The USA produced one of their best performances in recent years and their best showing against Tonga since 1999 in defeating the ‘Ikale Tahi 36-19 Saturday in Chambery, France.

It was a chilly night in neutral territory where the Eagles were faced with a Tonga team of some imposing size, especially in their outside backs. (Since the USA are the Eagles and Tonga are the Sea Eagles we’ll be using Tonga’s nickname in Tongan just to be more clear.)

All of this was on full display early on as Tonga barreled through USA defenders, keeping the ball alive, and just causing problems. A box kick in the middle of the field gave the ball back to Tonga and the ‘Ikale Tahi, as USA Head Coach Scott Lawrence predicted, looked to run out of their end instead of kick. One missed tackle and they were on the front foot. 

And when it took five players to tackle one player there was an opening somewhere and inside center Fetuli Paea took a shot, flat pass and went over the line. Patrick Pellegrini, who had started it all with a massive beak, converted for a 7-0 lead.

But the Eagles clearly had a game plan. They wanted to meet Tonga at the point of contact and prevent the ‘Ikale Tahi wingers, as well as No. 8 Lotu Inisi, getting a head of steam going.

Because of the intensity of the collisions the risk for penalties was high and Tonga had a few too many here. One early high tackle on Connor Mooneyham set up a USA 

Lineout and maul, and while the was was stopped, the Eagles responded well. They ran it a little wider. Flyhalf AJ MacGinty dummied wide and cut into traffic, sucking in more attention before the ball went out center Dom Besag. He was met hard but shoved away the tackler to keep going and dive over. 

that made it 7-5 for Tonga. But after that the Eagles started to show another aspect of their plan—an effective kicking game to force Tonga to run from deep in their half. But it was a proposition that required excellent in defense. The USA got the ball back on a knock-on and threatened, but when Tonga got the ball back wing Tima Fainga’anuku just steamrolled over several USA players to get his side into the USA territory. Oddly, through, from there Pellegrini opted for a kick, which Mooneyham handled easily, took the mark, and then tapped to run it out.

OK, so we were going to have that sort of game, with each team taking some risks to shift the momentum. 

Taking Control

But there was something else. The USA players were winning races to the breakdown and supported their ballcarriers well. And they were making two key decisions in the breakdown—when isolated with the ball, a player would be more likely to give up the ball on the turnover rather than commit the holding-on penalty. This showed trust in the defense and was shown nicely when Tonga wing Taniela Filimone burst through only to be felled by a desperate ankle-tap from USA center Tavite Lopeti. The other decision was to avoid silly poach decisions. If the steal wasn’t there, the Americans would reset and tackle again. Both of these approaches avoided giving Tonga big territory gains with penalties.

It remained 7-5 until the midway point of the field half approached, and the Eagles won a lineout at midfield. The backs when to work, Mooneyham made ground, and after a penalty against Tonga the USA had a lineout-and-maul five meters out. Tonga collapsed the bail but the USA played with it, ran three phases close and finally lock Jason Damm picked up, stayed low, and scored right under the posts. This was just reward for Damm who has an excellent combination of work rate and orneriness. MacGinty converted and the USA led 12-7—a lead they would not relinquish.

Patient defense produced the next big chance for the USA. A turnover at their 22 saw the ball land in MacGinty’s hands and flyhalf took off down the sideline. He kicked ahead, and the kick rolled and rolled down toward the tryline. All fullback William Havili could do was pick up the ball and MacGinty summarily thumped the man into touch.  Once again Tonga’s maul defense was solid but the USA was smart to move the ball and play hard and dynamic right at the line. Three phases and prop Jack Iscaro picked up and was over. The most impressive part of this was the aggression with which the entire team attacked. MacGinty’s conversion was good and it was 19-7.

Wh … What Did we Just See?

Near the end of the first half both teams had excellent momentum-shift opportunities only to lose them. First off, the Eagles got a big break from Mooneyham and got to the Tonga 22. Scrumhalf Ruben de Haas saw a big gap and took off toward the line … but the ball just slipped out of his hands. But then, in the scrum the USA forced a penalty, only for the lineout to be called not straight. 

Scrum to Tonga. No. 8 Inisi picked up and powered upfield. We linked up with Fainga’anuku, who again asked major questions of the American defenders. Mitch Wilson came in to help tackle him, but he hit way too high—20-minute red card and Tonga now had a chance to regain the momentum.

At the same time, Mooneyham had to leave the field and debutant Mark O’Keeffe came on at wing. O’Keeffe barely had any time to get his bearings before a savvy Pellegrini put a perfect little grubber through for flanker Tupou Afungia to gather untouched … but maybe he heard O’Keeffe’s footsteps behind him, rushed the pickup, and lost the ball forward.

That would have been a huge try for Tonga. Instead, they had to go into halftime down 19-7.

For the USA. a couple of good try-scoring chances had been lost—not straight on a lineout, being held up—but they were ahead.