IRB Pacific Nations Cup Match Report: USA vs. Canada

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 25, 2013

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The 2013 Pacific Nations Cup kicked off on Saturday, with two fiercely contested matches between some of the world's more promising rugby nations.

By noon on North America's East Coast, Tonga had already defeated a proud Japanese team by a score of 27-17. The scene then shifted to a wet and rainy Edmonton, Alberta for a North American grudge match between Canada and the United States.

The 14th-ranked Canadians had little to gain in terms of IRB ranking points in this match but knew that a home loss to the Americans could severely damage their hope for closing in on the world's top 10.

If they were to be successful, both Canada and the USA knew they would have to do so without many of their overseas stars. Both coaching staffs had decided to rest some of their top players, following a long European campaign. Professional Canadian speedsters DTH Van der Merwe, Phil Mackenzie, Matt Evans and James Pritchard were all out of action for this encounter, as was injured international sevens star Conor Trainor.

The Americans, on the other hand, took to the field without veterans Chris Wyles, Paul Emerick, Shawn Pittman and Biarritz flyer Takudzwa Ngwenya.



All of the youth and inexperience in the mix heralded the coming of a sloppy and disorganized first half of rugby, which is something we eluded to in our exclusive Bleacher Report preview.

The first half was indeed an energetic but error-strewen affair, with both teams struggling to maintain a fluid attack. 

Canada looked the more ambitious with Glasgow Warriors wing Taylor Paris making several impressive breaks. 

A series of tactical kicks, by young Canadian fly-half Harry Jones, pinned the Americans deep in their own end for the majority of the first 40 minutes. The pressure finally yielded reward, as flanker John Moonlight snatched a fumbled USA line-out and spun his way over his opponent'...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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