‘Fuel for your fire’: USA Eagles captain reacts to Canada defeat

TOKYO: USA captain Jason Damm believes the 16-19 defeat to rivals Canada will provide plenty of “fuel for your fire” for the Eagles, who finished fourth at the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2026 in Japan.

The Eagles went through the July Tests in the all-new World Rugby Nations Cup with an unbeaten 3-0 record, overcoming other sides who have also punched their ticket to Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, which starts in less than 13 months.

An Eagles-heavy USA XV later claimed a one-point victory against an Argentina XV at Inter Miami FC Stadium, before the Test team assembled. The USA were beaten by eventual champions Japan in the semi-finals last weekend, and were beaten again in the third-place playoff.

There are 10 spots between the sides on the World Rugby rankings, with No. 24 Canada racing out to a 12-0 lead inside the first quarter. The USA fought their way back, with the accurate boot of Luke Carty proving important, but the Canadians held on.

Canada veterans Lucas Rumball and Ben LeSage spoke with RugbyPass post-game, both thrilled after a hard-fought contest. But for the USA, the search for further improvement continues ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup.

“It hurts, man, it hurts. If you need fuel for your fire, it provides plenty of it,” Damm told RugbyPass.

“Personally it’s just going to drive me to keep getting better and keep getting better and pushing myself.

“We have a couple more weeks together, sort of as a Falcons tour – some guys leaving, some guys staying and getting more training in and then we’re off on our own for a bit.

“We’ve just got to keep pushing and getting better because we know we’ve got a ways to go.”

LeSage broke the game open with a moment of individual brilliance in the ninth minute, with the red headgear-wearing inside centre racing past defenders to score the first try of the contest, which was converted by Takoda McMullin.

Mason Flesch – who was later awarded Player of the Match honours – dove into the corner to add another five to Canada’s lead six minutes later. But the USA began to fight their way back, with loosehead prop Faka’osi Pifeleti crashing over, and Carty adding another five off the kicking tee.

It had been raining for at least two hours leading up to the match, adding to the drama and theatre of the spectacle. Canada outscored the USA seven points to six in the second term, but it was their defence which proved the difference in the final play of the Test.

“I reckon the conditions actually played into our hands; the kicking game we wanted to play, the loose ball, scrappy stuff. We’ll never use that as an excuse, it was more just role execution,” Damm said.

“Discipline in the first half was poor, in the middle third we gave them easy entries into the 22. We defended well but when you give a team probably six entries in the first half you’re going to get a couple in.

“In the second half, it really just came down to role execution. In clinical moments, just missing roles, not executing what we needed to. Ultimately, just let Canada stay in the game.”