USA blast past Canada in first Rugby World Cup warm-up
The USA crushed Canada in their Pacific Nations Cup opener in Glendale, Colorado on Saturday, the Eagles’ final home game before the Rugby World Cup in September.
Rugby United New York hooker Dylan Fawsitt got the scoring started for the Eagles when he made it over the line on the back of the rolling maul to the delight of a sell-out crowd at Infinity Park.
Winger and captain Blaine Scully, until recently with Cardiff, dotted down in the corner for the second try after a chip through by the Bedford full-back Will Hooley in the 24th minute. Sale flyhalf AJ MacGinty’s place-kicking helped the Americans to a 20-0 halftime lead.
Canada hit back with an interception try from Chiefs back row
Tyler Ardron, their captain, but they never seriously threatened a comeback and Ealing Trailfinders lock Ben Landry, Utah Warriors wing Gannon Moore, replacement hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, from the San Diego Legion, and Cheetahs scrum-half Ruben de Haas all ran in tries in the second half to complete the rout.
“We wanted to be one of the more physical teams in this tournament, and lead that into the World Cup,” Landry told USArugby.org. “I think we brought that today.”
Canada had two more second-half tries, a penalty try awarded at the scrum and a score at the death from the wing Conor Trainor.
The only bad news for the US was a leg injury sustained by Donacaster lock Nick Civetta in the second half, which forced him to leave the game on a stretcher, taking gas. Pifeleti was shown a yellow card for dangerous play at a ruck and missed the final 10 minutes of play. On Sunday afternoon, USA Rugby said in a statement that Civetta would miss the rest of the Pacific Nations Cup and his “availability for Rugby World Cup will be communicated in due course”. The centre Marcel Brache will have a head injury assessed.
Both teams now travel on to Fiji for the final two rounds of the tournament, which also includes the Fijians, Samoa, Tonga and Japan. The US next face Samoa, on 2 August, before completing their tournament with a game against Japan a week later. A one-off warm-up Test against Canada in Vancouver follows before the World Cup kick-off.
The American victory in Colorado, the 10th over Canada in 11 games, is the latest indication that rugby is maturing in the US – the match-day squad in Glendale had a heavy presence from Major League Rugby, the professional competition which has completed two seasons.
Nonetheless, the team will have their work cut out at the World Cup in Japan when they face England, France, Argentina and Tonga in Pool C.
Canada also face a tough schedule, in Pool B with world champions New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia.