Canada vs. U.S.A. (09/06/2012 2:00 p.m. EDT)

[LittleGuy]

O'Toole was indeed awarded a yellow card for tripping Todd Clever commentary team totally missed that one....attendance was 7,521 a great crowd out for the day of rugby and Carpenter was named man of the match.

 

[rusty_lock]

uggh I missed the game. I had to help my mom and when I got home I hoped to be able to watch the archive of the feed but alas nothing.

 

[LittleGuy]

uggh I missed the game. I had to help my mom and when I got home I hoped to be able to watch the archive of the feed but alas nothing.

I was also dissapointed with the lack of an archive, the broadcast was a little poor though, my stream did well only cut out once for about 30 seconds, but the camerawork and commentary were bad to awful. A conversion by Pritchard was totally missed, close in angles didn't work well and plays were missed. Commentators were too busy disscussing their golf games to notice Chauncey's yellow card...etc.

Next week is TSN2 so things shuold be better, not sure whats happenning to the Georgia game I'm thinking a stream might be what we get though for those who can't attend.

Edit: I'll try and post a highlight package if one becomes available.

 

[dudeabides]

You said it about the production! I noticed the commentator call out wrong numbers and the like but being able to see a match that wasn't televised was hard for me to complain about. This is an article about the match (from a US writer's pov):

Eagles fall to Canada in openerAuthor:Eric Taber06/09/2012Date:
KINGSTON, Ont. - The USA Eagles opened their 2012 international campaign, and Coach Mike Tolkin's era at the helm, with a 28-25 loss to Canada in a hot and damp Kingston, Ontario.

It was a match that was riddled with errors on both sides, and at times looked like it could have gone either way. However, poor tackling and handling errors would mark the Eagles demise in an otherwise hard fought encounter.

Canada came out of the gates strong, and used their big runners to attack Will Holder who made his debut at flyhalf for the Eagles. Holder would be exposed out of position a few times early in the match, one of which led to a try by Canadian flyhalf Matt Evans.

The USA attack was eager to run as well. Coach Tolkin's team made good on his promise to play a more open game of rugby, and it paid dividends when Chris Wyles received a nifty pass from Paul Emerick, pinned his man, and put debutant Luke Hume into space for a try in the corner. Holder's kick from the touchline missed and it was 7-5 Canada.

Tolkin noted his player's ability to buy into the team's new pattern of play as a real highlight of the day. "I thought our attacking shape was good, and that guys were comfortable with it." Said Tolkin. "We had a few moments where we got out of shape, but we stuck with our attacking philosophy and scored a few tries off of it."

Canada struck right back with a try from Ciaran Hearn, who exposed an overlap in numbers out on the wing. Canada took a 14-5 lead and it began to look as though the USA was in for a long day at the office.

However, the US defense would adjust and begin to put the Canadians under pressure causing many turnovers and eventually earning a penalty for Holder to kick. It was 14-8 following the penalty, and for the next 10 minutes both teams would exchange penalties to make it 17-11 with 15 minutes left in the first period.

The Eagles were put under more pressure by the Canadian attack, but a Todd Clever turnover would spark one of the most exciting phases of the game, a passage that would tell the story of the whole match: plenty of opportunities, but opportunities lost.

Following the turnover, Clever made a break up the middle of the field, shedding of a few would-be tacklers. Brian Doyle (who had a productive match on debut in the second row) took a pass from Clever to gain more Canadian territory before offloading back to Clever who had plenty of space to run. However, Clever had to lay out in order to corral Doyle's pass, and the momentum was stymied. Like many phases for the Eagles, had the pass been spot on, Clever would have been off to the races.

The Eagles would build on those phases though, and soon found themselves knocking on the Canadian goal line again. James Paterson then inserted himself in the 9-10 channel, and Holder offloaded a sweet little inside pass to Paterson who hit the gap at full pace. The US took their first and only lead of the game following the conversion, 18-17. Before the half though, Prichard would hit another penalty for Canada, taking the lead into halftime 20-18.

The second stanza would be much slower with both teams trying to sort out the issues of the first half, but it was Canada who enjoyed most of the possession for the opening 20 minutes.

