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The USA scored a convincing 45-16 win over Brazil at the Estádio Martins Pereira on Saturday. It keeps their Americas Rugby Championship title hopes very much alive heading into the final round.
The opening quarter did not go well for the Tupis. Mike Te’o crossed with less than five minutes on the clock and after a Josh Reeves penalty Huluholo Mo’ungaloa bashed over from short range. Brazil got a bad break when Bryce Campbell was awarded a try despite crawling through contact to the line.
Next it was Hanco Germishuys who showed his strength to secure the USA’s bonus point, but despite the overwhelming scoreline the Tupis did not wave the white flag. Stefano Giantorno broke clean through and drew in the last defender to put Moisés Duque free down the left sideline.
Brazil came out the stronger side in the second half, but as has been the case in previous matches their discipline let them down. Giantorno was shown yellow for a head-high shot on Nate Augspurger. Thankfully for them Nick Civetta earned the same for a clothes-line on Ariel Rodrigues.
Reeves took three points and then three more with two well-struck penalties. Disaster then struck as Diego López saw yellow for a boot to the head of Tony Lamborn. The Eagles flanker got his revenge by scoring a try from the ensuing lineout drive and in the act of scoring Jardel Vettorato was dispatched to join López in the bin.
With Brazil down to only 13 players the Eagles touched down twice more, one to Paul Lasike in the corner and a second for Germishuys. The clock ticked away with no further scores from either side.
All that now stands between the Eagles and back-to-back titles is Uruguay. A win, draw, or two-point loss will be good enough to lift the trophy. Brazil will wrap up their 2018 ARC in the same venue against the Argentina XV.
SCORING
BRAZIL 16
Tries – M. Duque (34’)
Cons – J. Reeves 1/1 (35’)
Pens – J. Reeves 3/4 (8’, 59’, 63’)
Yellow cards – S. Giantorno (53’), D. López (66’), J. Vettorato (68’)
USA 45
Tries – M. Te’o (4’), H. Mo’ungaloa (11’), B. Campbell (19’), H. Germishuys 2 (28’, 73’), T. Lamborn (67’), P. Lasike (71’)
Cons – W. Magie 3/4 (12’, 20’, 29’), B. Cima 2/3 (68’, 74’)
Yellow cards – N. Civetta (58’)
TEAMS
BRAZIL
1 Michel Gomes (17 Lucas Abud HT), 2 Yan Rosetti (capt.) (16 Angelo Marcucci 77’), 3 Jardel Vettorato, 4 Lucas Piero (19 Diego López 27’ {20 Michael Moraes 77’}), 5 Cléber Dias (19 Diego López 16’-20’), 6 Arthur Bergo, 7 Matheus Daniel, 8 André Arruda, 9 Laurent Bourda-Couhet (21 Daniel Lima 75’), 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Robert Tenório (22 Ariel Rodrigues HT), 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery, 14 Stefano Giantorno (18 Matheus Rocha 68’), 15 Lucas Tranquez (23 De Wet van Niekerk 75’)
USA
1 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa (17 Tony Purpura 69’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Peter Malcolm 59’), 3 Chris Baumann (18 Angus MacLellan 75’), 4 Ben Landry (19 Matt Jensen 69’), 5 Nick Civetta, 6 Psalm Wooching, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Cam Dolan (20 Tony Lamborn 50’), 9 Shaun Davies (21 Ruben de Haas 75’), 10 Will Magie (22 Ben Cima 61’), 11 Josh Whippy, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Dylan Audsley (23 Paul Lasike 53’), 14 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 15 Mike Te’o
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Francisco González (URU)
Attendance: 1,061
