Canada star’s immediate reaction to thrilling win over USA Eagles

Ben LeSage went to the 2019 Rugby World Cup and has played more than 70 Tests in Canadian red, but last weekend’s 19-16 win over the USA Eagles in a thrilling Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup showdown ranks right up there.

LeSage, who was the most experienced back in Canada’s squad for the Pacific Nations Cup, set the tone early with a moment of individual brilliance. Front-rower Foster Dewitt linked up with the red headgear-wearing centre, who raced away for the first try of the third-place playoff.

Mason Flesch dove over for the team’s second try soon after, as the Canadians built up a strong lead during the first quarter in Tokyo. The accurate goal-kicking boot of Luke Carty led the USA’s fightback, but the Test ultimately came down to the final play.

It was a three-point ballgame with time up on the clock, but the USA unleashed one last search for points inside Canada’s 22. But the Canadians held on, with the full-time whistle sounding, which was followed by a moment of sheer jubilation for the victors.

Canada haven’t claimed back-to-back wins over their North American rivals in 13 years, but that streak has come to a triumphant end. They beat the Eagles by 14 points in Calgary 13 months ago and are again celebrating – an important moment for them ahead of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.

“Relief was the first thing. We’re on the back foot for the last 10 minutes there and just holding on for dear life,” LeSage told RugbyPass at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.

“Just to see that ball go out, and the deep exhale at the final whistle was pretty amazing.

“But so many emotions. So proud of the boys, we came over here and had a tough three and a half weeks, we’re grinding. Didn’t get the result we wanted in the first two weeks but go better every week.

“I think last year, a lot of people look [at the win over the Eagles] as a one-off. It was on home soil… so to do it away from home, neutral ground… it was pretty awesome to do it two years in a row.”

Canada was 24^th on the World Rugby rankings going into the North American derby, but have moved ahead of Belgium and Hong Kong China on the charts. As for the USA, they have dropped down one place to 15^th.

Both Canada and the USA have already secured their spots at next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, and remain focused on their continued progress ahead of the event. They will both get to test themselves in more high-level hit-outs during the World Rugby Nations Cup in November.

“Kudos to the U.S, they won all three games in the Summer, they’ve got a lot of good results on the trot,” LeSage said.

“We probably feel like we’re maybe better than 24^th in the world and we haven’t had the results to prove it. Rather than reminisce on what could’ve been on the past, this was a game we could win and in the Fall we’ve got Romania and Georgia, two teams ahead of us.

“If we can just keep stacking wins against teams that are above us than below… it’s just about getting the victories at the end of the day.”