Holding on desperately at the end, the USA managed to defeat the French Barbarians 26-21 Friday night at Aveva Stadium in Houston.
On a hot and very humid and energy-sapping night, the game itself wasn't the most dazzling of spectacles. But part of that can be chalked up to the USA defense, which, for the most part, contained the French flair the Barbarians were hoping to unleash. Meanwhile, a hardworking forward pack and two really well-taken tries told the story for the USA.
The teams circled each other for a time and it became clear that when Eagle fullback Marcel Brache got the ball deep in his half, he was looking for the 50-22. One of his efforts rolled into the French in-goal, but that wasn't too much of a concern as it led to a goalline dropout. From there USA flyhalf AJ MacGinty caught the ball and passed to scrumhalf Ruben de Haas, who calmly slotted a 48-meter drop goal to give his side the lead at 14 minutes. It was a carbon copy of the drop goal that de Haas scored against Canada last summer, only this time done at around sea level in humid weather, so the degree of difficulty was ramped up.
We've seen this one before!
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 2, 2022
Ruben de Haas with a lovely drop goal
3-0#USAvBRC | @florugbypic.twitter.com/hFO0Or0Z8l
"Before the game I had this flashback to Denver and that goal he kicked there so when I caught the ball I just passed to Ruben and started running back to our half because I had that much confidence that he'd kick it, and he hit it pretty sweetly," said MacGinty after the game.
Leading 3-0 the USA found themselves under plenty of pressure, some of it of their own construction. A lineout overthrow and some sloppy play worked to the French advantage and a charge up the middle by Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot led to a nifty offload to Pierre Aguillon and the Castres center was in under the sticks. François Trinh-Duc hit the extras and it was 7-3 French Barbarians.
But that lead didn't last too long. The USA defense in open field was nicely organized and they didn't miss too many tackles. A big tackle from prop David Ainu'u produced a knock-on inside the French half, and that paid dividends. From a solid platform de Haas skated left, delayed his pass as everyone worried about Bryce Campbell, and then fed wing Christian Dyer bursting in from the off wing. The former Cal captain was through and would not be caught, scoring a superb try that was well received by his hometown Houston Sabercats fans.
Up 10-7 now the Eagles began to play with a bit more confidence. They didn't do a lot with the ball—much of the rest of the first half was kicking and defense—but they looked in tune with what they wanted to accomplish. They had chances to add to the lead and some of those they let slip through mistakes, but they kept the pressure on.
Finally, they broke through once again. From another scrum the Eagles earned a penalty but opted to play the advantage. De Haas set up Tavite Lopeti and the former Saint Mary's All American barreled and thundered his way through several tacklers. One seemed to have him but Lopeti kept his balance and kept his feet moving and almost made it to paydirt. He was finally dragged down, but after a pick-and-go from hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, Ainu'u picked up, stayed lower, and crashed over. It was just reward for a very good half by the Toulouse prop (and former Liberty Patriot U19 player out of Washington state). MacGinty added the extras and it was 17-7 at halftime.