The US defense held on while Canada made multiple inroads into the USA red-zone, but managed to escape with only three points. 23-18 was the score, but Holder barely missed a penalty, which could have brought the Eagles within two, and still anyone's game to play for.

Canada would make the deathblow however when Luke Hume attempted to find touch from deep in his own territory following a missed Canadian penalty.

Hume's kick wouldn't find touch however, and the Canadians attached from the missed opportunity. Captain Aaron Carpenter received a pass that caught the US defense napping and dotted down for the try to put Canada on top by 10.

The US wasn't done attacking however, and some good tactical kicking gave the Eagles a lineout deep in Canadian territory with only five minutes left to play.

The US would build more phases off the lineout and it looked like the Eagles had scored a try in the corner, but Referee Marius Jonker deemed it held up, but brought play back to across the field for a penalty, where the Scott LaValla would eventually power in for a try off the quick tap. Holder's kick was good, but time expired before the Eagles could mount another attack. Final score: 28-25 to Canada.

Coach Tolkin said post match there were some positives out there, but he expects more precision in the coming weeks. "That's the type of game we need to win. It wasn't Canada's strongest side, and we need to be able to put teams like that away. It's a starting point though, and gives us some good stuff to work toward."

The Eagles now move to Glendale, Colo. where they will take on Georgia at Infinity Park on June 16. Click HERE to get your tickets today!

The Eagles will finish their June Test series against Italy at BBVA Compass stadium in Houston, TX. Tickets are selling fast for that event, be sure to get yours today!

USA 25
Tries: Hume, Paterson, LaValla
Convs: Holder 2
Pens: Holder 2

Canada 28
Tries: Evans, Hearn, Carpenter
Convs: Pritchard 2
Pens: Pritchard 3

USA Roster
15 Chris Wyles (Saracens)
14 James Paterson (Glendale Raptors)
13 Paul Emerick (London Wasps)
12 Andrew Suniula (Cornish Pirates)
11 Luke Hume (Old Blue)
10 Will Holder (Army)
9 Mike Petri (NYAC)
1 Mike MacDonald (At Large)
2 Chris Biller (Northampton Saints)
3 Eric Fry (Wellington Old Boys RFC, New Zealand)
4 Louis Stanfill (NYAC)
5 Brian Doyle (NYAC)
6 Scott Lavalla (Stade Francais)
7 Andrew Durutalo (USA Rugby Sevens/Old Puget Sound Beach)
8 Todd Clever* (NTT Shining Arcs)

Reserves
16 Derek Asbun (Oxford University – England)
17 Shawn Pittman (London Welsh)
18 Tom Katzfey (Life University)
19 Taylor Mokate (Wellington Old Boys RFC – New Zealand)
20 Shaun Davies (BYU)
21 Roland Suniula (Chicago Griffins)
22 Colin Hawley (USA Rugby Sevens)



Canada Roster
1 Hubert Buydens – Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
2 Ryan Hamilton – BC CRC Team (West Vancouver, BC)
3 Andrew Tiedemann – Prairie Wolf Pack (St.Albert, AB)
4 Brett Beukeboom – Ontario Blues (Lindsay, ON)
5 Tyler Hotson – London Scottish RFC (Vancouver, BC)
6 Nanyak Dala - Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
7 Chauncey O'Toole – The Rock (Belleisle, NB)
8 Aaron Carpenter (C) - Plymouth Albion (Brantford, ON)
9 Sean White – Unattached (Victoria, BC)
10 Matt Evans - Cornish Pirates (Duncan, BC)
11 Ciaran Hearn - The Rock (Conception Bay South, NL)
12 Mike Scholz - Ontario Blues (Oakville, ON)
13 DTH Van der Merwe - Glasgow Warriors (Victoria, BC)
14 Sean Duke - BC CRC Team (Vancouver, BC)
15 James Pritchard - Bedford Blues (Parkes, Australia, NSW)

