JD Stephenson did, by all accounts, a remarkable job in getting the USA U20 team ready to play Canada.

Never mind that the Junior All Americans won the game, just think on the fact that had Ben Cima’s final kick not made it over, it would still have been 18-16, and a very close contest.

Stephenson, carrying around that “interim” prefix to his job description, which hasn’t gone away, managed to get a group of players together, set up a second camp at Lindenwood that was, in the end, crucial, and found the right combination of players.

The rest of the coaching staff did their part, too. Stephenson gave a huge amount of credit to Michael Engelbrecht for his defensive work. And that credit is deserved - Engelbrecht just gets on with the job with these age-grade national teams, and it was his approach to defense that kept the Americans in the game.

Stephenson told Goff Rugby Report that he would have liked the U20s to be a little more sophisticated on offense, but there wasn’t a lot of time. 

“We had to build a team for a one-off match and get the chemistry right for a team that could do what it needed to do,” he said. 

And they did marvelously well. Cima, of course, was the hero with his kicking. Stephenson said he was “100%” behind the players’ decision to kick for points at the end of the game, despite the kick being about 54 meters.

But there were some other heroics. Hanco Germishuys led a back row effort that included Brennan Falcon and Uki Taumoefolau. That run by Germishuys in the first half, where he burst up the middle from deep in his own 22, was taken down, and then got back to his feet to drive a Canadian defender about 15 more meters, has made the rounds on social media, and it deserves to.

Up front Connor Cudeback, Steven Branham, and Nick Kwasniewski weren’t perfect, but they put in a full day’s work.

And then there was inside center Brian Hannon. Stephenson wanted a bit of a playmaker at that position, but he also needed a #12 who could tackle.

“We like to have a second ballplayer in there, but Brian also can chop tackle really well. He was giving up about 20 to 40 pounds on the players he was tackling, and he did everything right to take them down.”

Technique and heart matter, too.

Lorenzo Thomas, the try-scorer, and Deion Mikesell, the speedy wild card who wasn’t a liability and made some big players, showed well, too.

But in the end it was how a U20 team was put together under difficult circumstances that ensured the victory.

Now the USA must look ahead to the World Rugby Junior Trophy in Harare, Zimbabwe. They are in an eight-team competition with Fiji, Samoa, Hong Kong, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Spain, and Uruguay. It’s a tough group - any team could win it, and any team could finish last. Samoa won it in 2014, and Georgia in 2015 (winning garners you promotion to the Junior World Championships). 

The USA has had an up-and-down history in this competition, finishing 7th out of 8 in 2011, winning in 2012, finishing last in the JWC in 2013, and then 3rd in the Junior Trophy in 2014 (when Cima and Germishuys were so young they had to get a waiver to play). And in 2015 they didn’t qualify. 

Canada, who beat the USA in the qualifiers in 2015, went on to finish 2nd, so beating Canada is an indication that you’re doing something right.

The tournament begins on April 19, and that is right in the middle of college playoffs. Stephenson will be busy with his Lindenwood team trying to win a championship. Many of the players involved will be trying to do the same. It’s likely, then, that we could see a different Head Coach going to Zimbabwe.

It’s also likely we could see many different players for the Junior Trophy. Almost half the current team could be in playoff rugby at that time.

See highlights from the game here (Refresh if you don't immediately see the video.)