By Joe Lami & Matthew T.F. Harrington
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Fans at Avaya Stadium were treated to international rugby on Saturday night. The Pacific Nations’ Cup opener marked the first non-soccer event held at Avaya, as Canada, Japan, United States and America Samoa all took part in the festivities. Over 10,000 fans joined the fun to watch four teams all ranked in the top 20 of the world duke it out.
The night started slow with Japan defeating Canada 20-6. The only try of the match came early for Japan in the 16th minute, when Yoshikazu Fujita converted to give the Japanese a 8-0 lead. Canada would stop the bleeding in the 19th minute, as Gordy McRorie converted his first of two penalty kicks.
Ayumu Goromaru was outstanding on the penalties for Japan, as he knocked in five for the match.
Canada is competing in just their third ever Pacific Nations’ Cup and hopes to defend their home turf the next time out, as they host Tonga in Burnaby, British Columbia on July 23rd.
While Japan’s stifling defense and Fujita’s leg ruled the day in the opening contest, the second match of the night proved a much closer affair. In the nightcap, Samoa defeated the United States 21-16, with the U.S. pressing for a final try deep in the Samoa end of the field as time expired.
Samoa’s Patrick Faapale nailed his first two penalty kicks to give the exports a 6-0 lead 15 minutes in to the contest. The Eagles responded with an AJ MacGinty kick in the 21st minute, but just under a minute later Faapale tucked another ball between the post to restore the six-point lead.
In the 29th minute, Manu Samoa collected the first try of the match on a brilliant run by Ah See Tuala. Tuala dipped and darted through four Eagles to cross the U.S. 22 meter line in a stunning showing of lateral quickness and elusiveness. Tuala was ultimately brought down on his back, but he managed to toss the ball off to teammate Alesana Tuilagi. Tuilagi, Samoa’s captained, barreled his way through an American tackle attempt across the tryline for the five points. Faapale converted to put Samoa on top 16-3.
“It was no easy task,” Said MacGinty of Samoa. “They ran very hard. There were good parts and simple errors. I have to improve on them if we want to start winning a few tests.”
Samoa added another try in the final ten minutes after Tuilagi booted the ball into the American 22 meter box. See Tuala recovered to put Samoa up 21-3 at the end of the first half.
“That put us in a hole,” said United States coach Mike Tolkin . “Defensive lapses and veteran play out of their own end was a big problem in the first half.”
The Eagles rallied back, hitting the first two penalties to cut the Samoa lead to 21-9 but still found themselves trailing the ninth-ranked team in the World with 17 minutes to play.
“In the second half, we turned the tide around,” said Tolkin. “We had a couple subs, a couple guys who came on and made a difference. We had better line speed and better execution in the attack.”
The U.S. connected on its only try of the match in the 71st minute, with reserve Titi Lamositele scoring his first international try of his career. The Eagles were battling on the tryline but it appeared Samoa would not concede the final inch for the score. Ultimately Lamositele found his way across the line by the slimmest of margins under a heap of bodies, sending Eagles supporters in the near end zone into a frenzy. Their celebration was confirmed by the referee’s flag and five American points were put on the board. MacGinty converted to put the U.S. a try away from a tie 21-16.
The Eagles led one final push, getting across the Samoan 22 meter line and just a few steps from the tryline, but they couldn’t finish the drive. The final horn sounded, souring the American’s chances at prevailing on the day.
While the result wasn’t what the Eagles were hoping for, it was still a solid showing for the squad. It was just their first match of the campaign together and the first since November, and for many players it was their first cap on the National side.
“You want to take positives out of the game,” said Tolkin. “The second half was a big advantage for us territorially. Progression wise, we wanted to take some more points out of it. Certainly we were in a position to do it. The second half was a big improvement from the first half. We just have to build off that.”
Japan and the United States will face off in the second match of the PNC on July 24th. While the Cherry Blossoms won’t prove as tough a team as Manu Samoa, they’ll prove a superior tactical opponent and will be riding a decisive victory over Canada. The contest will be decided at Sacramento’s Bonney Field, home to the Earthquakes UFL affiliate, the Republic.
“We do want to play a performance that’s more similar to our second half,” said Tolkin. “We also want to play better than we did in the second half.”
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