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| Photo: Rugby Canada |
The Junior All-Americans will face a one point deficit heading into the second leg of their Junior World Rugby Trophy qualifying series with Canada after falling on a last second penalty 24-23 at the Shawnigan Lake School. The U.S. led for all but the final kick as they took advantage of some opportunities while letting others slip away. They will now have to regroup ahead of Friday's match or face being left out of this summer's tournament.
The match started fortuitously for the All-Americans as Canadian scrumhalf Dan Joyce spilled the ball on a poor pass. Hanco Germishuys recovered and ran 30 meters for the try. Ben Cima's conversion was good giving the U.S. a 7-0 lead. The weather was something that both teams had to combat throughout the match with players consistently losing their footing and spilling the ball.
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As expected in the weather conditions there were a number of penalties on both teams. Canada was the first to take advantage from the tee as center Guiseppe du Toit made a penalty. A few minutes later Cima answered for the All-Americans to make the score 10-3 in favor of the Americans.
Canada grabbed their first try of the match roughly 20 minutes in when fullback Andrew Coe broke through several poor tackles to score in the corner. Du Toit's conversion was no good. One of the areas in which the U.S. will have to watch out for on Friday is the defensive play of their backs. They were shaky at times and should have stopped at least two of Canada's tries.
That try seemed to spur Canada as they continually put the U.S. under pressure. The U.S. certainly didn't help themselves with poor kicks from hand. Eventually the pressure was too much and another penalty gave du Toit a shot at goal that he missed. Just a few minutes later it was Canada's turn to penalized and Cima made no mistake to give the U.S. a 13-8 lead.
Du Toit pulled Canada within two after a penalty just minutes into the second half. Cima had the opportunity to extend the All-Americans lead with a couple of penalties but he wasn't able to convert. Still, the U.S. did well to put the U.S. under pressure and they were soon rewarded on a bizarre sequence. With Canada pinned down on their own try line Joyce muffed a box kick off the face of his own player. The U.S. recovered and threw a circus behind the back pass out to space. Seth Halliman recovered and found Ian Kinsley for the try. Cima made the conversion and a penalty a few minutes later to put the score at 23-11.
After the try the U.S. seemed to run out of gas as Canada had the better of the play in the last part of the match. Canada had several opportunities but knocked the ball on multiple times. Still, they were effective in both the scrum and out on the wings. They scored their next try as they used the scrum to dive the U.S. back where Paul Cuilini scored. Just a few minutes later a missed tackle on the wing allowed Theo Sauder to score. Du Toit missed both conversions and the U.S. led 23-21 with just minutes left.
Substitute Oisin Brady had a chance to to extend the U.S. lead with not much time left in the match but his long attempt was well short. Instead it was Canada that would have the last chance when the U.S. was called for a high tackle. Du Toit made the kick with not time left to give Canada the 24-23 win. The total aggregate score from the two legs will advance to the JWRT.
Like at the full level, the U.S. struggled once again in the scrum although some of that may be a credit to the conditions. Val Lee-Lo was the best of the front row on the day and when he was subbed off the U.S. scrum took a hit. With more time together and better conditions they should be improved but it's a definite worry. The U.S. also wasn't able to used their backs much but again the conditions weren't great.
There were positives for the Americans. Hanco Germishuys was fantastic. He shows a lot of great rugby smarts and helped the U.S. out several times with heads up plays. Louis Mulholland played within himself on the day and helped the U.S. in the conditions. With more time together the U.S. has always shown improvement. That alone should give them hope for turning around the result on Friday.
Scoring
USA
Tries: Germishuys, Kinsley
Conversions: Cima (2)
Penalties: Cima (3)
Canada
Tries: Coe, Cuilini, Sauder
Penalties: du Toit (3)
Rosters
U.S.A.
Forwards: James Gannon, Lucas Joseph, Val Lee-Lo, Ollie Drew, Christian Wiessing (C), Braeden Hood, Hanco Germishuys, Maciu Koroi
Backs: Louis Mulholland, Ben Cima, Seth Halliman, Fitou Fisiiahi, Ian Kinsley, Connor McRae, Scott Dean
Bench: Gabe Romero, Nick Kwasniewski, Victor Comptat, Brian Nault, Erik Thompson, Oisin Brady, Babapelumu Adejuyigbe
Canada
Forwards: Brendan Blake, John Shaw, Matt Tierney, Paul Cuilini, Adrian Wadden, Lucas Rumball (C), Ollie Nott, Luke Bradley
Backs: Dan Joyce, Dylan Horgan, Karsten Leitner, Guiseppe du Toit, Mitch Santilli, Theo Sauder, Andrew Coe
Bench: Paddy Finlay, Conor Young, Cali Martinez, Reegan O'Gorman, Mitch Rothman, Tony Pomroy, Philip Berna