USA Men's 15s Head Coach Scott Peterson has made only two changes from last week as the USA gets set to face Japan in Tokyo.
This is the final game of pool play for the Asahi Dry Pacific Nations Cup (the Pool A final game, Tonga vs Fiji, is tonight). Both teams have secured a semifinal spot, so it's really a case of seing who will win the pool.
USA Holds Off Canada as Mooneyham Nabs Brace
What's Up Next in the Pacific Nations Cup
Immediately after defeating Canada from Los Angeles on Saturday, the Eagles traveled to Tokyo for the first meeting between the two teams since 2019.
USA vs Japan kicks off from Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, 6:05 AM ET and live on Peacock.
Lawrence continues to focus on his team's discipline, physicality, and bravery. That is the character that he wanted to see.
One stat might address that, as the Eagles logged a 91% tackle success rate against Canada, better than any other team in the Pacific Nations Cup. Japan, against Canada, was at 90%. That takes physicality and bravery, of course. Discipline. The Eagles were pinged for 11 penalties against Canada, which is the fewest of any team so far (some have played two games, however, but this is a per-game number).
That's a huge positive for the USA team as penalties hurt them in the earlier summer tests.
Ruben de Haas gets the start at scrumhalf; this is his first match back from injury since 2022. Viliami Helu and Jasom Damm swap roles—Helu starts at lock and Damm is on the bench. Those are the only changes.
Some Stats
Japan leads the Pacific Nations Cup with 100% lineout success while the USA is at 93%. What that says is mostly that Japan is very precise in their lineout and with the imposing Warner Dearns one of their main targets. Dearns, by the way, born in New Zealand and having lived in japan since he was 14, is a huge asset to the Brave Blossoms. He carried for 125 meters against Japan. He leads all forwards in meters gained, even the forwards who have played two games.
The USA has won four of the team's last five Pacific Nations Cup matches, with their only loss being to Japan in 2019; score 34-20.
The Eagles kick from the hand more than any other team in the PNC.
Individually, Luke Carty's 50% success rate in goalkicking is last among PNC kickers, but he'll be expected to pick that up. Japan's Seungsin Lee leads the PNC with a perfect 7-for-7. Conner Mooneyham and Dearns are tied with three other players for 2nd in the PNC with two tries. Fijian Kitioni Salawa leads with three tries. Yoshitaka Yazaki leads the PNC with just under 147 meters carried per 80 minutes after his big day against Canada. Mooneyham is 10th with 87.3.
Paddy Ryan of the USA and Tiennan Costley of Japan, both flankers, co-lead the PNC in tackles per 80 minutes with 19. Jason Damm of the USA is tied for 2nd with 18. Dearns is tied for the PNC lead in dominant tackles with three. Costley leads the tournament in turnovers gained per 80 minutes.
Overall, it's pretty clear that the USA needs to contain the hard-running Dearns and the elusive, speedy Yazaki.
USA captain Greg Peterson also touched on effort level.
“I think it will be first 20 minutes and that last 20 minutes of the game," said Peterson. "That is very much going to be the decider. With how we play and how Japan played against Canada, you can see where the team strengths and weaknesses are. It this team starts off hot and they finish strong, we think that will be the game.”
