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It won’t go down as one of the classic matches in Pacific Nations Cup history, but the USA did enough to earn a comfortable 28-15 win over Canada in southern California on Saturday. Three first half tries put the Eagles head by 10 points at the break and some committed defense in the second half saw them home.
Peter Nelson opened the scoring for Canada with a long-range penalty goal that was soon matched by his opposite Luke Carty. The USA would grab the first try when a poor clearance handed over field position and slick hands down the line found Conner Mooneyham for his first international try. Carty took too long with the extras but the home side had the lead.
Mooneyham made it a double after the Eagles had stretched the Canadians wide left. When it came back to the right Carty’s miss-out pass found his right winger wide open for the finish. The Maple Leafs nearly conjured a reply but Nic Benn was denied by a Mitch Wilson cover tackle that held the ball up in-goal.
A kick to touch was only a temporary reprieve. On a set move Andrew Quattrin delivered a short ball back inside to Benn, who slipped a tackle and sped away for the finish. Nelson’s conversion attempt was wide to leave it a five-point gap.
Canada’s lineout was sputtering with three straight attempts to go long failing to find their target. The Eagles took advantage of the gifted possession. Carty spotted space behind the line and regathered his own chip ahead. Wilson was there in support to take the short pass in for the score to make it 18-8 for the home side with 40 minutes on the clock.
Cynical play from Cali Martinez while he was on the deck resulted in a yellow card for the Canadian prop. Carty stepped up and slotted three points to stretch the lead. It grew further when Tavite Lopeti stepped past multiple defenders to move the USA into scoring position. Kapeli Pifeleti went low and a TMO review showed he had done just enough to reach the line. The extras from Carty made it 28-8.
At the hour mark Canada flooded the short side and the Eagles defense was caught short-handed. Ben LeSage’s offload set off alarm bells and Cooper Coats did the finishing. There would be no further scoring, however, as Canada’s attempts to make ground were thwarted by handling errors and stout Eagles defense. The Eagles would spend the last few minutes defending their line, ultimately earning a turnover to allow Carty to kick the ball dead into the stands.
Next Saturday will see the Eagles arriving in Kumagaya to face Japan in the final match of the pool stage. Regardless of the result both sides will advance to the Semi Finals. Canada’s fate has already been determined with a 5th-place play-off in Tokyo on September 14.
| SCORING |
USA 28
Tries (4) – C. Mooneyham 2 (9′, 15′), M. Wilson (38′), K. Pifeleti (55′)
Cons (1) – L. Carty 1/4 (56′)
Pens (2) – L. Carty 2/2 (7′, 48′)
CANADA 15
Tries (2) – N. Benn (25′). C. Coats (59′)
Cons (1) – P. Nelson 1/2 (60′)
Pens (1) – P. Nelson 1/1 (4′)
YC (1) – C. Martinez (47′)
| TEAMS |
USA
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Jake Turnbull 76′), 2 Kapeli Pifeleti (16 Sean McNulty 64′), 3 Alex Maughan (18 Pono Davis 61′), 4 Jason Damm, 5 Greg Peterson (capt.), 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Cory Daniel (19 Vili Helu 61′), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (20 Thomas Tu’avao 66′), 9 JP Smith (21 Ethan McVeigh 73′), 10 Luke Carty, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Tommaso Boni (22 Dom Besag 64′), 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Mitch Wilson
Not used: 23 Chris Mattina
CANADA
1 Cali Martinez (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 66′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Dewald Kotze 68′), 3 Conor Young (18 Cole Keith 60′), 4 Izzak Kelly (20 Matthew Oworu 42′ {17 Djustice Sears-Duru 50′-57′}), 5 Kaden Duguid (19 James Stockwood 69′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Ethan Fryer, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Nic Benn, 12 Talon McMullin, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Takoda McMullin (23 Cooper Coats 56′), 15 Andrew Coe
Not used: 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Mark Balaski
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, August 31
Venue: Dignity Health Stadium, Carson
Kickoff: 18:00 local
Weather: sunny, 72°F (22°C), wind W 10-15mph (16-24 km/h)
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistants: Eoghan Cross (Ireland) & Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
