The No. 14 USA Men’s National Team XVs edged No. 21 Canada 20-15 at Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium in the final match prior to the Eagles departing for the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan.
Captain Blaine Scully earned his 50th test cap with the United States, an honor shared by only 10 other Eagles in U.S. history.
The USA Men’s National Team XVs 31-player squad for Rugby World Cup Japan will be announced on Sunday, Sept 8 by 12 PM Pacific Time.
Match Recap
Canada struck early after winning a breakdown as Gordon McRorie dots down and converts for a 7-0 lead. They added to their lead after Peter nelson took a quick tap off a penalty and scored in the right corner to push the lead to 12-0.
The USA cut the lead to 12-3 after a Will Magie penalty goal. The team then went through multiple phases, but could not capitalize with a score.
Following a stolen lineout, the USA crossed in-goal but were held up for a 5-meter scrum. This resulted in a Cam Dolan try and a Magie conversion to cut the lead to 12-10. Neither team added points before the break.
Canada dominated the first 30 minutes before the USA fought back. Canada lost Justin Blanchet to an HIA with Mike Sheppard replacing him. Hubert Buydens left for awhile due to blood with Sears-Duru replacing him for several minutes, and Kyle Baillie left with an injury with Mat Heaton the replacement.
Credit Canada for one of their best performances recently. The USA regained the momentum as the second half ended. Canada has not beaten the USA since 2013.
Second Half
After an early USA penalty for not releasing at the breakdown, Peter Nelson slotted a penalty to push the Canadian lead to 15-10.
Dylan Fawsitt levels the match at 15 all after scoring a try from a maul from a lineout. The USA then camped near the Canada in-gola, but a penalty at the breakdown allowed Canada to clear.
After some excellent defense from both sides, a Canada knock on was spun wide to Martin Iosefo, who evaded defenders for a try in the right corner for a 20-15 lead.
Canada attacked for the last four minutes, but the USA defense held on for the victory.
Comments
Canada’s Parfrey made history isn being the first player to hit the replay cube suspended from the ceiling in BC Place. he was also the Man of the Match for Canada, however FloRugby agree with Mike Sheppard declared. For the U.S., a clear cut standout is unclear.
The North American Rugby public has to be disappointed with the substandard performance by FloRugby with their broadcasrt stream and rebates certainly may be warranted. The stream by far was the poorest performance by a network and disrupted the enjoyment and following of this international.
Squads
USA: 1 Eric Fry (Vannes, 44) 2 Joe Taufete’e (Worcester Warriors, 22) 3 Titi Lamositele (Saracens, 27) 4 Ben Landry (Ealing Trailfinders, 21) 5 Greg Peterson (Newcastle Falcons, 25) 6 Hanco Germishuys (Glendale Raptors, 16) 7 John Quill (Rugby United New York, 35) 8 Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold, 46) 9 Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion, 23) 10 Will Magie (Unattached, 24) 11 Martin Iosefo (USA Sevens,5) 12 Paul Lasike (Harlequins, 15) 13 Marcel Brache (Western Force, 18) 14 Blaine Scully (C) (Unattached,49) 15 Will Hooley (Bedford Blues,11) 16. Dylan Fawsitt (Rugby United New York,11) 17. Olive Kilifi (Seattle Seawolves,26) 18. Paul Mullen (Unattached,13) 19. Nate Brakeley (Rugby United New York, 20) 20. Malon Al-Jiboori (Unattached, 4) 21. Shaun Davies (Glendale Raptors,24) 22. Bryce Campbell (London Irish,27) 23. Mike Te’o (San Diego Legion, 23)
Canada: 1 Hubert Buydens (NOLA Gold) 2 Eric Howard (NOLA Gold) 3 Matt Tierney (Pau, FR) 4 Evan Olmstead (Newcastle Falcons, UK) 5 Kyle Baillie (NOLA Gold) 6 Justin Blanchet (Bedford Blues, UK) 7 Lucas Rumball (Toronto Arrows) 8 Tyler Ardron (Capt., Chiefs, NZ) 9 Gordon McRorie (Calgary Hornets) 10 Peter Nelson (Ulster, IR) 11 DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors, UK) 12 Ciaran Hearn (London Irish, UK) 13 Ben LeSage (UBC Thunderbirds) 14 Jeff Hassler (Seattle Seawolves) 15 Patrick Parfrey (Toronto Arrows) 16 Andrew Quattrin (Toronto Arrows) 17 Djustice Sears-Duru (Seattle Seawolves) 18 Jake Ilnicki (Seattle Seawolves) 19 Mike Sheppard (Toronto Arrows) 20 Matt Heaton (Darlington Mowden Park, UK) 21 Jamie Mackenzie (Toronto Arrows) 22 Shane O’Leary (Nottingham, UK) 23 Nick Blevins (Calgary Hornets)
Other member of Canada RWC2019 Squad: Forwards: Benoît Pifféro (Blagnac, FR), Cole Keith (Toronto Arrows), Conor Keys (Rotherham Titans, UK), Luke Campbell (Toronto Arrows) Backs: Phil Mack (Seattle Seawolves), Conor Trainor (Nevers, FR), Taylor Paris (Castres, FR), Andrew Coe (Markam Irish/Canada Sevens)
MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM XVs STAFF
General Manager Dave Hodges
Head Coach Gary Gold
Assistant Coach, Attack Greg McWilliams
Assistant Coach, Set Piece Shawn Pittman
Assistant Coach, Defense Jaque Fourie
Strength & Conditioning Coach Huw Bevan
Performance Analyst Jimmy Harrison
Assistant S&C and Analyst Tom Kindley
Team Doctor Mark Sakr
Team Doctor Sam Akhavan
Head Athletic Trainer Kevin Ng
Athletic Trainer Kristen Douhan
Massage Therapist Daliah Hurwitz
Team Manager Chris Hanson
Assistant Team Manager Mark Drown
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