Scott LaValla started the Pacific Nations Cup on the bench against Samoa, but quickly re-established himself as a key member of the USA pack, putting in a large number of tackles and generally securing and winning ball.

Against Canada, LaValla was the go-to player in the lineout, and did well, working nicely with Zach Fenoglio and also repeatedly smacking away searching Canadian hands looking to steal his catches.

For the former Budd Bay U19 star, the game, and the Pacific Nations Cup itself was a battle.

“The first half, we managed it pretty well,” LaValla told Goff Rugby Report. “We were working our phases and our exits were good. In the second half, Canada came back and we weren’t as strong, but I thought that we fought together, which is important.”

Both teams played imperfectly, dropping balls, sending kicks weird directions, and not finishing scoring opportunities. Part of that was on the players, but LaValla said it was also on the competition itself.

“Historically we have kind of been scrappy out there,” he said. “And I think both teams struggled to kind of like manage the game. We know we need to concentrate more. But it comes down to the fact that the PNC has given us three matches in 11 days. You could see some fatigue on both sides of the ball.  The pace of the match wasn’t that fast, but the intensity was there; it was just that fatigue and mistakes, I think, were a product of the tournament. It’s a big ask to ask teams to turn around with four days of recovery.”

So the players had to rely on mental fortitude as much as anything else.

“When we fell behind, there was no panic,” said LaValla. “We knew the whole second half that we needed to stick to our systems. When we didn’t stick to our systems we got into trouble. We had ten minutes, which was still plenty of time. We just needed to cut out the errors, stay with the game plan, and that’s what happened.”

The win over Canada was a nice boost to a team that also defeated Japan.

“As a team we’re in a pretty good place,” said LaValla. “On the field we do the work, we’re professional. Off the field there’s a really good dynamic with the guys.”

The dynamic is perhaps a big component as Head Coach Mike Tolkin announces on Monday his team to play in the final three pre-World Cup games. Tolkin has a core of players who showed well in the last 20 days or so, and a small group of players who struggled. LaValla is among the players in the former group, but there are 30 places to fill, and still some testing to do to fill them.

- Additional reporting by Owen Goff