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USA record significant win over Canada to go top of the Pacific Nations Cup table

By Online Editors
USA Eagles back rower Cam Dolan. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

It’s been a dark day for Canada rugby today, with the Maple Leafs falling 47-19 to their American brothers in Glendale.

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It wasn’t that long ago Canada used to have the wood over the USA.

Head back to 2013 and Canada had won 38 of the 51 matches played between North America’s top two sides.

There’s been a huge changing of the guard in the last six years, however, with Canada not recording a win over their big brothers in 11 attempts.

In 2017, the USA recorded their most ever points, triumphing 52-16. The Eagles didn’t quite notch up as big a score today, but they were in total control of the scoreboard from the get go.

The Canadians had the better start to the game, but even after holding the ball for lengthy periods of time and controlling the territory, they found themselves 20-nil down at half-time.

14 of their accumulated minutes came courtesy of an intercept try to captain Tyler Ardron and a penalty try earned from a maul against a 7-man forward pack. Their final 5-pointer was scored after the final siren sounded.

Perhaps the game would have been a bit different if the Eagles hadn’t received a bit of luck early in the fixture. USA’s second try came on the back of a grubber kick into Canada’s goal area from stalwart AJ MacGinty. The Canadian defence was well-placed to cover the kick but it took a wild bounce at the last second and only stayed in the field of play after ricocheting off the corner-flag.

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Still, Canada had plenty of time to fight back at that point but the zip seemed to have vanished from their step. If the Maple Leafs give up as easily in the World Cup as they did in today’s match then they could be on the receiving end of some outrageous margins against pool-mates New Zealand and South Africa.

USA captain Blaine Scully was proud of the effort his team put in but knows that his side have harder challenges of ahead them. Their final two matches in the Pacific Nations Cup are against Samoa and Japan, who both earned victories this weekend.

“It’s really good training,” Scully said regarding their upcoming travel schedule.

“We’ve got two very good teams. Samoa are going to be a huge physical challenge. Japan are going to bring an intensity that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Ardron was equally pensive.

“We’ve got to get our bodies right for the World Cup, we got exposed today and that’s probably one of the best things that can happen early in this competition,” Ardron said.

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“I’ve never questioned effort of these guys – the technique and some of the execution can be a bit suspect at times.”

Canada will be hoping to right the ship quickly with upcoming fixtures against Fiji and Tonga – who both lost matches they were probably favourites to win.

The USA and Canada will play once more this year, on September 7 in Vancouver, as a warm-up for the World Cup.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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