Canada crumble against USA Selects

A dreadful second half collapse saw Canada ‘A’ drop their Americas Pacific Challenge match to the USA Selects by a final score of 47-37. On paper the 10-point margin is disappointing but not in itself distressing. The manner of the loss, however, will require much review after Canada surrendered 34 unanswered points to blow the 30-13 lead they held until the 50th minute. An impressive 22 points from the boot of 20-year-old USA flyhalf Ben Cima were the difference.

Canadian skipper Gordon McRorie made good on an early penalty attempt but it was the USA who notched the first try. Scrumhalf Nick Boyer whipped around from the back of a ruck to catch the fringe defense napping. Doug Fraser got one back for the Canucks with a terrific long-range sprint after Robbie Povey had found a gap and then Fraser for the offload. Cima hit his first penalty to settle things down a little with no further score coming until 15 minutes later when McRorie got his own kick and then Ben LeSage wriggled over to polish off a huge line break by winger Kainoa Lloyd.

With both teams aimlessly kicking attacking ball away in scoring positions, Bryce Campbell made a hash of a wonky up-and-under from Lloyd and LeSage was on hand to hack the ball ahead and dive on for his second try ahead of the bumbling cover defense. Cima added his third successful kick at goal just on halftime to make the score 23-13 at the break.

The opening minutes of the second stanza were positive for Canada. With the USA taking a hammering at the scrum, Jake Turnbull was sent to the bin for repeat collapses. From the ensuing lineout drive Lucas Rumball peeled off the back of the maul to barge over. The good feelings dissipated rapidly when first Cima took advantage of an offside penalty to take three points, and then Ray Barkwill was binned for an intentional knock-on.

It was Cima who created a try for Martin Iosefo. The youngster went through a half-gap in the line and offloaded to Iosefo to give the Hawaiian a free shot at the line. Next it was a bit of magic from Mike Te’o. The fullback fielded a poorly-placed kick from Robbie Povey and kicked off a pinpoint counter-attack. Joe Taufete’e trampled over Lucas Albornoz before dishing back inside and Te’o did the rest, scampering 40 metres past the defense into the corner for a cracking score.

Ahmad Harajly was up next and again it was Cima who created the score with an inch-perfect grubber through the line into the end-zone. The video review showed Harajly and LeSage touching the ball down at virtually the same time, with the TMO deciding that Harajly had won the race by the slimmest possible margin. Another missed tackle, this time from Fraser on Campbell, saw Iosefo race away for his second try just moments later to further dampen Canadian spirits.

Cima added his ninth successful kick at goal after Heaton was also binned for an intentional slap-down. Canada managed a nicely-crafted try from quick hands and a LeSage break to send Albornoz across the line with only a couple minutes to play, but it was academic with the Selects home and dry.

Canada now look to find some inspiration against Samoa on Sunday, while the USA play Argentina.

 

SCORING

USA SELECTS 47
Tries – N. Boyer (11), M. Iosefo 2 (56, 67), M. Te’o (61), A. Harajly (64)
Cons – B. Cima 5 (12, 57, 62, 65, 68)
Pens – B. Cima 4 (16. 40, 50, 76)
Yellow cards – J. Turnbull (47)

CANADA ‘A’ 37
Tries – D. Fraser (14), B. LeSage 2 (31, 37), L. Rumball (48), L. Albornoz (78)
Cons – G. McRorie 2 (32, 49), A. Ferguson (79)
Pens – G. McRorie 2 (4, 30)
Yellow cards – R. Barkwill (54), M. Heaton (75)

 

TEAMS

USA SELECTS
1 Jake Turnbull 2 Hanco Germishuys 3 Demecus Beach 4 Christian Ostberg 5 Harry Higgins 6 Malon Al-Jiboori 7 Cecil Garber 8 Sione Tu’ihalamaka 9 Nick Boyer 10 Ben Cima 11 Matai Leuta 12 Bryce Campbell 13 Martin Iosefo 14 Ahmad Harajly 15 Mike Te’o (capt.)

16 Joe Taufete’e 17 Chance Wenglewski 18 Alex Maughan 19 Siaosi Mahoni 20 Pat Blair 21 Stephen Tomasin 22 JP Eloff 23 Brett Thompson

CANADA ‘A’
1 Rob Brouwer 2 Ray Barkwill 3 Ryan Kotlewski 4 Lucas Albornoz 5 Conor Keys 6 Lucas Rumball 7 Matt Heaton 8 Admir Cejvanovic 9 Gordon McRorie (capt.) 10 Robbie Povey 11 Anton Ngongo 12 Doug Fraser 13 Ben LeSage 14 Kainoa Lloyd 15 Rory McDonell

16 Martial Lagain 17 Peter Houlihan 18 Ryan Ackerman 19 Adrian Wadden 20 Mike Sheppard 21 Andrew Ferguson 22 Patrick Parfrey 23 Guiseppe du Toit

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Ricardo Sant’Anna (CBRu)
Assistants: Claudio Cattivelli (URU) & Rodrigo Goyret (URU)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (URU)