Breaking Down the USA’s Loss to Samoa

The USA Eagles opened up their Pacific Nations Cup campaign this past weekend with a 21-16 loss to Samoa in San Jose, California. The Eagles fell behind early and used a second half surge to nearly upset 9th ranked Samoa. While the team and management are certainly disappointed in the final outcome, there are a number of positives that can be taken away from the match. With a full Summer of matches leading up to the World Cup, the onus is on building upon the positives from each match.

The major negative that can be taken away from Saturday is the slow start that plagues the Eagles. They are notoriously slow starters and are often in a position where they have to chase the game. The side typically takes a match to get out the bugs, but appeared to make that switch at halftime against Samoa. Getting off to a good start is absolutely vital to the Eagles if they intend to win any PNC matches.

The Eagles also struggled to finish off some very good opportunities to score. There were at least a few scoring opportunities left wanting against Samoa. It is the difference between winning and losing. The USA needs to be more clinical against the likes of Japan and Tonga to come away with a win.

Here’s a position by position breakdown from this past Saturday.

Front Row

Due to their past struggles at the scrum, this is an area that is always under the microscope for the USA. Eric Fry, Phil Thiel and Mate Moeakiola started in the front row against Samoa, but Titi Lamositele was called on early after Moeakiola came off with an injury. Lamositele put in an excellent effort and was rewarded with his first try at the international level. Phil Thiel was his usual steady self in all facets of play. Thiel was unfortunate not to score a try off of a driving maul in the second half. The maul looked to be on the verge of driving over the goal line only to fall apart. Fry was active in defense, in loose play, and looked strong in the scrum. The work of the entire forward pack in the scrum was the surprise of the match. The USA held their own against a powerful Samoan pack. Even better, the USA were only penalized once from the scrum. The Eagles will need to repeat the scrum performance a few more times to shake the monkey off their backs. However, their performance was very encouraging.

Second Row

Hayden Smith and Greg Peterson were paired in the second row and played a solid match together. The importance of this pairing cannot be overlooked. If Smith and Peterson match up well, that frees Samu Manoa to play No. 8 where he can be used as more of an offensive threat. The duo took a step in that direction on Saturday night. Both played well defensively and were solid options in the lineout. Scott LaValla came on as a sub in the second half and was his steady self. He provides another hybrid 2nd row/back row option for the Eagles.

Back Row

The loose forwards for the Eagles were knee deep in stopping the powerful Samoan barrage, especially in the first half. Cam Dolan, John Quill, and Danny Barrett were effective in loose play and strong in defense throughout the match. Barrett didn’t miss a beat in his return from 7s duty. He has an incredible feel for the game and plays with a level of mongrel that has often been missing from Eagle play. Were it not for 7s and the Olympics, there is little doubt that Barrett would have professional teams knocking down his door. Dolan was strong as well and should really benefit from his move to Cardiff. When Manoa returns to the fold, there is going to be a lot of competition in the group. Andrew Durutalo came on late in the second half and was also impressive. Hopefully he’ll get a larger sampling of game time in the rest of the tournament.

Halfbacks

Shalom Suniula got the starting nod against Samoa and showed exactly why fans have been calling for him as the starting scrumhalf for the Eagles. His delivery and passing is noticeably faster than Mike Petri’s. Suniula did well in managing the match for the USA against Samoa. Suniula was paired with AJ MacGinty, who was making his debut for the USA. MacGinty looked shaky in the first half as the Eagles took on wave after wave of punishing runs from Samoa. MacGinty made a few questionable kicks to a Samoan side that was deadly in counter attack. He also had some trouble connecting with his centers. The one area that was noticeable from the start was that MacGinty is not afraid to defend and is a solid tackler. In the second half, everything seemed to click for MacGinty and he really began to show why he was the only flyhalf named to the squad. Only time will tell, but MacGinty opened a lot of eyes and could solidify the Eagles’ flyhalf position. Petri came on late in the second half and played with heart during the final stretch for the Eagles. His delivery remains an issue, but he is a solid backup option for the Eagles as they head into the World Cup.

Centers

Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin opted for a pairing of Thretton Palamo and Seamus Kelly in the midfield. Both spent more time playing defense than offense as Samoa often attacked their channels. Both had a couple issues on defense, but it is hard to withstand every last punishing run from Samoa. As the Eagles look forward to playing Tonga and Samoa again at the World Cup, Tolkin may need to look at pairing Andrew Suniula with Palamo in the centers to give them a bit more power to match. Kelly is solid, but more effective in attacking situations. He’s shown trouble adjusting to playing defense at the international level and Samoa put him to the test. Suniula came on in the second half and was steady. Wyles remains another option at outside center that Tolkin has yet to employ.

Back Three

Even when the USA started to make their comeback charge, the back three weren’t that involved. They were almost non-existent in the first half as Samoa limited Eagle possession. Taku Ngwenya almost turned in another highlight reel try as he took a ball deep in the USA’s half and nearly broke it down the sideline. Ngwenya remains a true threat in attack, but didn’t get much ball to work with. Same goes for Blaine Scully who barely got his hands on the ball. Scully, however showed his class as he won two restarts deep in Samoa territory for the Eagles. He is just as dangerous, but lacked the opportunities much like Ngwenya. Wyles lost the ball in contact a couple of times during the match and made the highlight reel after being run over by Alesana Tuilagi. However, he showed his worth to the team on more than a few occasion in the match. Zack Test came on late in the second half to earn his first cap for the Eagles. Just as with the other 7s players, he showed very well and did well to get himself involved right out of the gate. While Ngwenya, Scully, and Wyles remain the likely first-choice selections, it would be great to see Test with a larger sampling of game time.

Intangibles

Wyles may not have had many opportunities to shine in attack for the Eagles, but his worth went well beyond that. As has become custom, almost every international referee comes into USA matches with a mindset that everything the USA does is a penalty and everything the other team does is not. The first half of the Samoa match saw a number of infringements at the ruck by Samoa go unpunished. Wyles worked the referee throughout the first half and by the second half, Samoa was being pinged at the breakdown which was one of the turning points in the match. Wyles presents a stark contrast to the style of Todd Clever who preferred to take an adversarial role against refs which only prompted the referees to continue to penalize the USA.

This change is something to keep a close eye on as the Summer unfolds and the World Cup begins. If Wyles is able to change the perception of the USA in the eyes of the referees, that could have an extremely positive effect on their matches.

Another overlooked facet of the match was Tolkin’s second half subs. Tolkin rolled out Petri, Andrew Suniula, Zach Fenoglio, Durutalo, and Test at key points late in the second half and it made a difference. Not known for his tactical moves, if Tolkin can find a good feel for how to use the Eagles bench that can only help the team this Summer.

The USA continues their Pacific Nations Cup campaign this Saturday as they take on Japan in Sacramento, California.