black Ferns and Ireland defeated Italy 54-7 in the second.

The Men’s Eagles entered the match undefeated in 2018 and will head to Europe to play test matches against Samoa, Romania, and Ireland in the next successive Saturdays. The Maori All Blacks were a formidable opponent and that should help the Eagles as they travel to Europe and in the future.

Match Recap

The Maori All Blacks issued a challenge to the USA Rugby Men’s Eagles prior to the making with a Haka. The USA Men marched forward in a formation and faced them with in anticipation of the match and accepted the challenge.

The Maori All Blacks struck first from an offload by Brad Weber to Regan Ware for a try in the left corner. Weber then slotted the kick for a 7-0 lead.

The Eagles answered back have several successive Maori All Black infractions slotting the kick to cut the score to 7-3.

Rob Thompson took advantage of a USA missed tackle drawing in the defender and Mitch Karpik finished with a try increasing the lead to 12-3. Weber then bounced the conversion off the posts back onto the pitch.

The USA countered with Ryan Matyas going down the wide channel, but the counterattack resulted in a turnover. The USA then dodged a bullet after a Thompson grub was chased down by Ryan Matyas.

Shortly after, Lamborn was penalized and instead of opting for points, kicked to touch for a lineout. This proved to be the right decision as Ash Dixon mauled his way over the line for a try. Otere Black then slotted the kick for a 19-3 lead.

The Maori All Blacks struck again as a long pass went from Black to Dixon to Ben May for a try in the corner. Black then made the conversion and the lead was 26-3.

The Eagles then had an attacking opportunity from a lineout after a New Zealand infraction. Audsley had a break, but the ball went into touch. New Zealand cleared an Matyas went high for the ball and attacked.

Eves was warned by the referee for comments made and the USA attacked after the penalty and mauled their way to within 5-meters. Maori All Black captain Ash Dixon was then sent to the bin for collapsing the maul. The USA lost a scoring opportunity when their maul started going backwards giving New Zealand a 5-meter scrum. A USA penalty then allowed New Zealand to clear.

The Eagles stole a lineout and after two successive New Zealand penalties, the Eagles opted to go for a try by kicking to touch for a lineout. Pari Pari Parkinson then did a dump tackle on Shaun Davies 5-meters out and was issued a yellow card, as the referee indicated Davies landed on his back instead of his head, much to the team’s and crowds disappointment. Davies left the pitch as a result and Ruben de Haas came in as a replacement.

The Eagles continued with a 5-meter scrum. Dolan dished the ball to de Haas and Ryan Matyas finished with a try. Hooley conversion was wide right, but the Eagles cut the lead to 26-8 at the break.

Second Half

The Maori All Blacks began the half with 13 men. They fielded the restart and caught the Eagles napping as Jonah Lowe raced down the wide channel and Isala Walker-Leawere finished with a try increasing the lead to 31-8.

On the restart, the Eagles went through multiple phases before an errant pass thwarted their attack.

New Zealand used a penalty to attack from a lineout at the USA 22-meters. Walker-Leawere then reached out and grounded the ball under the posts. Weber slotted the conversion and the Maori All Blacks pushed the lead to 38-8.

Gannon Moore intercepted a pass and the Eagles went on the attack through multiple phases and exhibited patience before the ball was ripped out of Maupin’s hands and cleared.

After some back and forth with the USA attacking, Rob Thompson intercepted a pass and sealed the match with a try under the posts. Black made the easy conversion pushing the lead to  47-8.

An interesting substitution was made for the Eagles in the 56th minute with Hanco Germishuys in a flanker and Tony Lamborn moving from flanker to outside center.

The USA answered back as a Dylan Fawsitt break and offload started gave the EaAgles numbers and Tim Maupin finished with a try and Hooley converted cutting the lead to 45-15.

Gannon Moore blocked a New Zealand kick and Hhanco Germishuys went into contact before Robbie Abel was sent to the bin for a professional foul in stopping a potential try. The Eagles then mauled from a 5-meter lineout and were then called for an obstruction that thwarted a potential score.

