Tonga defeated the USA 33-19 Wednesday at BMO Field in Toronto to move to 2-1 in the Pacific Nations Cup action.

The USA, in a thoroughly desultory performance on a hot day, dropped to 1-2. The Eagles should by all rights have been up two tries in the first five or 10 minutes. They earned a penalty early on, but the lineout in the Tongan 22 was flubbed and Tonga was able to clear. Soon thereafter, another penalty for the USA, and this time flyhalf Toby L’Estrange put his touchfinder into in-goal, cutting Tonga another break.

And then, moments later, a break by Brett Thompson get the USA moving and Folau Niua kept it going. But a grubber through led to nothing, and three prime scoring opportunities netted the USA no points.

Moments later, Tongan flyhalf Kurt Morath saw his outside backs hardly marked and popped a kick out to wing Fetu’u Vainikolo, who beat Folau Niua, Toby L’Estrange, and Zack Test to score under the posts and make it 7-0.

That sequence, was in essence, the game. The Eagles after that were under a little more pressure, and had to chase the game more.

Niua slotted a penalty earned after some good phase play and a nice run from Al McFarland, but Tonga replied, and Morath added three more for a 16-3 halftime lead.

The USA could not win their lineouts cleanly, and it appeared that the lifting was a little slow at times. Pushing to make something happen in open play, the Eagles’ ball security faltered, and while Tonga was allowed to kill the ball and not roll away all afternoon, that would have not been a problem had the USA kept the ball. The second half started poorly for the USA, with more bad passing and the ball going into touch. But somehow they got out of it and ended up earning a penalty to make it 16-6. 

And it seemed they were on the front foot again after Tonga muffed a box kick. Mike Petri came on at scrumhalf and was aggressive in working the offense, but a pass to Hayden Smith was behind the big lock, and Tonga hacked through. Only Troy Hall’s chase prevented a try, but moments later wing Telusa Veainu was in for a try. Morath converted that to make it 23-9, and while Niua slotted one more goal, and saw another hit the post, Morath replied, and then right after that some slick handling put Vainikolo in for Tonga and a 33-9 lead.

After that, the USA straightened things out a little. It was as if referee Alexandre Ruiz finally realized that Tonga was killing the ball. This led to a USA penalty, which they took as a lineout. Tonga went offside in the maul, and on the second lineout, the forwards took Andrew Durutalo over for his second try in as many games.

The Eagles came back to tryline again, and the maul was stymied this time. With nothing much happening in the backline, it took another penalty, a quick tap from Petri, and then a pick-and-dive from Durutalo to get the try. 

But the conversions were missed, and there was no time anyway. Tonga held on 33-19.

In the end, the USA forwards played adequately in open play, especially defensively, and were responsible almost entirely for the two USA tries. The scrum was under pressure, and the lineout didn’t function until the final 10 minutes or so. Captain Phil Thiel was subbed at halftime, but the lineout problem was not his alone.

The Eagles struggled with injuries, with Lou Stanfill going off with a bicep injury at 17 minutes, and Niua hitting the deck late. But more important was the issue of whether players on the bubble did enough to stay on the team. The new-look backline was unexciting. Brett Thompson and Zack Test had their moments at wing, and Hall made a couple of good play, but the USA counterattack lacked confidence, and we at Goff Rugby Report actually had to look up who played inside center (Andrew Suniula), his day was so quiet.

Up front, debutant Chris Baumann found out what test rugby was like and also that he needs to do more, faster, and more often. On defense in the open field, the USA tight five was just too slow.

The insertion of more experienced players made a difference in every instance. The Eagles depth, something the team has been touting, may well not be so deep. Certainly the unity and aggressiveness the backs needed wasn’t there.

But, with all of that, the Eagles could easily have won this game had they converted two of the three prime scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the game. Had they done that, the game would have been different from then on, and the Eagles could have settled into their rhythm. They didn't execute early, and were put to the sword as a result. 

So the Eagles will hope that Canada doesn’t overtake them for 2nd in Pool B, and they lick their wounds and look ahead to Monday in Burnaby, BC.

USA 19
Tries: Durutalo 2
Pens: Niua 3

Tonga 33
Tries: Vainikolo 2, Veainu
Convs: Morath 2
Pens: Morath 4

USA
1. Matekitonga Moeakiola (18 Eric Fry at 50, 17 Nick Wallace at 77), 2. Phil Thiel (C) (16 Zach Fenoglio at 40)  3. Chris Baumann 4. Louis Stanfill (19 Hayden Smith at 18) 5. Greg Peterson 6. Cameron Dolan (20 Andrew Durutalo at 65)  7. Scott LaValla (Captain at 40) 8. Al McFarland 9. Shalom Suniula 10. Toby L'Estrange (21 Mike Petri at 60) 11. Zack Test 12. Andrew Suniula 13. Folau Niua 14. Brett Thompson 15. Troy Hall

Not used: 22. Thretton Palamo, 23. Tim Stanfill

Tonga
1. Soane Tonga'uiha 2. Elvis Taione 3. Halani Aulika 4. Uili Kolo'ofa'i 5. Joe Tuineau 6. Steve Mafi (C) 7. Jack Ram 8. Viliami Fihaki 9. Sonatane Takulua 10. Kurt Morath 11. Fetu'u Vainikolo 12. 'Alipate Fatafehi 13. Sione Puikala 14. Telusa Veainu 15. 'Otulea Katoa

Tonga | Reserves 16. Sosefo Sakalia 17. Alisona Taumalolo 18. Sila Puafisi 19. Tukulua Lokotui 20. Hale T Pole 21. Sosefo Ma'ake 22. Latiume Fosita 23. Vungakoto Lilo