Number 14’s Taku Ngwenya and Leonardo Sarto collided in the opening minutes of last month’s match in San José, California. The impact saw the match stopped for six minutes with both players eventually leaving the field.
For the USA Eagles the loss of Ngwenya was a blow as the San Diego Breakers flier remains one of their best finishers. Despite having played in three Rugby World Cups Ngwenya is still just aged 30. Japan 2019 may yet be within his reach.