Reserves
Jason Marshall - Stade Aurillacois (North Vancouver, BC)
Tom Dolezels - Ontario Blues (London, ON)
Jebb Sinclair - London Irish /DHL Stormers (Charters Settlement, NB)
Tyler Ardron - Ontario Blues (Lakefield ON)
Kyle Armstrong - Ontario Blues (Whitby, ON)
Phil Mackenzie - London Welsh RFC (Oakville, Ontario)
Jeff Hassler - Prairie Wolf Pack (Okotoks, AB)


Referee: Marius Jonker

http://www.usarugby.org/#cc=[Applic...81D59-137D-39B0-407A-5FDA100B5735{{Tab:View}}

And one from the Canadian rugby site:

KINGSTON, Ont. – New skipper Aaron Carpenter scored the winning try as he led Canada to a 28-25 win over the U.S. Eagles in international rugby on Saturday. It was the first test match for both nations since the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Played in front of 7,521 fans at Queen's University's Richardson Stadium, both sides scored three tries in a game that went from end to end.

The difference was the goal-kicking of Canada fullback James Pritchard who slotted five from six for 13 points.

Carpenter was named man-of-the-match for his inspiring performance in what was his 43rd test cap, but first as captain.

EARLY LEAD FOR CANADA
The day started awkwardly for the U.S. who knocked on the opening kick-off. Canada used the possession well and pressured early. The hosts came close to scoring very early when a Matt Evans line break and kick ahead went dead before a sprinting DTH could get it.

Canada did score first in the 4th minute when Evans was able to dummy and run straight through the U.S. defense from 22 metres out, scoring a try near the posts. James Pritchard converted to make it 7-0 Canada.

The U.S. replied four minutes later from a scrum 45 metres out from Canada's goal line. The ball got out to centre Paul Emerick who was able to slip a tackle and send the ball to Chris Wyles. The U.S. fullback got the ball to winger Luke Hume, who still had work to do to score in the corner. Will
Holder's conversion attempt came up short. Canada held the lead, 7-5.

Canada hit back from a line out in the 12th minute. Captain Aaron Carpenter picked up a bouncing pass and was able to break the line getting deep into the Americans' 22. From the ensuing ruck, it was an easy pass from Sean White to Ciaran Hearn who was able to round the defense to score in the corner. Pritchard made the touchline conversion to increase the lead to 14-5.

The first half was played very fairly with only 5 penalties awarded in total. Two goals kicked by the Americans and one by the home side meant the gap closed to 17-11.

In the 30th minute, the Eagles were able to work through the phases in Canada's 22, testing the defence. A well-timed inside pass from Holder to James Paterson got the winger to the line where he was then able to reach over for the try. With the successful conversion, the U.S took the lead from the first time, 18-17.

Canada had the last say in the half when the U.S. conceded a penalty in the 34th minute. Pritchard kicked three more points to return the lead to Canada, 20-18 at the break.

In the 2nd half, the U.S. again started poorly kicking the restart out on the full. From the ensuing possession, Canada was able to work into the U.S. half where the Eagles conceded another penalty. Pritchard kicked the goal to extend the lead to 23-18.

In the 50th minute, Canada centre Mike Sholz made a huge line break, stopped only on the U.S. goal line. From the ensuing ruck, Dala sent a wide pass to Hubert Buydens on the wing, where the prop dropped the ball backwards.

From the ruck, the ball went looses and when Todd Clever came around to pick it up, Chauncey OToole's foot tripped the U.S. skipper. The Canadian was shown a yellow card and sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes.

The U.S. was able to pressure their hosts with the man-advantage but the defense held firm with only giving away a penalty 30 metres out in the 58th minute. Holder's attempt was wide. That was the closest the U.S. came to scoring before O'Toole's yellow card expired.

Hearn would miss a long penalty goal attempt for Canada in the 71st minute, but the U.S. clearance did not find touch. Instead, it was caught by D.T.H. van der Merwe, who looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Breaking into the U.S. 22, van der Merwe dummied right but then popped left allowing Carpenter to score in the corner, after outrunning the cover defense. The conversion was missed as Canada increased the lead to 28-18.

