‘Impatiently patient’: Coach Lawrence on the path ahead for USA Eagles

TOKYO: USA coach Scott Lawrence believes the Eagles are coming into this weekend’s Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup third-place playoff with real clarity, setting a goal of being “10 per cent better” before facing rivals Canada in Tokyo.

Less than 13 months out from Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, the Eagles are set to take the field for their fifth Test of the season. An Eagles-heavy USA XV also claimed a thrilling 25-24 win over an Argentina XV in a non-Test at Inter Miami FC Stadium last month.

The Eagles continue to build towards their first Men’s World Cup appearance since 2019, making the most of high-level hit-outs by challenging depth and taking on some key learnings. They have beaten three other sides this year that have also qualified for the sport’s showpiece event.

Pacific Nations Cup hosts Japan booked their spot in the 2026 final with a dominant performance against the USA last weekend in Osaka. But the Eagles have regrouped after the defeat, with each player and the team as a whole understanding what the road ahead looks like.

“We’re always looking for 10 per cent better than where we were the week before. I think you have to have that approach,” Lawrence told RugbyPass.

“We had real clarity coming out of Monday, at an individual and a collection level, as to where we were going to target those 10 per cent betters. They’re not always statistical in nature, it’s just things we want to be better at.

“We also got a really clear picture of where we want to be by the end of November as well in some certain key positions.

“You have to take it week by week and you have to be impatiently patient in terms of just following a process.”

The Eagles have turned their focus to a clash with Canada, which will be the first meeting between the sides since August 2025. Canada claimed a 34-20 victory in Calgary on August 22, with Tyler Ardron stealing the show with a four-try haul.

Canada and the USA have split the matchup with two wins each from the last four, but the Eagles had dominated recent head-to-head Tests before that. Dating back to June 21, 2024, the USA have won 13 of the last 16 Tests between the sides.

“It’s massive. Obviously coming off a performance we maybe weren’t as thrilled about, into a game that could potentially have a lot of emotional energy – managing that and using it when we can but making sure that we’re sticking to our plan and control what we can control,” USA captain Damm said when asked about the Canada matchup.

“One of the biggest things we can control is our mindset as we go into this game. I think that’s what let us down a bit when we reflect on that Canada game last year, we just let them get over us a little too soon in the game.

“Maybe we were expecting to perform a certain way and didn’t live up to that in the first 20. For me, it’s just coming out, setting the tone and throwing our bodies around early and letting them know we’re here.”