Winning try: Aaron Carpenter
Canada got their June Test campaign off to a winning start with a 28-25 victory over the USA Eagles at Queen's University's Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario on Saturday.
New Canada skipper Aaron Carpenter scored the winning try in front of 7,521 fans in an end-to-end clash that saw both sides touch down three times.
The goal-kicking of Canada full-back James Pritchard proved the difference between the North American rivals as he slotted five from six for 13 points while Carpenter was named man-of-the-match for his inspiring performance.
It could have gone either way in a match riddled with errors on both sides. However, poor tackling and handling errors would mark the Eagles' demise in an otherwise hard-fought encounter.
Canada scored first in the fourth minute when Matt Evans was able to dummy and run straight through the U.S. defence from 22 metres out, scoring 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 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. Will Holder's kick missed the conversion from out wide and it was 7-5 Canada.
Canada struck right back with a try from Ciaran Hearn, who exposed an overlap in numbers out on the wing. Pritchard made the touchline conversion to increase the lead to 14-5.
Two penalties kicked by the Americans and one by the home side meant the gap closed to 17-11.
In the 30th minute James Paterson then inserted himself in the 9-10 channel, and Holder offloaded inside to Paterson who hit the gap at full pace. 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.
The second period 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.
Pritchard extended the lead to 23-18 shortly after the restart
Canada dealt the killer blow when Luke Hume attempted to find touch from deep in his own territory. D.T.H. van der Merwe countered with a swerving run before finding Carpenter, who scored in the corner after outrunning the cover defence.
The U.S. came back hard in the dying minutes and the Canadian defence held until the 78th, when flanker Scott Lavalla barged over near the posts.
"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," Crowley 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."
Canada face Italy in a rare night game at Toronto's BMO field on Friday while the Eagles now move to Glendale, Colorado where they will take on Georgia at Infinity Park on June 16.
The scorers:
For Canada:
Tries: Evans, Hearn, Carpenter
Cons: Pritchard 2
Pens: Pritchard 3
For USA:
Tries: Hume, Paterson, Lavalla
Cons: Holder 2
Pens: Holder 2
Yellow card: O'Toole (Canada - trip)
Canada : 15 James Pritchard , 14 Sean Duke, 13 D.T.H. van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Ciaran Hearn, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter (C), 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Jason Marshall, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Kyle Armstrong, 21 Phil Mackenzie, 22 Jeff Hassler.
U.S.A: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 James Paterson, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Will Holder, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (C), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Scott Lavalla, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements: 16 Derek Asbun 17 Shawn Pittman 18 Tom Katzfey 19 Taylor Mokate 20 Shaun Davies 21 Roland Suniula 22 Colin Hawley
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Comments
5Lock4ward says...
@Melkdave, I agree on the need for a global rugby channel. Over here NASCAR gets more air time than hockey which is the 4th most popular sport and the previous 2 RWC title games didn't even get mentioned on our sports channels. As for minnow rugby this site (as much as I enjoy it) didn't even have Canada vs. the USA listed on the w/e's scheduled matches. So that's the battle rugby faces in the States and Canada.
Posted 12:59 12th June 2012
melkdave says...
I feel that both Canada and the USA have an oppotunity for an upset against Itlay .Both seem to be playing well ,and Italy are trying a new gameplan to bring the backs more into the game ,so are a bit confused ect atm as to what to do .Anyway hoping theat both games will be good ,just sorry that not being televised in the UK to be honest .Oh for a proper Rugby channal able to show games and highlights from around the world .So many good games not getting airtime imo Espically as SKY in the UK have a dedicated F1 channal at that sport is as boring as watching paint dry Would have been alot better imo for it to be a rugby channal.but i degtressLOL sorry for that LOL
Posted 20:13 11th June 2012
TOmike says...
I will be at the Italy game and am hoping for an upset. My head says that even without Parisse, Italy is still the better team.
Sadly rugby is not anywhere near the top 10 played sports in Canada. Neither is lacrosse for that matter.
Posted 15:24 11th June 2012
5Lock4ward says...
I think both Ngwenya and Cudmore were unavailable due to IRB regulations on mandatory rest and since they both play Top 14 in France which is the longest club competition I believe they fell into that category. As for Sinclair his not starting could be a result of missing most of Canada's training camp while playing Super Rugby for the Stormers. Canada has two official sports; hockey and lacrosse. Rugby may be third but it's def. not second. Also concerning for the USA is Samu Manoa's non-availability. They can't afford to have home grown/trained American players opting out of the national team. His absence saw a lot of their pack playing out of position.
Posted 12:40 11th June 2012
RawPace says...
No Kleeberger, Munro or Cudmore for Canada?? All of them were stand out performers for Canada during the World Cup,Also Jebb Sinclair not starting is a bit of a mystery to me. The way Italy are playing, I reckon a serious upset might be on the cards next week. Someone once told me that Rugby Union is the second most played sport in Canada after Ice Hockey, Anybody willing to shed any light on that one ? And finally anyone no why T Ngwenya wasn't playing for the US ?
Posted 11:59 11th June 2012