Inaccurate Eagles come up short against Romania

Poor execution at key moments cost the USA dearly as they fell 22-20 to Romania in Chicago on Friday night. The Eagles looked comfortable at times and sloppy at others, and in the end the failure to take advantage of scoring opportunities gave the Oaks a hard-earned though unconvincing victory.

An early attack sequence nearly ended up with a try for the Eagles. Nate Augspurger popped up on his opposite wing and put a grubber in behind the defense that was recovered by Mitch Wilson. The USA celebrated while AJ MacGinty slotted the conversion but a delayed intervention by the TMO revealed Wilson was ahead of the kick and the try was waved off.

Romania couldn’t clear their lines and the Eagles kept the pressure on. When a driving maul was stalled, the ball came to the midfield where Dylan Fawsitt took on the line. He was stopped short but Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz was there in support to pick and bash his way under the sticks. This time the try stood and MacGinty’s extras made it 7-nil to the home side.

The Oaks conjured a response in short order. Penalties conceded field position and slick hands down the line put Tevita Manumua in the space. The bruising winger bounced past one defender and swerved infield, showing the cover a clean pair of heels on his way to the tryline. Alin Conache had no trouble with the kick to level the scores.

Conache nudged the visitors ahead with a penalty goal after a dominant Romanian scrum. The Eagles went on the attack but the Oaks defense was up for it. After being turned away repeatedly, MacGinty settled for three points to even the scores.

Thomas Tu’avao was binned for a dangerous clearout but the USA took the initiative again, only for MacGinty to be held up over the line. Another big scrum from the Oaks gave Conache a chance to push his team out in front just before halftime but his kick from halfway sailed just wide of the mark.

Early in the second half Conache again stepped up to the tee, and this time his strike was true to give the Oaks a 13-10 lead. The Eagles looked to MacGinty for inspiration and the flyhalf delivered, slicing through from deep inside Romanian territory with his own kick pushing the home side ahead by four points.

The final quarter was largely a tactical battle as legs began to tire. Conache and MacGinty exchanged kicks before the Romanian added his fourth penalty of the day to close the gap to a single point. It would be his final act, with Gabriel Rupanu and Daniel Plai taking over halfback duties for the Oaks. The game was paused when Kamil Sobota was knocked out in a heavy collision with Fa’anana-Schultz, and when it resumed Plai stepped up to nail his first shot at goal and push the Oaks ahead by two.

With the clock ticking down discipline became a problem for the visitors. Vlad Neculau saw yellow for a heavy shot on Christian Dyer at a ruck, but MacGinty’s ensuing kick drifted just left of the uprights. Repeat infringements then saw Alexandru Savin joining his teammate in the bin with a minute to play.

Despite the Romanians being reduced to just 13 men, MacGinty opted for a shot at the posts from a tricky angle and again the flags stayed down. One last attacking sequence ended with the Eagles bizarrely kicking away possession, and the Oaks raised their arms in celebration when the ball went dead.

Next Friday will see the USA hosting Scotland at Audi Field in the nation’s capital. Romania will head north to play Canada at TD Place in Ottawa.

 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

 

SCORING

USA 20
Tries (2) – J. Fa’anana-Schultz (5′), A. MacGinty (48′)
Cons (2) – A. MacGinty 2/2 (6′, 49′)
Pens (2) – A. MacGinty 2/4 (26′, 62′)
YC (1) – T. Tu’avao (31′)

ROMANIA 22
Tries (1) – T. Manumua (9′)
Cons (1) – A. Conache 1/1 (10′)
Pens (5) – A. Conache 4/5 (19′, 43′, 60′, 65′), D. Plai 1/1 (69′)
YC (2) – V. Neculau (76′), A. Savin (79′)

TEAMS

USA
1 Jake Turnbull (17 Nathan Sylvia76′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Mike Sosene-Feagai 65′), 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Renger van Eerten (19 Vili Helu 52′), 5 Greg Peterson (capt.) (21 Paddy Ryan 60′), 6 Sam Golla, 7 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 8 Thomas Tu’avao (20 Benjamín Bonasso 60′), 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Mitch Wilson (22 Luke Carty 69′)

Not used: 18 Kaleb Geiger, 23 Bryce Campbell

ROMANIA
1 Iulian Hartig (17 Alexandru Savin 49′), 2 Ștefan Buruiana (16 Rob Irimescu 49′), 3 Vasile Balan (18 Cosmin Manole 55′), 4 Yanis Horvat (19 Marius Iftimiciuc 49′), 5 Andrei Mahu, 6 Vlad Neculau, 7 Dragos Ser (20 Kamil Sobota 62′-66′) (22 Fonovai Tangimana 71′), 8 Nicolaas Immelman, 9 Alin Conache (21 Gabriel Rupanu 65′), 10 Hinckley Vaovasa (23 Daniel Plai 65′), 11 Tevita Manumua, 12 Jason Tomane, 13 Mihai Graure, 14 Marius Simionescu (capt.), 15 Paul Popoaia

MATCH INFO

Date: Friday, July 5
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: sunny, 79°F (26°C), wind NW 17-27mph (27-43km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
Assistants: Marcus Playle (New Zealand) & Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)