Canada U18s Tie USA in Dramatic Finish
Canada U18s Tie USA in Dramatic Finish
The USA U18s tied Canada 32-32 Wednesday in a wild game at the Corendon Summer Tour.
The game was certainly one of momentum and, in the end, the USA have only themselves to blame for not winning the game. But for a U18 team, that can be taken as a lesson and even though the game ended on a somewhat disputable note.
The USA started the game scoring very quickly. They pressured off the kickoff, got a penalty, won the lineout, and mauled it over. Hooker Seth Smith touched it down for a 5-0 lead.
Moments later the U18 Eagles ran a play off a lineup and put No. 8 Papa Matelau through a gap. He charged on for about 35 meters before being hauled down just before the tryline. The Americans swarmed in and after a couple of surges to the line Smith picked up and was over. Jonty Lee converted and it was 12-0.
The USA was in control, despite some trouble in the scrum. A kicking battle between the teams ended when Canada fumbled a rolling ball into touch inside their 22. From the lineup lock Maseah Young came close to scoring, and after a couple of probes to the line the ball was passed quickly to Smith on the weak side and he was in at the corner.
Up 17-0 the USA should have been brimming with confidence, but the confidence in their play was fragile, as we will see.
Canada Comeback
At a scrum near the middle of the field, Canada got a penalty and opted for the lineout. It was all as it was drawn up as they mauled closer to the line and then went wide to put lock Brodie Lowry in at the corner.
That made it 17-5 and after the hydration break the USA seemed to get the momentum back. Smith was held up in-goal but the USA kept up the pressure and finally a nice inside pass from Lee to Max Amasio put the prop over for a try and a 22-5 lead.
But Canada didn’t flinch. Off a scrum a superb line from center Josh McIndoe put him through. The easy conversion kick was missed, but Canada scored again moments later when the USA defense over pursued wide, leaving a gap on the inside for Luke Van Dam to cut into. The wing showed some astonishing pace and was through for 65 meters and a try. Matthew Bennett converted and suddenly it was 22-17. And the USA started playing like it. They started to push to make those extra passes and poaches that weren’t there, forgetting, really, that they were still ahead.
Second Half
For some reason the USA U18s decided to forget about kicking out of their own 22. Off the second-half kickoff they didn’t support the runner well enough and a holding-on penalty led to a penalty for Canada and Bennett put it over.
That made it 22-20. The USA was still ahead but only by two.
On defense the USA discipline on defense started to fall off and that almost led to another long-range try by Canada. The USA cover defense was there, however, and they got out of it.
Once again the USA started to push it, as if there were only a few minutes left in the game. A break on the outside by Padraig Long might have set something up for Ryan Putke (now playing fullback) but the pass didn’t have enough juice on it and Canada kicked down the field.
Another penalty and then a free kick off a lineout helped the USA get back on the attack and after a few probes at the line a wide pass from Lee put wing Jake Schumacher over in the corner.
That made it 27-20 and when Canada’s restart didn’t go 10 meters it seemed like the game could be put away. But the gravity of that chance seemed to leak into the players’ minds. Mistakes killed that chance and when Canada took the ball into the 22 more mistakes creeped in. The USA players started not only trying to run out of their 22 but flinging the ball around like they needed to mount a comeback with two seconds left.
The result was a scrum, then a penalty, then a lineout, and finally a maul to put the ball over for Canada. Bennett made the kick and it was tied 27-27.
The Finale
Somehow having their worst fears realized settled the USA players down. They pushed close to the line, but that impatience crept in again when Masi Koi looked to tap quickly on a penalty only to knock the ball on because he was looking at the Canadian defenders. Canada countered but some good cover defense forced a knock-on at midfield. From the ensuing scrum the USA ran an excellent play off the scrum and Lee setting up Koi to cut through the line. He passed inside to Elijah Lolesio-Pua who sent a perfect pass out wide to Long.
Long was almost there but knocked on in-goal. But from the goalline dropout the USA came right back and finally Smith went over one more time.
That made it 32-27. Lee missed the kick and put his head in his hands because it was a kick he normally gets.
With time winding down the USA once again tried to run out of their own end. They were once again playing in a panicky way. They even saw an extra 10 meters after a penalty because of chirping at the referee. Somehow, though, they held on and eventually earned a penalty.
Time, it turned out, was up. Lee tapped to himself and kicked toward the touchline. Now, this was a wide field in Amsterdam and there was a slight breeze that knocked down the kick. Whatever the reason, it fell just short of touch. Three players, two Canadian and one American converged on the ball. It bounced around a little and here’s where it gets dicey—we at GRR saw the ball bounce off Canada center Morgan Di Nardo and onto Bennett and back into Di Nardo’s hands. We will be checking this again when possible, but as it was Di nerd took off down the sideline to score.
Whether there was a knock-on or not, there needed to be a conversation between the referee and the assistant referee to confirm the try, and there didn’t appear to be one. Again, we will check. (Editor's note. We checked - no knock-on. Di Nardo knocked it forward in the air and ragethered before going on to score. Good non-call by the AR.)
That try tied the game, but the kick was a tough one and Bennett’s effort was just wide. That was it, 32-32. What is for certain is that too many USA players took for granted the kick would go to touch, and while the USA players consoled Lee, that final play was a team error, not the error of one player.
For the USA, their first 25 minutes were dominant. They did have some struggles in the scrum and also a few issues with the lineout, but their real problem after that was twofold: trying to play too much rugby in their own 22 when they have good kickers on the field, and playing as if they were in an urgent situation when they had the lead with plenty of time.
Both of these issues get fixed with experience.
Smith had a big day with four tries, but he wasn’t perfect, with penalties and lineout consistency (we realize lineout miscues aren’t just the hooker’s fault) are two key work-ons. Scrumhalf Spencer Huntley was very good, working hard and passing consistently, always giving his team a chance to make something happen.
Moved to fullback in the second half Putka was sure with the ball and didn’t put his team in a bad position. The forwards worked very hard to keep the continuity going.
USA 32
Tries: Smith 4, Schumacher, Amasio
Convs: Lee
Canada 32
Tries: Lowry, McIndoe, Van Dam, Other, Di Nardo
Convs: Bennett 2
Pens: Bennett
USA
1. Max Amasio, 2. Seth Smith, 3. Heston Edgelund, 4. Maseah Young, 5. Sedrick Saxon, 6. Connor Nel, 7. Andrew LaFrankie, 8. Papaseea Matelau, 9. Spencer Huntley, 10. Jonty Lee, 11. 11. Jake Schumacher, 12. Carson Reed, 13. Elijah Lolesio-Pua, 14. Ryan Putka, 15. Kieran Downs
Reserves: 16. Malosi Brown, 25. Gozie Mosi, 17. Medhi Merah, 23. Brice Muller, 20. Sebastian Menges, 21. Waylon Davis, 24. George Hemmen, 18. Jackson Quammie, 22. Padraig Long, 19. Masi Koi
Canada
1. Thorson Noble, 2. Carter Haddow, 3. Brighton Feldman, 4. Daragh Doyle, 5. Brodie Lowry, 6. Arron Kennedy, 7. Colton lee, 8. Liam Kinghorn, 9. Stephen Webb, 10. Matthew Bennett, 11. Luke Van Damn, 12. Josh McIndoe, 13. Morgan Di Nardo, 14. Max McGavern, 15. Ty Driscoll
Reserves: 16. Noah Kynaston, 17. Cole Harris, 18. James Noftall, 19. Quinn Foley, 20. Finn Hghes, 21. Eijah McQueen, 22. Josh Petrov, 23. Spencer Cotie, 24. Reece Thompson
