USA Wins Big Over Kenya but Work to Do
USA Wins Big Over Kenya but Work to Do
The first step toward Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification was taken by the USA Sunday in Dubai.
After a slow start and a few misfires, the Eagles pulled away from Kenya to the tune of 68-14, winning the first of their three-game Final Qualification series.
Slow Start
The Eagles were paced by hooker Dylan Fawsitt and wing Christian Dyer, who both scored three tries. It was, in the end, a comprehensive victory, but it also took a while to get going as the Eagles looked a little shaky in their execution early and defensively still showed they have questions to answer.
In fact it wasn’t until 22 minutes into the game that the USA scored. Several times they worked their way into scoring position—Dyer and then Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz working a move that got them almost to the line, but obstruction on their own maul stopped that chance. In another maul most of the forwards crossed the line but they had left the ball behind. And then Fa’anana-Schiltz appeared to have scored after another Dyer run, but he was short and slid the ball across, which is a knock-on. Their ability to get something going wasn't helped by CC Mahoni getting a yellow card for a dangerous clearout. Mahoni was fortunate not to see another color.
But finally it happened, with the Eagles showing maul off a lineout and Fawsitt peeling around and taking the ball off the back to run in from about eight meters out.
More chances fell by the wayside—a run and short ball from scrumhalf Ryan Rees didn’t connect with Cam Dolan as the tryline sat there waiting to be crossed.
But after that miscue it seemed like the Eagles took a breath and realized they could get into scoring position and needed to relax a little.
Closing Out the 1st Half
"We work on breaking up the halves into four quarters and keeping our focus for those periods," said USA captain Marcel Brache. "Your mind can drift off and we've seen that we can hit some pretty low lows when we drift off."
So the next 10 minutes showed some improvement. Kenya was offside at a ruck by a mile; flyhalf Luke Carty put in an almost perfect kick to touch, and the Eagle forwards made no mistake on the maul and Fawsitt had his second. Carty converted and it was 12-0. And, despite being stopped again just near the line (and Ryan Rees getting marched off another 10 meters for not giving Kenya the ball) the Eagles came right back with a superb 50-22 from Carty and a wide attack off the lineout that ended with Fa'anana-Schiltz picking up and crashing over.
That was more like it with the scoreline 19-0 at halftime.
Opening it Up
But we had not really seen much of the backs, and the question was whether the USA team could execute better, rather than think they had it under control.
The Eagles began to go wide early in the second half and a late-tackle penalty against Kenya set them up for that peel move to be run by Fawsitt again. He was stopped ust short of the line, but after a few more bashes and another penalty, the maul worked and Fawsitt had his third.
"Just really proud of the boys for how they kept working," said Fawsitt after the game. "And as you know you've got to have a few different arrows for your bow."
Carty converted and it was 26-0, and the USA had that four-try bonus point.at 47 minutes.
Now the backs really got into the act. Lasike, who had been a main strike runner early, started passing the ball, fixing defenders and finding free runners. The ball went out wide to the left and wing Nate Augspurger did superbly to keep the ball alive and let it go back to the right. Once again Lasike could have charged into a group of tacklers, but opted for a quick pass that freed up Dyer to cut back for his first. Carty was good on the kick again and it was 33-0.
Final Push
The subs now came on and even though these were seasoned pros—David Ainu'u, Bryce Campbell, Mike Sosene Feagai, Greg Peterson—the change seemed to disrupt the flow for a bit. Kenya got a penalty when Sosene Feafai was isolated, tapped quickly, found a soft spot, and a fend on Ainu'u saw Brian Juma charge through.
It was a wakeup call for the new guys (which, in this case, was the group of veterans who had just got on the field) that Kenya would not capitulate.
A few minutes later Ruben de Haas and AJ MacGinty ran on and they did inject a bit of offensive flair. It was a little run off a scrum from MacGinty that freed up Wilson, and the fullback delayed his pass just long enough to ensure Augspurger had a clear run to the tryline.
