Despite scoring first in a must-win game, Canada’s men’s rugby team lost its second straight Pacific Nations Cup match on Saturday, dropping a 28-15 decision to the United States.
Peter Nelson opened the scoring for Canada in the fourth minute with a penalty kick from 48 metres out to go up 3-0. The U.S. responded moments later, with a penalty kick from Luke Carty to tie the game.
Two tries by American Connor Mooneyham gave the U.S. a 10-point lead in the 15th minute. With back-to-back penalties to the U.S., Canada went on the attack, stringing together several phases to create a prime scoring opportunity for Nic Benn. While the ball was held up on his first scoring attempt, Benn got Canada their first try in the 26th minute off the lineout, receiving a pass from Andrew Quattrin.
The U.S. regained its 10-point lead in the 37th minute, breaking through Canada’s defence to go up 18-8, a score they held through to halftime.
“I think we had all the opportunity to score, to put points on the board. We just didn’t capitalize, whether that’s through detail or effort, we’re going to have a really hard look at it,” said Canadian captain Lucas Rumball.
“We’ve just got to keep building. It’s easy probably to go into your shell and get disappointed about things. But it’s qualification next year, and that’s what we need to be building toward.”
Carty kicked a second penalty for the U.S., taking advantage of a yellow card to Calixto Martinez in the 47th minute. Down a player, Canada was forced onto the defence.
Cooper Coats made an impact off the bench in the 60th minute, adding a second try to Canada’s score. A good conversion from Nelson put the game at 28-15, with neither team able to score through the final 20 minutes of action.
“We’ve got to start better than that and I think we’ve said that so many times. I thought it was a nervy start from us. There was a lot of unforced individual errors,” said head coach Kingsley Jones.
“We said at halftime, the score is not an insurmountable amount of points to come back from. Had a positive chat and felt that we were frustrated because we were in the game and we had underperformed. The second half was about trying to fix those things.
“There’s positives to look at, but the change room is frustrated because we felt we underperformed and could have come away with the points. We’ve got to remember that feeling, we’ve got to move forward and look at how we prepare for the next one.”
With losses to both Japan and the U.S, Canada finishes at the bottom of Pool B, and will now travel to Japan for its final match of the Pacific Nations Cup. The fifth-place playoff will take place on Sept. 14 in Tokyo, with Canada’s opponent still to be determined.
