The USA Rugby Eagles have advanced to the next round of Rugby World Cup qualification after a dominant 38 – 16 win over Rugby Canada at RugbyTown USA in Glendale, Colorado to win the aggregate point series by 9 points.
Prop Joe Taufete’e, who holds the World Rugby record for tries scored by front rowers, was handed the Innovative Moment of the Match, while Ruben de Haas was awarded the Man of the Match. The 22-year-old scrum half kicked a stunning 40m drop goal off of a goal line re-start and scored a brilliant half length of the field try off of a blocked kick against his opposite number, Ross Braude.
Powerful flanker Hanco Germishuys was the hero of the day, scoring a first-half hat trick and helping lead the Eagles’ forwards to a dominant performance over the Canadians.
Gary Gold’s side, who have secured the Rugby Americas North (RAN) #1 position with the win over Canada, will now face Uruguay – Sudamerica Rugby (SAR) #1 winners – on October 2nd and 9th, with the winner of that series officially securing the Americas 1 position. The loser of that series will face the winner of RAN #2 and SAR #2.
The Americas 1 winner will join hosts France, the All Blacks, Italy and Africa 1 in 2023 in Pool A.
After last weekend’s passionate performance in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in which they scored four tries and 34 points, Canada were unable to use their attack on Saturday at Infinity Park. They did, however, secure a bonus point try at the end of the game through a yellow card infringement to Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and, even though it didn’t change the final out come of the series, it was a boost for the team’s pride.
Canada, now deemed RAN #2, will face SAR #2, Chile, in a must-win series also on October 2nd and 9th with the winner to face the loser of RAN 1 vs SAR 1 for the Americas 2 position.
FT 38-16 – Canada falls to USA in the second leg of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualification Pathway Series.
After the two games the aggregate score is 59-50. Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team plays Chile on home-soil October 2nd in Langford, BC for the next round on the road to RWC 2023! pic.twitter.com/ZhRl1M7gfj
— Rugby Canada (@RugbyCanada) September 12, 2021
The Americas 2 winner will be slotted into a very difficult Pool D in 2023, facing off against England, Japan, Argentina and Samoa.
USA Points –
Tries: Hanco Germishuys (x3), Christian Dyer, Ruben de Haas, Joe Taufete’e
Conversion: AJ MacGinty
Penalty: AJ MacGinty
Drop Goal: Ruben de Haas
Canada Points –
Tries: Penalty Try
Penalty: Peter Nelson (x2), Cooper Coats
USA
1 David Ainu’u, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Joe Taufete’e, 4 Nate Brakeley, 5 Nick Civetta, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Ryan Matyas, 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Marcel Brache
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Andrew Guerra, 21 Nate Augspurger, 22 Will Magie, 23 Mike Dabulas
CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Matt Tierney, 4 Corey Thomas, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Siaki Vikilani, 9 Ross Braude, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Brock Webster, 15 Cooper Coats
Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Cole Keith, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Kyle Baillie, 20 Michael Smith, 21 Robbie Povey, 22 Jason Higgins, 23 Patrick Parfrey
Date: Saturday, September 11
Venue: Infinity Park, Glendale
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistants: Scott Green (USA) & Luke Rogan (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)