Chicago City Wire

The USA Men’s Eagles concluded their Pacific Nations Cup campaign in Osaka last Saturday, facing Samoa in the third-place final. Despite two penalties from Chicago Hounds' fly half Luke Carty and a try by New England Free Jacks' Toby Fricker, the Eagles were defeated 18-13 by the Pacific Islanders.

At halftime, the Eagles held a 10-6 lead, with NOLA Gold's Rodney Iona keeping Samoa close through his kicking. The second half saw increased pressure from Samoa and defensive errors from the US. This allowed Samoa's number eight, Iakopo Petelo-Mapu, to score under the posts following a lineout attack, putting his team ahead 13-10. Although Carty equalized with another penalty shortly after, Samoa continued to dominate set pieces and turnovers. Melani Nanai eventually scored near the end of the game to seal an 18-13 victory for Samoa.

Reflecting on their overall performance in the tournament, Head Coach Scott Lawrence emphasized positive takeaways despite losses to Japan, Fiji, and Samoa. He noted that selecting a young and relatively inexperienced squad would benefit future performances. Players such as Sean McNulty, Pono Davis, Toby Fricker, Payton Talea earned their first caps during this campaign and performed well.

College rugby talents Rand Santos from Cal Berkeley and Dominic Besag from St Mary’s College also made their international debuts. According to Lawrence: “I think our biggest learning as a group was probably the importance of consistency... At times we struggled with consistency of skill and execution.”

Lawrence added: “There was definitely a further development in the American game... I think we definitely played a good fast physical game of rugby but we were just let down on occasions by that consistency that I’ve mentioned.”

Looking ahead to November Tests: “We always talk about our motto of ‘Eagle 365’... We’ll then meet up in the Fall as focus turns to November Tests and aim to finish calendar year on high!”

In other PNC results last Saturday in Osaka, Fiji won its sixth title since 2018 by defeating Japan 41-17. In Tokyo earlier that week Tonga secured fifth place by beating Canada 30-17.