Try for the Eagles: Chris Wyles
The November Test window kicked off with an exciting fixture on Friday as the USA Eagles easily beat Russia 40-26 at Parc Eirias in Wales.
The Americans ran in six tries to build a commanding lead by the hour mark but let their intensity drop in the final quarter to allow the Russians to bring a semblance of respectability to the scoreline.
Eagles scrum-half Robbie Shaw put in a stellar performance, scoring two tries and marshalling the American attack excellently.
The USA were a step ahead of their opposition in just about every aspect of the game. Indeed, the scoreboard was a little flattering to the Russians, who nevertheless should be given credit for fighting to the end and scoring three tries in the last half-hour.
The USA paid the price for taking the foot of the gas as they missed out on a IRB Rankings bonus which would have come with a 15-point victory.
The American forwards dominated the Russian pack, winning the battle at the breakdown and in the set pieces.
The USA led 21-9 at the interval thanks to an early try from Eric Fry (his first in Test rugby), another from debutant fly-half Toby L'Estrange and one for lock Brian Doyle.
Shaw claimed his first early in the second half to give the USA a 33-9 lead but the Russians replied as wing Vladimir Ostroushko touched down.
Flanker Andrey Temnov grabbed two more for Russia in the final quarter but Shaw's second try - under the posts - had already put the result beyond doubt.
The scorers:
For Russia:
Tries: Ostroushko, Temnov 2
Con: Klyuchnikov
Pens: Klyuchnikov 3
Yellow cards: Gresev, Shcherban
For USA:
Tries: Fry, L'Estrange, Doyle, Wyles, Shaw 2
Cons: Wyles 5
Yellow card:Biller
Russia: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Vasily Artemyev, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Sergey Sugrobov, 9 Alexey Shcherban, 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Kirill Kulemin, 4 Alexander Voytov (capt), 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze.
Replacements: 16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Alexey Volkov, 18 Innokentiy Zykov, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Ramil Gaysin, 21 Gleb Babkin, 22 Vladimir Boltenkov, 23 Dmitry Gerasimov.
USA: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Cornelius Dirksen, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Robbie Shaw, 8 Todd Clever (capt), 7 John Quill, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements: 16 Zachary Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Tony Purpura, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Peter Dahl, 21 Mike Petri, 22 Rolan Suniula, 23 Gearoid McDonald.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Comments
scrumpoacher says...
Wish I had seen it #gobearsgo
Posted 11:03 11th November 2012
myopicflanker says...
As an American married to a Frog and a latecomer to the game, we will forever trail the great countries of rugby until our ranks cease to be the second tier (excellent athletes who ultimately fell short in their respective domains) or older athletes who extend careers (my case, amateur of the game for years until taking up the third line at the age of 34).
Posted 00:56 11th November 2012
LondonWasp says...
one sure way to increase rugby intrest in both countries is to have this derby a few times a year.
.....
The Cold War Cup
.....
Posted 00:46 10th November 2012
philipjfry says...
Funny, I seem to enjoy rugby more when I watch amateurs or semi-professionals play.
Posted 21:52 09th November 2012
melkdave says...
saw the match ,and it went as i expected tbh.The USAare quite afew years ahead of Russia ,in development ,and it showed.But it was quite an enjoyable game never the less.
Posted 20:38 09th November 2012