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The USA Eagles edged out Spain in Cary, North Carolina on Saturday. The 29-22 win sees the USA going three from three in the World Rugby Nations Cup. The Eagles added the scalp of Los Leones to their wins over Zimbabwe and Portugal in their prior World Rugby Nations Cup matches in July.
The USA opened the scoring through fullback Mitch Wilson who scored for the first time in the Nations Cup. The try featured the full width of the field with forwards and backs interlinking passes. Second-rower Brandon Harvey providing the assist pass for Wilson to score in the left corner.
Los Leones will have been unhappy with their defensive line allowing Wilson to score. Center Martiano Cian missed a tackle but made up for it minutes later. Both centers, Álvar Gimeno and Martiniano Cian, were involved in a break from inside their own half. Argentine Estanislao Bay provided the support line to score to the right of the posts.
A big carry from Kapeli Pifeleti helped create the next try. Quick play saw Ruben De Haas going right and passing to a rampaging Cory Daniel. Chris Hilsenbeck converted for a 14-7 lead one minute before the close of the opening quarter.
Spain hit-back again, this time scoring on 32 minutes in the right corner. Early replacement, Jaime Manteca went over near the touch line. Gonzalo López missed the difficult conversion.
The USA ended the half with a 19-12 lead. Their third try was the second to feature Mitch Wilson. This time the Australian provided the assist pass for Julian Roberts. The center nicknamed “Juice” narrowly got the ball down inside the corner flag.
Spain came back in the second-half to go all level at 19-19. It came from an Eagles attack with Chris Hilsenbeck passing an interception to Estanislao Bay who combined with Martiniano Cian; the center ran 62 meters to score under the posts.
The teams went into the hydration break on the hour mark with Spain ahead. Gonzalo López landed a penalty to make it 22-19 with one quarter of the match remaining.
Spain failed to score final quarter points. This fact combined with the USA scoring ten points was pivotal in who the match was won and lost.
With the Eagles on attack deep in the Spanish half, Dom Besag provided a slick pass to put Perry Mayo into a hole. The Australian ran around the inside defenders to score. Luke Carty’s conversion made it a 26-22 lead. The final score of the night also went to Carty. He slotted a penalty seven minutes from full-time. Spain had opportunities to come back but fell short.
The seven point win means the USA and Georgia are the two undefeated teams at the halfway point of the World Rugby Nations Cup. It also means the USA Eagles will retain their world ranking of 14th before resuming international competition in August.
| SCORING |
USA (29)
TRY – M Wilson (11′), P Ryan (18′), J Roberts (38′), P Mayo (66′)
CON – C Hilsenbeck (12′ 19′), L Carty (66′)
PEN – L Carty (73′)
YC – P Mayo (28′)
SPAIN (22)
TRY – E Bay (13′), J Manteca (32′), M Cian (48′)
CON – G López (14′, 49′)
PEN – G López (60′)
| LINE-UPS |
USA EAGLES
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Nathan Den Hoedt, 5 Brandon Harvey, 6 Cory Daniel, 7 Paddy Ryan, 8 Jason Damm (capt.), 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Chris Hilsenbeck, 11 Perry Mayo, 12 Dom Besag, 13 Julian Roberts, 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 Mitch Wilson
Replacements: 16 Shilo Klein, 17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 18 Charlie Abel, 19 Nafi Ma’afu, 20 Benjamín Bonasso, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Luke Carty, 23 Tavite Lopeti
SPAIN
1 Luca Tabarot, 2 Álvaro García (capt.), 3 Hugo Pirlet, 4 Manex Ariceta, 5 Antonio Suárez, 6 Gabriel Vélez, 7 Ignacio Piñeiro, 8 Ekain Imaz, 9 Tani Bay, 10 Gonzalo López, 11 Alberto Carmona, 12 Álvar Gimeno, 13 Martiniano Cian, 14 Gauthier Minguillón, 15 JW Bell
Replacements: 16 Santiago Ovejero, 17 Thierry Futeu, 18 Jon Zabala, 19 Vicente Boronat, 20 Diego González, 21 Kerman Aurrekoetxea, 22 Iñaki Mateu, 23 Jaime Manteca
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
Video: To Follow
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistants: Jérémy Rozier (France) & Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
TMO: Dan Jones (England)
