Recap and Analysis: U.S.A. 13-6 Russia

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Recap and Analysis: U.S.A. 13-6 Russia

U.S.A. Head Coach Eddie O'Sullivan called the match against Russia "their World Cup," meaning that this was the one game the U.S. was really targeting for a win. The Eagles knew that they would have their hands full coming off a tiring game against Ireland, and facing a energetic Russia side making their World Cup debut.

The Eagles didn't start off the game out well, giving up an early penalty and letting Russia get on the board with three points. However, as the game progressed the Americans began to assert themselves more and more, spending much of the half inside Russian territory. In the tenth minute Chris Wyles was able to equalize after a Russian penalty. Then, in the 18th minute the Eagles scored the only try of the game with Mike Petri crossing the line after some nifty work by the Suniula brothers.

The second half saw the Eagles continued to dominate play, but they hurt themselves with missed kicks. Wyles missed a couple of penalty kicks and drop goal to stain his otherwise brilliant day. It seemed that Russia didn't have the energy or strength to stay up with the U.S. until the last moments of the game. At about the 75th minute the Russians poured pressure on the U.S. forcing them into one penalty after another. The good news for the Americans was that when Russia did kick for points (they needed a try) only one of the kicks was good.

In the end, the Eagles were too big and motivated to be defeated. As captain Todd Clever said after the game, the team did make it hard for themselves, but nevertheless, the team has to be elated at picking up a win at the World Cup. Once the pools were know the team circled this date for a win and it must be satisfying to see all of that hard work pay off.

What the Eagles did well:

Lineouts: The lineout was fantastic. The Eagles stole at least 7 lineouts, with several of them being short lineouts designed to keep possession for the Russians. John van der Giessen and Hayden Smith are proving themselves to be big annoyances to other teams and a benefit for the U.S.

Scrum: Did we actually see a U.S. scrum push back another team? We did! While the scrum is yet to be the Eagles strong point, it still matched or even bested the Russian scrum at times.

Possession: For large swaths of both halves the Eagles were able to keep possession, in particular possession in the Russian half the field. Time after time the Eagles kept the ball down in the Russian end preventing the Russians from even sniffing the tryline.

Defense: Just like the Ireland match the Eagles defense was outstanding. Every player was committed to defense and the Russians found few holes. The Eagles delivered big hit after big hit and were committed to helping out their teammates.
Mike MacDonald and Chris Wyles: MacDonald had an absolute monster game, looking as if he was 20 once again. He was aggressive on both defense and offense, and he led the scrum and dominated his counter-part. Big Mac truly deserved his man-of-the-match award. Wyles also had a terrific game coming back from injury. His presence was a boon to the backline. He kept possession well and was okay on kicking.

What the Eagles can do better:

Getting points: The Eagles left too many points of the board. If they had converted more of their kicks and scored more tries when they were down at the tryline, the end score might not have been as close as it was. They could have also secured a bonus points, which may have been useful down the line.

Zee Ngwenya: Zee seems to be hot and cold in an Eagles shirt and today he was definitely cold. It is understandable that backs aren't brought into play as much in international play as in club rugby, but silly turnovers were evidence that his head wasn't quite in the game. Hopefully he will still produce one of his magical moments.

Three Stars of the Match:

*Mike MacDonald
**Chris Wyles
***The fans who braved the rain