The U.S. came back hard in the dying minutes and the Canadian defense held until the 78th, when flanker Scott Lavalla barged over near the posts. Holder's conversion made it 28-25, which was the final score.

"It was a tough game and a real nail-biter at the end, but we were happy to take the win," stated Canada head coach Kieran Crowley after the game.

"We gave up silly penalties and gave them free yardage," Crowly added.

"That had us playing frantically and the U.S. made us pay for it. But it was a win in a test match and we're happy for that."

"We played in peaks and valleys and had some rusty moments," commented U.S. coach Mike Tolkin. "Like Canada, we are just getting back together for the first time.

"We will be looking for improvements over the next few games."

The U.S. hosts Georgia next week in Colorado.

Up next for Canada is Italy in a rare night game at Toronto's BMO field, Friday, June 15.

-----------

In the warm-up game, Canada Classics defeated their U.S. counterparts 31-14. One of the special guest players for the Canadian Classics was Minister of National Defence Peter McKay.

Scorers:

Canada 28
Tries: Evans, Hearn, Carpenter
Cons: Pritchard 2
PGs: Pritchard 3

U.S.A. 25
Tries: Hume, Paterson, Lavalla
Cons: Holder 2
PGs: Holder 2


Canada (Name - club team, home town)
1 Hubert Buydens – Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
2 Ryan Hamilton – British Columbia (West Vancouver, BC)
3 Andrew Tiedemann – Prairie Wolf Pack (St. Albert, AB)
4 Brett Beukeboom – Ontario Blues (Lindsay, ON)
5 Tyler Hotson – London Scottish RFC (Vancouver, BC)
6 Nanyak Dala - Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
7 Chauncey O'Toole – The Rock (Belleisle, NB)
8 Aaron Carpenter (C) - Plymouth Albion (Brantford, ON)
9 Sean White – Unattached (Victoria, BC)
10 Matt Evans - Cornish Pirates (Duncan, BC)
11 Ciaran Hearn - The Rock (Conception Bay South, NL)
12 Mike Scholz - Ontario Blues (Oakville, ON)
13 D.T.H. van der Merwe - Glasgow Warriors (Victoria, BC)
14 Sean Duke - British Columbia (Vancouver, BC)
15 James Pritchard - Bedford Blues (Parkes, Australia, NSW)

Reserves
16 Jason Marshall - Stade Aurillacois (North Vancouver, BC)
17 Tom Dolezel - Ontario Blues (London, ON)
18 Jebb Sinclair - London Irish / Stormers (Charters Settlement, NB)
19 Tyler Ardron - Ontario Blues (Lakefield ON)
20 Kyle Armstrong - Ontario Blues (Whitby, ON)
21 Phil Mackenzie - London Welsh RFC (Oakville, Ontario)
22 Jeff Hassler - Prairie Wolf Pack (Okotoks, AB)

Head Coach: Kieran Crowley
Assistant Coaches: Geraint John, Neil Barnes, Clive Griffiths
Strength and Conditioning: Matt Barr
Athletic Therapists: Carla Brash, Carrie Smith
Doctor: Dr. Joe Lemoine
Performance Analyst: Peter Huigenbois
Manager: Gareth Rees
Assistant Manager: Mark Winokur

U.S.A.
1 Mike MacDonald
2 Chris Biller
3 Eric Fry
4 Louis Stanfill
5 Brian Doyle
6 Scott Lavalla
7 Andrew Durutalo
8 Todd Clever (C)
9 Mike Petri
10 Will Holder
11 Luke Hume
12 Andrew Suniula
13 Paul Emerick
14 James Paterson
15 Chris Wyles

Reserves
16 Derek Asbun
17 Shawn Pittman
18 Tom Katzfey
19 Taylor Mokate
20 Shaun Davies
21 Roland Suniula
22 Colin Hawley

Coach Mike Tolkin
Manager Tristan Lewis

Referee: Marius Jonker, South Africa

The National Senior Men's Team is proudly sponsored by Trafigura.

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3817&leagueID=0&page=61967

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Well, if it I had to miss a game it appears that I missed the right one. From what I hear it sounds like a pretty uninspiring display from Canada. That said, could anyone who saw the game tell me how Hamilton and Scholz looked at hooker and inside centre? How about Jeff Hassler?