Pari Pari Parkinson again was penalized for a high tackle and the Eagles attacked again before the ball was turned over.

The Eagles attacked again with a grub-kick by Magie and Jonathan Ruru carried the ball in-goal for an Eagles 5-meter scrum. Lamborn did a center crash getting to with 2-meters from the line. New Zealand was penalized and the Eagles elected a 5-meter scrum. The ball went blind side to Matyas with de Haas executing a pop pass to Cam Dolan for the try. Hooley slotted the conversion and it was 45-22.

New Zealand’s Josh Ioane then executed a chip and chase with Akira Ioane gathering the ball on the burst and offloading to Jonah Lowe for the try. Josh Ioane then slotted the ball for a 52-22 lead.

The Eagles attacked right back with breaks by Germishuys and Hilterbrand and Matyas cleared. Josh Ioane found a gap and offloaded to Shaun Stevenson for a try. Josh Ioane again slotted the conversion for a 59-22 lead.

That’s the way the match would end with the Maori All Blacks defeating the Eagles 59-22.

Comments

Even before the match began, the Eagles lost two backs to injuries, with Nate Augspurger and Luke Hume unable to play. They were replaced by Tim Maupin, with Will Magie moving to fullback and Mika Kruse entering the squad as a replacement.

During the first half, two Maori All Blacks were sent to the bin. Captain Ash Dixon pulled down an Eagle maul and Pari Pari Parkinson tip tackle body slammed Shaun Davies out of the match, receiving a controversial yellow card instead of a red.

The match was a physical one with the Maori All Blacks taking the early lead. Credit the Eagles for placing New Zealand under pressure at the end of the first half and finishing with a try.

Two early second-half tries by New Zealand put the match out of reach, but credit the USA for fighting back in the second half and scoring two tries. Ruben de Haas impressed as a replacement. Tony Lamborn also stepped in at the last minute as the captain with the unavailability of Nate Augspurger prior to the match. Lamborn also switched to outside center during the second half and played well.

The USA will re-gain several European professionals that were not available since the match against the Maori All Blacks was outside the test window. The USA will now travel to Spain and seek their first win ever against Samoa. Romania and Ireland then follow.

The Maori All Blacks will travel to South America to play Brazil and Chile.

Squads (#Caps or 0*)

USA Men’s Eagles: 1. Chance Wenglewski* 2. Dylan Fawsitt (5) 3. Paul Mullen (3) 4. Ben Landry (15) 5. Nick Civetta (15) 6. John Quill (27) 7. Tony Lamborn  (C) (16) 8. Cam Dolan (37) 9. Shaun Davies (18) 10. Will Hooley (4) 11. Ryan Matyas (10) 12. Dylan Audsley (6) 13. Gannon Moore* 14. Nate Augspurger Tim Maupin 15. Luke Hume Will Magie (16) 16. James Hilterbrand (16) 17. Anthony Purpura (11) 18. Dino Waldren (12) 19. Greg Peterson (17) 20. Hanco Germishuys (8) 21. Psalm Wooching (3) 22. Ruben de Haas (4) 23. Will Magie Mika Kruse (16) [Hume & Augspurger out with injuries, Will Magie to 15, Tim Maupin to 14, & Mika Kruse 23]

Maori All Blacks: 1 Chris Eves  2 Ash Dixon (Captain)  3 Ben May 4 Isaia Walker-Leawere *  5 Pari Pari Parkinson * 6 Reed Prinsep 7 Mitch Karpik *  8 Akira Ioane 9 Brad Weber 10 Otere Black 11 Regan Ware * 12 Teihorangi Walden 13 Rob Thompson 14 Jonah Lowe * 15 Shaun Stevenson 16 Robbie Abel * 17 Ross Wright  18 Marcel Renata 19 Hoani Matenga *  20 Billy Harmon *  21 Jonathan Ruru 22 Josh Ioane * 23 Matty Lansdown *