16 - 16

37 - 19

29 - 20

33 - 28

25 - 27

22 - 13

16 - 22

5 - 50

29 - 20

12 - 33

34 - 30

12 - 55

WOMENS

36 - 7

WOMENS

5 - 29

WOMENS

33 - 7

17 - 38

WOMENS

37 - 30

28 - 31

39 - 31

31 - 12

54 - 26

36 - 28

48 - 25

19 - 14

43 - 24

28 - 14

3 - 15

35 - 14

0 - 26

24 - 25

69 - 10

Today

12:05

International

Faessler reveals ‘huge focus’ behind clinical Australia A shutout win

Finn Morton

Published: 15 hours ago | 31 October 2026 19:32 PDT

Harry McLaughlin-Phillips of Australia fends off Joe Mano of the United States during the second half at Sports Illustrated Stadium on October 30, 2026 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by Caean Couto/Getty Images)

Australia A captain Matt Faessler has revealed the “huge focus” behind the team’s shutout 52-0 win over an Eagles-heavy USA XV, with the men in gold piling on 113 points across the two-match series in the United States.

Coach Stephen Larkham selected a dozen Wallabies in the initial 27-man group, which was made up of players from Australia’s four Super Rugby Pacific clubs. Former NRL star Zac Lomax and recent Wallabies debutant Harry McLaughlin-Phillips were later added to the rep squad.

Faessler was handed captaincy duties ahead of the first match in Nashville, and the front-rower got on the scoresheet in a 61-12 win. Australia A were just as emphatic six days later under Friday night lights, even with Larkham making changes to the starting XV.

VIDEO

Capped Wallabies lock Nick Frost raced away for the final try of the final half, as the visitors took a 33-point lead into the sheds. McLaughlin-Phillips received Player of the Match honours after steering the team to a comprehensive result, having scored a try himself in the second term.

Faessler spoke post-game about how working hard for each other on and off the ball was a major focus for Australia A, and the skipper was pleased to see those efforts keep a new-look USA XV scoreless across the 80 minutes.

“Really good reward for the hard we’ve put in over the last two weeks. Really happy that the boys didn’t rest on their laurels on the back of last week’s win,” Faessler said.

“We prepared well. The U.S. had a fair few changes in their forward pack, a fair bit bigger, and a really strong ball-carrying 12, and I think that really showed. They were quite physical in contact.

“Really happy with how our set-piece turned out this week. Touch patchy in the second half but quite patch, very rewarded.”

Tane Edmed got first crack in the run-on side at fly-half, wearing the No. 10 jersey a week ago opposite Chicago Hounds playmaker Chris Hilsenebck. Edmed slotted a few shots at goal before coming off for ‘HMP’ around the 60-minute mark.

Those two swapped places in the matchday 23 for the series finale, with McLaughlin-Phillips getting a run less than one month after debuting for the Wallabies. The 22-year-old steered the Western Force to a Super Rugby AUS title before debuting at Test level in Bledisloe II.

“We came together as a team over the last two weeks and gelled really well,” McLaughlin-Phillips said post-game.

“Coming from all four Super club, just a connection piece that we drove really hard really delivered for us on the field. It was a really good two weeks.

“We just really drove the emphasis on doubling down on our performance,” he added.

“Holding them to nil, they’re a good side and not giving them any points is really good for us as a team. Really proud of that performance.”

Watch the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Rugby Sevens

Enjoy all of the Rugby Sevens matches from the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games live and free. 1st - 3rd November 2026.

Watch Free Here

LIVE

Comments

1 Comment

Two Cents 1 hr ago

It wasn't nearly as clinical as it could have been and at times they were lucky that their impatience didn't get the better of them.

For all the positive endeavour, they still undermine themselves with poor decision making and poor execution under pressure.

Some of that is inexperience of course but it's not really acceptable when you're meant to be a professional at this and there wasn't a single debutant among them.

Every player has big SR minutes under their belts so to not really deliver on what you should be capable of is a bit disappointing.

They go on about belief and playing for each other and certainly the intent was there.

They just didn't quite hit the level of cohesion that is needed at international level and against any A side from any of the top 10 nations they'd have been cooked.

Hopefully they'll go back with the coaching staff and breakdown these two matches to really understand where they're at and where they need to get to.

Obviously the same is true for the Americans and they should be reasonably proud with how they went about their work and how much trouble they created for the Aussies.

Even though they couldn't get on the score sheet they created a lot of good chances that with more time they'll be able to nail in the future and their defensive work was high quality.

Where they need major improvement is in their defensive lineout and maul defence as those were areas where Australia really put them under the hammer.

Some of that will simply get better the more time they spend on the field. But they need technical improvement as well as their coordination was a bit off and they didn't get enough numbers around the ball.

I think it's harder to deduce the benefits to Australia since they're coming off a much higher baseline and therefore are expected to perform at a certain level.

That doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of lessons though and it was a good indication to many of those guys who haven't yet made it into the Wallabies of what they need to work on to get there.

And it was a good hit out for some of those Wallabies who are coming back from long injury layoffs to get back to some form and potentially put themselves in a position to be recalled.

I remain unconvinced by Australian rugby at the moment. I really don't feel at all confident about the Wallabies and the rather lacklustre displays from Australia A have not provided any more encouragement, especially since among them are the guys who will probably see duty either this month or early next year.

They're going to have to do a lot to persuade me that they're genuinely on the path back to being World Cup contenders again. And it starts with making the right decisions and executing their skills with competency and efficiency.

Join free and tell us what you really think!