USA Eagles clinch World Rugby Nations Cup title with seven-try blitz

The USA Eagles have been crowned one of two World Rugby Nations Cup 2026 champions with one round still left to play, extending their unbeaten run with a 53-24 blitz of Men’s Rugby World Cup regulars Romania on Saturday evening.

Georgia defeated Tonga 55-31 to ultimately lock up top spot in the Europe, Asia and Africa group, while the USA can’t be caught in Pool B. The Eagles are unbeaten from five matches in the new competition, with their most recent result by far their most emphatic.

Chris Hilsenbeck was the hero for the Eagles in their Nations Cup opener in July, slotting a long-range penalty to beat Portugal in the dying stages. The fly-half again played the goal-kicking hero role last time against Hong Kong China, and was again on point against Romania.

Hilsenbeck slotted an early penalty goal, with the Eagles holding a slender 3-0 lead for about 10 minutes. But then two tries in quick succession saw the United States race out to a three-score lead, with wingers Noah Brown and Rufus McLean scoring a try each.

Romania hit back in the 27^th minute, but the USA otherwise continued to control the contest, leading for 99 per cent of the match. Hilsenbeck finished with a game-high 13-point haul, McLean scored two tries, and Paddy Ryan topped the tackle charts with 15.

“It really just came down to our game model and the fellas working hard in our game model,” USA captain Jason Damm said post-game on the broadcast.

“We saw the results. When it’s going really well, it looks amazing.”

The USA led 22-10 at the break but took things up a notch during the second term, with captain Damm the first try scorer. Australian-born lock Nathan Den Hoedt and Tavite Lopeti also got on the scoresheet, before backrower Nafitalai Maafu was shown a yellow card.

Maafu watched on from the sidelines as the Eagles went down to 14 men for 10 minutes, but the visitors didn’t concede during that period – instead adding to their already commanding lead through a Tom Pittman penalty and another McLean try.

McLean’s second saw the Eagles bring up a half-century, wrapping up one of the Nations Cup trophies with a five-star performance. The stage is now set for a blockbuster between the USA and Georgia next weekend, with the Nations Cup victors set to face off.

“It’s great to have another one and it’s always great to come home with some hardware,” Damm added.