Scotland Surges Past USA

It was a tale of two halves as Scotland used a huge second half surge to overcome a 13-6 halftime deficit to defeat the USA in Leeds. Scotland scored five second half tries to secure a bonus point and a 39-16 victory. The USA put forth a strong first half performance, maintaining pressure with a physical attack, but was unable to keep up the pace as they faded in the second half. After failing to convert opportunities in the first half, Scotland produced a clinical effort in the second half as they outscored the USA 33-3 in the second half.

“We weren’t clinical enough in the first half,” said Scotland Captain Henry Pyrgos. “In the second half we relaxed and got into our structures.”

The USA came out of the gate trying to set the tone with their physical and straightforward game plan. Within the first few minutes the Eagles drew a penalty in the Scotland half. AJ MacGinty lined it up and gave the USA a 3-0 lead in the 3^rd minute. Aided by some poor work at the lineout by the USA, Scotland was able to answer back. Stuart Hogg nailed a long penalty in the 7^th minute to tie the match and Finn Russell added another penalty in the 16^th minute to give the Scots a 6-3 lead.

After the USA enjoyed early possession and territory, Scotland began to turn the table. Unfortunately, they struggled to convert opportunities into points as a couple promising movements were undone. Both Hogg and Russell also missed on penalty kicks in the second quarter.

The Eagles retook the lead in the 21^st minute with a try from Titi Lamositele. The movement started from a lineout just outside of the Scotland 22 and ended with the young prop crashing over the line. The conversion from MacGinty gave the USA a 10-6 lead.

Scotland continued to hurt themselves as they missed on a sure fire try in the 26^th minute. Fullback Hogg cut through the US defense to make a big break, but his errand pass to wing Tim Visser was knocked on. The USA finished the half on a high note with MacGinty adding another penalty goal to extend the Eagles’ lead to 13-6.

After a disappointing first half, Scotland came out in the second half and took immediate control of the match. Visser was the first to strike as the Scottish wing scored in the 42^nd minute to cut the USA lead to 13-11. Scotland took the lead five minutes later when Sean Maitland scored off of a nice feed from flyhalf Finn Russell. The conversion from Russell gave Scotland a 18-13 lead.

With Scotland taking control of the match, USA flyhalf AJ MacGinty stemmed the tide with a 51^st minute penalty goal to cut the Scotland lead to 18-16.

With the USA showing signs of fatigue, Scotland continued to increase their pressure. Replacement prop WP Nel scored Scotland’s third try of the half. The conversion from Greig Laidlaw gave the Scots a 25-16 lead. With the bonus point now within sight, Scotland passed up opportunities for penalty goals to shoot for the corner. The risks paid off as Matt Scott gave Scotland another score and the bonus point in the 65^th minute. Laidlaw’s conversion increased Scotland’s lead to 32-16.

Scotland’s Duncan Weir put the exclamation point on the comeback with a 79^th minute try to complete the rout.

“We struggled to get out of our end in the second half,” said USA Head Coach Mike Tolkin. “We got ourselves into trouble with decision making.”

“Discipline let us down completely,” added USA Captain Chris Wyles. “We need some time to regroup. The first half was a big positive for us.”

It was an improved performance from the USA, compared to their loss to Samoa, but the Eagle struggled to maintain their pace and discipline for the entire match. The win for Scotland improves their Pool B record to 2-0 while the USA falls to 0-2. The next World Cup opponent for each side is South Africa.

Scoring Summary

Scotland 39

Tries: Visser (42’), Maitland (47’), Nel (54’), Scott (65’), Weir (79’)

Conv: Russell (48’), Laidlaw (55’, 66’, 80’)

Pen: Hogg (7’), Russell (16’)

USA 16

Tries: Lamositele (21’)

Conv: MacGinty (22’)

Pen: MacGinty (3’, 40’, 51’)