Team of the Week

A record-setting day for the Eagles in Ottawa have seen them contribute the majority of this week’s effort, but a couple each from Uruguay and Canada have just about managed to sneak in.

1 – Eric Fry (USA) Stuffed an early maul to keep Canada out of the end zone. Solid effort in the scrum and the tight-loose, with a couple small but useful carries into traffic.

2 – Zach Fenoglio (USA) Spot-on throwing in the lineout has earned him the starting spot. Getting just enough done around the pitch to keep Phil Thiel on the bench for now.

3 – Titi Lamositele (USA) Anchored the scrum and put in a few solid hits. Incredible to think he’s not yet old enough to buy beer at home yet good enough to start a test match.

4 – Cameron Dolan (USA) Buried Nanyak Dala with an early tackle and was outstanding in all facets throughout. Scored an intercept try at the death to cap a very fine afternoon for the dominant American second row unit.

5 – Greg Peterson (USA) A towering performance from the big man, figuratively and literally. Banker in the lineout at the front, tackled strongly, and made John Moonlight look like a schoolboy for his close range try.

6 – Juan Manuel Gaminara (URU) Vertically challenged loose forward was a nuisance at the breakdown and put in a serious shift on both sides of the ball. One of the shining lights in a somewhat disappointing effort from Los Teros.

7 – Andrew Durutalo (USA) Not the greatest week for no7s, but the Eagles openside was enough of a presence at the tackle, and scored a try for some good support work.

8 – Danny Barrett (USA) Nothing flash, but got stuck into the wars early and made some solid tackles. Put his name on several restarts to secure possession and get things moving forward.

9 – Agustín Ormaechea (URU) The classiest player on the field for Los Teros virtually every game looked the part once more against Japan. Created their only try and provided good service to his backs.

10 – A.J. MacGinty (USA) Mixed his game up well, nearly scored off a clean break and got his backs moving forward. Recovered from an dodgy first strike to score seven successful goals.

11 – Taylor Paris (CAN) The best player in a red jersey on the pitch, made metres every time he touched the ball and did well to finish his try. Canadian fans are waiting with bated breath to hear whether an injury suffered in the final moments of the game will deny his World Cup participation.

12 – Nick Blevins (CAN) Tough call as Thretton Palamo was influential as well, but the Canadian gets it for a very positive outing on attack and defense. Excellent finish for his try, busting two tackles to score another beauty.

13 – Seamus Kelly (USA) Doesn’t offer much going forward, but strong defensively. His team won a couple turnovers off the back of his big tackles.

14 – Blaine Scully (USA) Gets a pass for a poorly executed tackle on Paris. Otherwise a strong game, made some big hits while chasing kicks, and had a great line break in support of Palamo. Unlucky that there wasn’t a TMO to award what looked like a legitimate try.

15 – Chris Wyles (USA) Steady as she goes at the back. Covered everything, made a couple nice cover tackles, and led his team to a record setting victory over the great northern rivals.