Magnificent Eagles upset Scotland in Houston

The USA created history on Saturday as they upset Scotland by a score of 30-29 at BBVA Compass Stadium. A magnificent performance from the Eagles saw them earn their first Tier 1 victory in the modern era, and first win over a leading nation since the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.

It was a dramatic and hard-fought match from start to finish. Stuart Hogg scythed through on a counter-attack just a minute into the match to put Blair Kinghorn in for the first score. The big winger converted his own try to give the Scots an ideal opening.

AJ MacGinty responded with a penalty goal but Scotland were well and truly on the ascendancy. George Horne slipped through the gap and had only Will Hooley to beat with the posts just behind. From across the field Samu Manoa smashed into Horne to cut him down but the tackle was high and Hooley’s presence was deemed insufficient to deny a penalty try and a trip to the bin for Manoa.

After MacGinty slotted his second penalty, Scotland would make the numerical advantage count as George Turner wriggled over from close range to score his third try in two games. Kinghorn’s conversion was on target but there was still time for Joe Taufete’e to smash over just before the break and then Kinghorn sent over a penalty on the stroke of halftime to make the score 24-13 to the visitors.

‘Big Joe’ grabbed a second soon after the break, this time blasting through four defenders to score a superb individual effort. MacGinty duly added the extras and then sent over a penalty goal to make it a one-point game with plenty of time on the clock.

Sensing the gravity of the occasion, the two sides switched gears to a more tactical approach. Scotland’s clearance kicks were long and an aerial duel ensued until MacGinty sent up a high ball to challenge the youngster Matt Fagerson. It would be a debut he would not forget but perhaps for the wrong reasons as he bobbled the kick and MacGinty was there to pounce. One pass later Hanco Germishuys was sliding over and the USA had their first lead of the match.

A nerve-wracking finale saw the Scots hammering away on the Eagles line. Phase after phase was repelled by the committed Eagles defense until at last a wide ball from Adam Hastings put Dougie Fife into the corner with time expired. The difficult angle proved too much with Kinghorn’s kick sailing past the uprights to bring on the final whistle to the delight of the Eagles fans.

Whether this proves a watershed moment in American rugby history has yet to be seen but for the time being celebrations will continue long into the Texas night before the team prepares to head off to the east coast city of Halifax to play Canada in the final match of their June series. Scotland limps south to Argentina with some adjustments required if they are to close out their June schedule with a win.

 

SCORING

USA 30
Tries – J. Taufete’e 2 (37’, 43’), H. Germishuys (59’)
Cons – A. MacGinty 3/3 (38’, 44’, 60’)
Pens – A. MacGinty 3/3 (15’, 28’, 47’)
Yellow cards – S. Manoa (25’)

SCOTLAND 29
Tries – B. Kinghorn (1’), Penalty try (25’), G. Turner (34’), D. Fife (80’)
Cons – B. Kinghorn 2/3 (2’, 35’)
Pens – B. Kinghorn 1/1 (40’)

 

TEAMS

USA
1 Eric Fry (17 Titi Lamositele 61’), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Dylan Fawsitt 77’), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Chris Baumann 68’), 4 Samu Manoa (19 Greg Peterson 64’), 5 Nick Civetta, 6 John Quill (22 Will Magie 80’), 7 Hanco Germishuys (20 Ben Landry 64’-73’, 80’), 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Shaun Davies (21 Nate Augspurger 68’), 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike (23 Dylan Audsley 75’), 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Blaine Scully (capt.), 15 Will Hooley

SCOTLAND
1 Jamie Bhatti (17 Allan Dell 57’), 2 George Turner, 3 Zander Fagerson (18 Murray McCallum 57’), 4 Lewis Carmichael (19 Grant Gilchrist 53’), 5 Ben Toolis, 6 Tim Swinson, 7 Luke Hamilton (16 Fraser Brown 51’), 8 Matt Fagerson (20 David Denton 64’), 9 George Horne (21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne 64’), 10 Adam Hastings, 11 Byron McGuigan (23 Dougie Fife 72’), 12 Peter Horne, 13 Nick Grigg (22 Mark Bennett 57’), 14 Blair Kinghorn, 15 Stuart Hogg (capt.)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistants: Shuhei Kubo (JRFU) & Federico Anselmi (UAR)
TMO: David Grashoff (RFU)