The USA defeated Romania 27-17 Saturday in Bucharest to claim the first-ever Pershing Cup, the new challenge trophy between the two nations.

A strong military presence punctuated the event, with the US Marine Corps Color Guard on hand, and a small group of vocal American fans, most military, on hand. USA rugby and the Romanian Rugby Federation chose the name Pershing Cup because of General John Pershing, who presided over the first USA v Romania rugby game during the All-Allied Games in 1919 in Paris.

Pershing commanded the US Military in World War I and, along with George Washington, is the highest-ranked American military person ever. He also was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave by the nation of Romania.

And perhaps brave is a good word to use, as the USA rugby team worked their way through a series of obstacles to win this game. The game started with the Eagles allowing the kickoff of land on the ground, and that would tell part of the evening's story. They didn't have someone put a name on the ball, and promptly gave up a penalty. But part of the story was also Florin Vlaicu's goalkicking. His kick bounced off the posts, and he missed three kicks during the evening that he should have hit.

Soon after that the USA attacked wide, giving Taku Ngwenya a little space. He fended off two and strode out of the grasp of another before racing 50 meters for a classic try. Adam Siddall kicked the conversion from the touchline, and the Eagles were up 7-0. It seemed as if tat would be the story, but the Eagles struggled to get enough possession to give Ngwenya another shot.

On attack at the Romania 22 Siddall popped a kick over the defensive line. It was caught for a mark, and lock Tai Tuisamoa could be heard exhorting his team to keep the ball. It was wise counsel. The Eagles started to struggle in their lineouts - a not-straight, a knock-on, an overthrow, a steal. They just didn't fire on the lineouts, which allowed Romania to kick to touch and get out of trouble. With Romania having the measure of the USA in the scrum but a significant margin, possession, then, came down to stealing ball in the loose, and keeping it. That's not easy to do, especially as referee Leighton Hughes was quick to whistle not releasing the tackled player.

It wasn't until very late in the game that the Eagles started to hold up ballcarriers with one defender, and then rip the ball out with another.

Still it was 7-3 at 30 minutes thanks to some solid USA tackling. Then Romania made a lineout error of their own. They overthrew, and Todd Clever was right there to take the ball. He breached the Romania line and recycled. The Eagles sent the ball wide all the way to the right wing. The Oaks defended, but then the ball came quickly back to the left. There was Clever, with wing Tim Stanfill on his left. Clever eyeballed the two Romanian defenders in front of him, engaged them, and flipped the ball to Stanfill, who needed no second invitation and raced in from about 20 meters.

Siddall again hit the tough conversion, and then added a penalty after a long period of USA phases. That made it 17-3 at halftime, but there were issues.

Namely, the Eagles couldn't win their lineouts, and were being exposed in the scrum. They were also giving up penalties, and that's how they got into trouble early in the second half. They couldn't control the ball, gave up a penalty at the scrum, were mauled on, and then gave up a penalty try on a scrum (this was a harsh decision as the Eagles were not repeatedly penalized at the five-meter scrum in question). Suddenly it was 17-10.

Much of the second half was a battle between USA mistakes and USA recovery. The Eagles hardly saw the ball, but defended well for about ten minutes. Then when they got the ball, Folau Niua dummied his way through the line. He had support and offloaded to Mike Petri. The scrumhalf was caught from behind - perhaps Seamus Kelly would have been the better option - but the Eagles forwards were there. With Referee Hughes playing a penalty advantage for the USA, and nothing moving inside the Romanian 22, Petri picked up the ball and calmly slotted his first ever test match drop goal. It was a nice move and made it 20-10.

The Eagles got the ball back, and tried to free up Ngwenya again. He broke for a few meters but obviously the Oaks were onto him now. No matter, as that left space on the left. Wide passes got the ball to the left wing in short order and Niua faked a pass and piled over with three defenders on him. Siddall once again hit the tough conversion and that made it 27-10.

It wasn't over, as right from a poorly-controlled restart Romania shoved the pile over right under the posts. 27-17.

The Eagles defended most of the rest of the game, and got a couple of huge players to get out of trouble. One was Clever taking another lineout and powering out of his 22. Another was the Eagles somehow rescuing a scrum on their five-meter and kicking free. All of that allowed time to drift away, and when Romania had one more penalty at the USA 22, they knew that a kick wouldn't help them. They attacked, and after a series of Eagle tackles, Matt Trouville ripped the ball free and the game was over.

What rescued the game for the USA was their defense - only rarely did they miss tackles, and then usually due to a mistake in positioning - and their scrums. Their scrums were not strong, at all, but Trouville did an excellent job, combined with Clever and Petri and John Quill, to make sure that the Eagles came away with the ball on their put-in, even if they had to go backwards to do it.

Several players had commendable games. Clever was a tower of strength, made several big offensive plays, and led from the front. The front row battled, but it was Nick Wallace who put in the toughest day at the office. Lou Stanfill was aggressive in contact, where he needed to be, and John Quill was exactly what Coach Mike Tolkin needed him to be - a battler and a grafter.

In the backs, Petri worked enormously hard, especially given that the USA plan was to go sideline to sideline. His drop goal was a smart move that worked. Siddall's kicking from the tee was outstanding. Ngwenya and Stanfill both had little blips on defense but did what they needed to do on offense, and Niua did the job at fullback. The USA centers had to tackle a lot, but didn't really get going as runners.

Overall, Clever, Quill, Wallace, and Petri were the class of the operation.

But there are real concerns about the lineout given how poorly it performed. The USA's kickoff reception was very poor. They missed catching the ball frequently and when they caught it they didn't consolidate well. That's a huge problem, but fixable with the right plan and the right personnel. The scrum has to hold on better than it did Saturday night in Bucharest. The return of Scott LaValla will certainly help with the lineout and the restarts, and probably with the scrums, too.

But despite all that, the USA won the game. They won it by working enormously hard and being better at some crucial things. A road win is always tough to get, and the Eagles did enough.

USA Lineup
1. Nick Wallace
2. Phil Thiel
3. Olive Kilifi
4. Tai Tuisamoa
5. Louis Stanfill
6. Todd Clever (C)
7. John Quill
8. Matt Trouville
9. Mike Petri
10. Adam Siddall
11. Tim Stanfill
12. Andrew Suniula
13. Seamus Kelly
14. Taku Ngwenya
15. Folau Niua

Men's Eagles | Reserves
16. Tom Coolican (@ 52')
17. Mate MOeakiola (@39')
18. Benjamin Tarr
19. Greg Peterson (@ 62')
20. John Cullen (@ 52')
21. Kyle Sumsion
22. Shalom Suniula (@ 68')
23. Roland Suniula

Romania Lineup
1. Mihaita Lazar
2. Otar Turashvili
3. Paulica Ion
4. Marius Sirbe
5. Alin Coste
6. Mihai Macovei
7. Ovidiu Tonita
8. Daniel Carpo
9. Valentin Calafeteanu
10. Dorin Manole
11. Robert Neagu
12. Florin Vlaicu
13. Csaba Gal
14. Adrian Apostol
15. Catalin Fercu

Romania | Reserves
16. Andrei Radoi (@ 63')
17. Andrei Ursache (@ 53')
18. Horatiu Pungea
19. Valentin Poparlan (@ 55')
20. Vlad Nistor (@ 48')
21. Florin Surugiu
22. Catalin Dascalu
23. Florin Ionita

USA 27
Tries: Ngwenya, Tim Stanfill, Niua
Convs: Siddall 3
Pens: Siddall
DGs: Petri

Romania 17
Tries: Penalty Try, Carpo
Convs: Vlaicu 2
Pens: Vlaicu