The USA Men's U20s defeated Kenya 30-17 Friday in Edinburgh, Scotland to secure a place in the World Rugby U20 Trophy final on July 17.
Having beaten Netherlands and Uruguay, the Eagles needed only to tie Kenya to advance, but certainly wanted the win. As it was, pressure from the USA did not yield points early on. Flyhalf Ollie Cline, normally a sure thing from the tee, missed a couple of kicks and eventually ceded goalkicking duties to center Tito Edjua. But Edjua missed his first kick, too. As a result, the USA led 8-3 at halftime and probably felt it could have been closer to 17-3.
Their lone try came after a useful kicking exchange that favored the Americans. A good counter from fullback Rand Santos put the USA on the front foot and some snappy passing saw flanker Daniel Lowther set up wing Keelan Farrell. While Farrell was brought down just short of the line, center Max Threlkeld was there to pick up and dive over.
In the second half the USA seemed more patient both with the ball in hand and on defense. They were content to make pressure pay off and noth rush it. The result was an early Edjua penalty and then three tries in relatively quick success from prop Luke Schaefer, Farrell, and then Santos. All four USA tries came from methodical work to back Kenya up and then a short yardage run.