"A really mature performance," Brache said of Wilson. "For your first cap and in a key position like fullback he did really well."
MacGinty took on the kicking duties and slotted the conversion to make it 40-7. Moments later a try that everyone was involved in, where they kept the ball moving rather than killing momentum with an unneeded ruck, showed a bit more of what the USA team could do. MacGinty's wide pass to Dyer finished it off, and the flyhalf slotted the tough conversion.
Dyer got his third moments later when the USA turned over a scrum and MacGinty's brilliant kicking continued to make it 54-7. They then returned to the maul with Sosene Feagai at the back this time—61-7. That actually was an important play because by this time most of the pack was a new group, and yet they ran the maul smoothly.
Finally MacGinty sliced up the middle and took a massive hit as he fed Wilson for the try—the fullback almost dropped the ball and will be having nightmares of that for a while, but it was good.
Only then did it seem like the USA took their foot off the gas, and Kenya sent Joshua Weru down the sideline to finish the game.
Gary Gold's decision to start domestic players who had been working together was the right one. This team was eager and put in the work to improve and you can see that from the scores every 20 minutes:
0 to 20: 0-0
20-40: 19-0
40-60: 21-7
60-80: 28-7
Several new caps showed well, but perhaps a special note should be made of former Saint Mary's captain Vili Helu and Cory Daniel, the crossover athlete who is still very new to rugby, who both put in a full 80 minutes and dedicated themselves to doing the grind work, making tackles, winning rucks, and just getting the job done.
"We've been working hard and been away from our families and made sacrifices to prepare for this," said Fawsitt, who was named player of the game. "We were a bit nervy at the start but we built on our momentum."
"We had to dig deep and get into the rhythm of things," added Brache. "We just have to keep that focus."
USA 68
Tries: Fawsitt 3, Dyer 3, Faanana=Schultz, Augspurger, Wilson, Sosene Feagai
Convs: Carty 4, MacGinty 5
Kenya 14
Tries: Juma, Weru
Convs: Mukidza 2
USA: 1. Jack Iscaro, 2. Dylan Fawsitt, 3. Paul Mullen, 4. Siaosi Mahoni, 5. Cam Dolan, 6. Vili Helu, 7. Cory Daniel, 8. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz, 9. Ryan Rees, 10. Luke Carty, 11. Nate Augspurger, 12. Paul Lasike, 13. Marcel Brache (Capt.), 14. Christian Dyer, 15. Mitch Wilson
16. Mike Sosene Feagai (at 53 for Fawsitt), 17. David Ainu'u (at 53 for Iscaro), 18. Nathan Sylvia (at 58 for Mullen), 19. Greg Peterson (at 54 for Dolan), 20. Moni Tonga'uiha (at 63 for Fa'anana Schilz), 21. Ruden de Haas (at 59 for Rees), 22. Campbell (at 53 for Lasike), 23. MacGinty (at 59 for Carty)
Kenya: 1. Patrick Ouko, 2. Eugene Sifuna, 3. Ephraim Oduor, 4. Malcolm Onsando, 5. Thomas Okeyo, 6. George Nyambua, 7. Daniel Sikuta, 8. Bethwel Anami, 9. Samuel Asati, 10. Geoffrey Ominde, 11. Jacob Ojee, 12. John Okoth, 13. Bryceson Adaka, 14. Geofrey Okwach, 15. Darwin
16. Teddy Akala (at 58 for Sifuna), 17. Andrew Siminyu (at 58 for Oduor), 18. Joseph Odero (at 51 for Ouko), 19. Brian Juma (at 51 for Okeyo), 20. Martin Owilah (at 57 for Sikuta), 21. Brian Tanga (at 47 for Ominde), 22. Timothy Omela (at 51 for Okwach) 23. Joshua Weru (at 70 for TBC)
