‘It’s not ability’: USA XV coach reflects on Australia A defeat

USA XV coach Scott Lawrence insists ability isn’t the issue for the Eagles-heavy roster, but has instead identified consistency as a focus area following a 61-12 defeat to a star-studded Australia A side in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nine Wallabies were named in the Australian side’s matchday 23, with a tight five complete with internationally capped players laying down a marker. The visitors raced out to a 19-0 lead during the first half but the USA XV then began to claw their way back.

Tries to Michael Baska and Mark O’Keeffe helped breathe new life into the contest, with the USA trailing by just 14 at the break. Australia had to play 20 minutes down a man too, with David Feliuai receiving a red card during the first half.

But the second term was one-way traffic, with the Aussies piling on 35 unanswered points during a clinical end to the match. An opportunity for the USA to take those lessons on board and bounce back now awaits, ahead of the second match between the sides this weekend in New Jersey.

“It’s not ability, it’s consistency. That’s where we’re at right now in our growth,” Lawrence, who is also the USA Eagles coach, said post-game, as seen in a video on the USA Eagles Instagram page.

“It’s not our ability. We have ability to do things at times. We just need to consistently do them and that’s where we are as a team.”

 

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Australia A ran in five tries to none during the second half, with in-form Western Force halfback Nathan Hastie among those getting on the scoresheet. Hastie helped the Force win their maiden Super Rugby AUS title earlier this month, alongside multiple Australia A teammates.

Dylan Pietsch touched down for a hat-trick in the win over the NSW Waratahs, and the capped Wallaby was also one of the try-scorers in Nashville. Tom Robertson, Will Harris and Mac Grealy were other Force players in this Australian starting side.

Queensland Reds flyer Tim ‘The Junkyard Dog’ Ryan was the final try-scorer in this fixture, racing about 40 meters to the house with five minutes left. It completed a dominant display from the away side, who put on a show at Geodis Park.

“I thought Australia, we knew they were going to try and hold onto the ball and really pressure us and that’s a good thing. That just builds our robustness going forward,” Lawrence reflected.

“I take that as there were some really long periods in defence where we held out, we stopped momentum, but we did that.

“Now on the other side, we’ve got to back that up with more continuity on our attack… it’s a thing we’ve been consistently working on. It’s something that we have to do day in, day out and we do. We’ve got to build some continuity into the attack.”