 

[psychic duck]

Well, if it I had to miss a game it appears that I missed the right one. From what I hear it sounds like a pretty uninspiring display from Canada. That said, could anyone who saw the game tell me how Hamilton and Scholz looked at hooker and inside centre? How about Jeff Hassler?

wasn't he Canada's star player at junior level

 

[LittleGuy]

Well, if it I had to miss a game it appears that I missed the right one. From what I hear it sounds like a pretty uninspiring display from Canada. That said, could anyone who saw the game tell me how Hamilton and Scholz looked at hooker and inside centre? How about Jeff Hassler?

It was a very frsutrating game to watch, It's tough to explain CDN, like the effort and heart were there but the errors were so frequent and so many that the game just stalled and got broken up at large points.

Scholz actually looked fairly good made a couple of breaks and had a good work rate. Hamilton was steady but unspectacular, definately warrants the start against Italy but I'm not throwing Pletch or Barkwill out of consideration yet. Hassler did OK in what ended up being a long appearance due to Duke's early injury he didn't get a ton of work as in the 2nd half the game slowed down considerably.

Unofrtunately due to the poor broadcast it's hard to give reviews that are complete, often plays were missed and the commentators screwed up the names so often that it got very confusing, I was doing a lot of number watching by the end trying to make my evaluations. On a side not Pritchard got pulled off early which was a move that could have backfired big time when the United States came on well in the final 5 minutes.

Not sure if I mentioned but I thought Evans did well at FH, considering the circumstances I really couldn't ask for more, had a great try also...and Hearn finally got a try!!!!!

Edit: I didn't think O'Toole played that well either, the yellow card was unnessecary and deep within the Eagles half, he's starting to pick up quite a few yellows at National and club level these days.

 

[LittleGuy]

Finally found a highlight package of the game guys....here it is.

 

[CDN_Rugby]

It's good to hear that Evans fit right in at flyhalf. Given that he played flyhalf for Canada at age grade level, I assumed he'd have no problem slotting in (that try looks a lot like the one he scored when he was an emergency 10 against the Saxons a few years back). In reality, Evans can play damn well in any position 10-15. He's Canada's Mike Catt.

Since I didn't see the game it's kind of hard to comment, but just by looking at the roster this side was missing quite a few guys that would normally be included in the starting XV, so I'm not shocked that it wasn't the best of performances. Lets hope that we see Sinclair, Mackenzie, Marshall, and Trainor starting next week. If our backs play the way they can (I honestly think our backs are equal to Italy's) and our forwards can just limit the damage the Italians will pose at the set piece, I think we might be able to steal a win.

If I'm Crowley, I go with this lineup.

1) Buydens
2) Hamilton
3) Marshall
4) Hotson
5) Sinclair
6) Dala
7) O'Toole
8) Carpenter

9) Fairhurst (is he available? If not, give it to White)
10) Evans
11) Duke (If injured, Hearn)
12) Trainor
13) DTH
14) Mackenzie
15) Pritchard

 

[Canucks]

Well, if it I had to miss a game it appears that I missed the right one. From what I hear it sounds like a pretty uninspiring display from Canada. That said, could anyone who saw the game tell me how Hamilton and Scholz looked at hooker and inside centre? How about Jeff Hassler?

As said before Hamilton was steady, not spectacular, but that's his game. He's steady in the set pieces, but the upgrade in comparison to Riordan is that he gets around the field. For a hooker, he's very mobile, doesn't make a lot of tackles, doesn't run the ball but his support at the rucks is actually quite impressive.

I thought Scholz played well, definately behind Trainor and Mackenzie on the depth chart, but a good option to have and will most likely improve.

Hassler quite literally did not have to do much. Nothing against him, just nothing happened. He had one high ball to field in the entire 2nd half and he took it well. That was it.


About that video package, that was a sick set up by DTH on Carpenters try. Beats his man and then sucks the full back with a fake side step and then passes to an open Carpenter. i wish I could do that.