Eagles outplay Canada in Ottawa

USA scored a dominant win over hosts Canada in front of a sold out crowd at Twin Elm Park in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. Once again a good start from the home side was marred by lapses in concentration and a drop-off in performance, with a dismal final quarter putting the finishing touches on their seventh consecutive test defeat.

Canada started well, moving the ball through the hands and quickly working their way into scoring position. The penalty came, and Gordon McRorie put an easy three over for the lead. The Eagles responded by earning themselves a shot at goal, but A.J. MacGinty pushed it wide. A snap drop goal from Nathan Hirayama sailed over from loose possession to give the men in red a six point lead.

Blaine Scully looked to be over a few minutes later but the officials missed it and with no TMO available to review, Canada caught a break. The visitors finally got on the board in the 27th minute when giant second row Greg Peterson powered his through the defense to score, with MacGinty’s conversion handing the Eagles the lead, one they would never relinquish.

Penalties started to rack up for Canada and Nanyak Dala was sent to the bin for entering from the wrong side at the ruck. MacGinty took the three, and then a breakout through the Canadian midfield ended with Andrew Durutalo stretching the lead to 17 points to 6 heading into the break, not what the home crowd were hoping for after the strong start.

A poorly though-out tackle in the air by Scully on Taylor Paris earned Scully a time-out, and it was Paris who capitalised after some nice hands from Dala and Ray Barkwill put him into space, stepping inside the cover to score Canada’s first try. MacGinty responded with a penalty goal, but Canada scraped back with another try, this time from Nick Blevins. The strong running midfielder beat three defenders to score after some nice phase play opened up the gaps.

With the deficit down to only four points, Canada went on the attack, but instead of winning a penalty for an American not rolling away, the call was reversed for a needless stamp on the player by Phil Mack, which referee Stuart Berry adjudged to also be worthy of a yellow card. The Eagles, sensing weakness in their prey, poured it on and tries to Andrew Suniula and Mike Petri, both converted, put the game well beyond the reach of the home side.

Aaron Carpenter touched down from the back of a rolling maul to add some respectability to the scoreline only a couple minutes from time, but a lazy pass from Tyler Hotson found Cam Dolan instead and the second row galloped over untouched to add to the misery. MacGinty’s conversion nudged USA’s tally over the 40 mark as the final whistle sounded.

With that the Eagles have now beaten Canada in three consecutive tests for the first time in their history, and head home to Pennsylvania where they will host Aviva Premiership side Harlequins at PPL Park on August 30. Canada limp on to Halifax for their final game on home soil against Glasgow Warriors before departing for England.

CANADA 23
Tries – T. Paris (47), N. Blevins (57), A. Carpenter (78)
Cons – N. Hirayama (79)
Pens – G. McRorie (4)
Drop – N. Hirayama (18)
Yellow cards – N. Dala (32), P. Mack (66)

USA 41
Tries – G. Peterson (27), A. Durutalo (36), A. Suniula (69), M. Petri (75), C. Dolan (80)
Cons – A. MacGinty 5 (28, 37, 70, 76, 80)
Pens – A. MacGinty 2 (32, 51)
Yellow cards – B. Scully (44)

CANADA
1 H. Buydens (D. Sears-Duru 58) 2 R. Barkwill (B. Piffero 16-27, 76) 3 D. Wooldridge (A. Tiedemann 58) 4 T. Hotson 5 J. Phelan (E. Olmstead 55) 6 N. Dala (K. Gilmour 76) 7 J. Moonlight 8 A. Carpenter (capt.) 9 G. McRorie (P. Mack 55) 10 N. Hirayama 11 T. Paris (M. Evans 78) 12 N. Blevins 13 C. Trainor (C. Hearn 71) 14 P. Mackenzie 15 H. Jones

USA
1 E. Fry (O. Kilifi 76) 2 Z. Fenoglio (P. Thiel 62) 3 T. Lamositele (C. Baumann 62) 4 C. Dolan 5 G. Peterson (L. Stanfill 70) 6 A. McFarland (M. Trouville 76) 7 A. Durutalo 8 D. Barrett (J. Quill 58) 9 M. Petri (N. Kruger 76) 10 A. MacGinty 11 B. Thompson 12 T. Palamo (A. Suniula 58) 13 S. Kelly 14 B. Scully 15 C. Wyles (capt.)