Poor Opening Half Sees Eagles Fall to Romania

A poor opening half from the USA saw the Eagles fall to Romania on Saturday. The loss sees the North Americans facing a 3-0 November defeat with their one remaining match being against Tonga in Spain next weekend.

The fixture was captain Todd Clever’s third time leading the Eagles in Bucharest. In 2014 and 2012 the Eagles won 27-17 and 34-3. Clever also defeated Romania in his other prior match, 28-22 in Tokyo in 2005.

What went wrong this time around was a combination of team selection and Romanian progression. The Eastern Europeans had been bitterly disappointed to lose in 2014. They responded well to control the first half and, ultimately, have the result secured at half time.

Romania’s impressive start was quickly evident on the scoreboard. After fifteen minutes of play they held a 15-0 lead. Second-rower Johan van Heerden was the first to score. His try was almost immediately followed by a second with Chris Wyles’ former teammate Catalin Fercu going over.

Fercu’s try was an indication of the differences in the teams in the opening half. It came from a superb moment of vision from scrum half Florin Surugiu. His well-directed kick was latched onto by Fercu.

While Romania was putting points on the board early nerves were costing the USA greatly. Errors had gifted the Oaks possession and they punished the Eagles in the process.

The early 15-0 scoreline also included a Vlaicu penalty. The inside center who crushed Canadian hearts a year ago in Leicester as Canada crashed in the second half. Yet against the Eagles in Bucharest the world class goal kicker was off his game, missing numerous opportunities for further points.

Romania’s dominance saw them rewarded with a third try. Flanker Viorel Lucaci went over in the corner to give the Oaks a 20-0 lead. Vlaicu’s attempted conversion was wide but the USA players were less than impressed as there was doubt over the try. Winger Blaine Scully appeared to have forced Lucaci into touch before the ball had been grounded.

While the Eastern Europeans were easily the better team in the first half the match changed in the second. The USA won the half 10-3 and it could have been far greater. Ultimately Romania’s first half performance was what mattered as it gave them a 23-10 victory.

The difference in the two halves for the Eagles was mainly reinforcements. John Mitchell’s decision to have the world class Samu Manoa on the bench was a particular point of note. The injection of the Toulon second-rower clearly lifted the USA’s performance. Also adding to the North Americans was Glasgow Warriors no8 Langi Haupeakui. Had both started and had Cam Dolan also playing then the result may well have been different.

The Eagles’ try came from smart work from Nate Augspurger. The scrumhalf caught the Romanians off side to advance deep into Romanian territory. Strong work then enabled Will Holder to open the scoring for the visitors. He converted his own try to make it a 20-7 scoreline.

Additional opportunities presented themselves. Sustained pressure from the Eagles saw hooker Eugen Capatana yellow carded. With a one-man advantage the Eagles raided the Oaks try line and came close to scoring. Ball handling let them down though. Holder and Vlaicu exchanged late penalties to complete the scoring.

Celebrations from the Oaks will quickly calm as the Eastern Europeans prepare to face Canada next Saturday. The match is to be the second of three home matches against teams from the Americas this month.

 

SCORING

ROMANIA 23
Tries – J. van Heerden (7′), C. Fercu (10′), V. Lucaci (34′)
Cons – F. Vlaicu (8′)
Pens – F. Vlaicu 2 (16′, 73′)
Yellow cards – E. Capatana (56′)

USA 10
Tries – W. Holder (52′)
Cons – W. Holder (53′)
Pens – W. Holder (69′)

 

TEAMS

ROMANIA
1 Mihaita Lazar (17 Ionel Badiu 49′) 2 Eugen Capatana (16 Andrei Radoi 66′) 3 Alexandru Tarus (18 Alex Gordas 74′) 4 Johan van Heerden 5 Marius Antonescu (19 Valentin Poparlan 71′) 6 Viorel Lucaci 7 Vasile Rus (20 Andrei Gorcioaia 53′) 8 Stelian Burcea (capt.) (16 Andrei Radoi 56′-66′) 9 Florin Surugiu (21 Valentin Calafeteanu 71′) 10 Jody Rose 11 Ionut Dumitru (22 Stephen Shennan 39′-40′, 75′) 12 Florin Vlaicu 13 Jack Umaga (23 Vladut Popa 74′) 14 Fonovai Tangimana 15 Catalin Fercu

USA
1 Titi Lamositele (17 Eric Fry 69′) 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 James Hilterbrand 66′) 3 Chris Baumann (18 Dino Waldren 74′) 4 Nate Brakeley (19 Samu Manoa HT) 5 Nick Civetta 6 Al McFarland (20 Langi Haupeakui 53′) 7 Todd Clever (capt.) 8 Andrew Durutalo 9 Nate Augspurger 10 Will Holder 11 Martin Iosefo 12 Thretton Palamo 13 Bryce Campbell 14 Blaine Scully (23 Matai Leuta 74′) 15 Madison Hughes

Not used: 21 Stephen Tomasin, 22 JP Eloff

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Paul Williams (NZRU)
Assistants: Greg Garner (RFU) & Gary Conway (IRFU)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (FIR)