USA prop Eric Fry spoke with Goff Rugby Report Editor after the Eagles' dramatic 15-12 victory over Canada.

The USA team, said Fry, just needed to keep to the plan, where they showed good continuity with the ball, and tested the Canadian defense. And while that work didn't produce tries, it did produce scoring opportunities, and AJ MacGinty made the penalties pay.

But also key for the USA was the performance of the scrum. The American scrum wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was stronger than it has been in a while, and in fact this has been a pretty good Pacific Nations Cup for the pack. That is mostly due to hard work and spending time together under forward coach Justin Fitzpatrick working on it, said Fry. But in addition, it's about getting the calls from the refs. The Eagles have been dealt with harshly by referees in the scrum (famously in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Italian prop Martin Castrogiovanni popping out of a scrum and instead of being penalized, the Italian gestured to the referee, and essentially ordered referee George Clancy to penalize the USA, which he did). 

But Fry said the plan has been since then to do better in the scrums, and thus prove to referees that they are not just committing penalties in order to avoid being dominated. This is happening, said Fry, and with that comes the benefit of the doubt from refs.

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