Coming off a dominant showing in the U20 World Rugby Trophy qualifiers with Canada, the USA U20 men have every right to feel confident, but there's more work to be done.
The two victories over the Canadians, 43-21 and then 39-14 certainly were head-turners. And perhaps it would take a real pessimist to point out that Canada had the USA under some significant pressure early on in both games. And it might also be worth pointing out that a few of the USA tries were ... lucky? Well, as they say, you make your own luck.
And certainly if you add a dash of athleticism and some good team chemistry you can make things happen.
Qualified pic.twitter.com/UzLELf6Bmi
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) June 11, 2023
"Big picture, everything was very positive," said USA U20 Head Coach Kyle Sumsion. "We were well-resourced, we had time together. We had a really talented team that came together well. Not all 32 guys played but everyone was pulling in the same direction."
Sparked by an exciting midfield featuring Dom Besag and Aki Pulu, and with a nice smattering high IQ players, this USA team turned opportunities into points at a pretty good clip. But they might also have been guilty of pushing it a bit much.
"There is a lot we need to improve on and work on," cautioned Sumsion, who was capped by the Eagles and was an All American at BYU. "We had a really high penalty count in the first game but we did improve on it in the second game. The only issue there was five penalties in the scrum. In the second game we had 26 turnovers, and a lot were unforced errors."
They were turnovers of trying to do too much—making a break and trying for that length-of-the-field try when setting a ruck and consolidating possession was the smarter option.
"We started to play a bit arrogant," said Sumsion.
But arrogance isn't such a bad thing—to see a USA team playing to win and playing an exciting brand of rugby as well.
"We have a phenomenal coaching staff," said Sumsion. "We just saw how Canada played and we saw where the opportunities came, such as exiting our half by running instead of kicking. We know we have the ability to play an exciting, fast-paced game."
The backline was certainly that. With Scrumhalf Solomon Williams providing leadership along with squad captain Besag, they were able to match and bypass the Canadians.
