Late Try Sees Samoa Past USA
Late Try Sees Samoa Past USA
OSAKA, Japan—Offensive woes continued for the USA men's national team as they lost 18-13 to Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup 3rd-4th game.
Finishing 4th and, ultimately, 1-3 obscures the fact that the Eagles were in every game they played and had chances to win every game. But lack of tries, especially in their last two games, hurt badly. The Eagles scored through fullback Toby Fricker in the first few minutes, but couldn't follow it up,
Thei defense was once again very strong and the USA held a 10-6 lead into halftime. But a Samoa try right after halftime and a try right at the end of the game spelled a defeat for the Eagles. Luke Carty's second penalty goal of the day tied the game at 13-13 with about 27 minutes left, but it was Menlani Nanai's try that won it for Samoa in the dying moments.
Fricker's early try for the USA was a tantalizing glimpse of what the USA can do, but they couldn't build on it and only Carty's boot logged points from that moment on.
But it's worth noting that wins, while desirable, didn't serve as the overarching goal, as Head Coach Scott Lawrence blooded several new caps and mixed combinations in an effort to build the squad for the 2025 World Cup Qualifier season, and beyond.
In this game, 2020 Rudy Scholz Award-winner Payton Telea earned his first cap at prop for the USA.
“First of all credit to Samoa, it was a physical go forward and they didn’t go away and just stuck with it," said Lawrence. "It has been a theme of this campaign that we are working on getting our bodies in front, so it’s been a focus for the last three weeks. We kicked the ball away at key moments in the game, and we need to hold on to the ball. There were a lot of turnovers in the contact area, which is something we've been working on. Set piece was a little disappointing."
Set piece had been an aspect of play where the USA had a chance to dominate.
"We picked a group of new players into the squad to see who's who, so to speak, and who's going to show up," added Lawrence. "I think we learned a lot about the players and they learned a lot about themselves. But every single player who came through here got better during the five weeks. We've challenged them to go away and improve the next five weeks before we're back together again."
Fiji beat Japan 41-17 to win the PNC Saturday.
USA 13
Tries: Fricker
Convs: Carty
Pens: Carty 2
Samoa 18
Tries: Petelo-Mapu, Nanai
Convs: Iona
Pens: Iona 2
