The USA booked their place at the World Rugby Men’s u20 Trophy with a resounding 41-21 win over Canada in Langford on Thursday. It follows the 33-18 first leg result to give the Americans a 74-39 aggregate score. They now travel to Scotland next month and join Pool B at the second-tier tournament with Uruguay, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Ben Saunders opened the scoring for the visitors with a penalty goal five minutes in. Canadian discipline gave away field position and Asbjorn Ross broke through from a driving maul to come within a couple meters of the line. Holden Hahn was there quickly in support to take it the rest of the way, with the kick from Saunders making it 10-nil with 13 minutes played.
Not long after the Americans were in for a second try. With not much on Rand Santos stepped past two defenders to scythe through the line for a fine individual effort. The conversion was good but Saunders would be off-target on a penalty attempt a few minutes later.
As they did at Shawnigan Lake, Canada were dominating the scrum and the penalties earned them territory. A driving maul was stuffed but Logan Ballinger was singled out for collapsing. The referee awarded a yellow card to the back row and a penalty try to Canada.
Shortly after the restart Canada were caught in their own end. Hahn charged down a clearance attempt and the Americans regathered. Thomas Wagner picked from the ruck and there was nobody there to stop him, with Saunders tacking on the extra two.
Ross found himself in trouble for repeat collapses at the scrum and finally the referee lost his patience and sent the tighthead to the bin, leaving the Americans temporarily reduced to 13 men. With Canada on attack Matt Bennett attempted an ill-advised drop-goal and missed, but the USA couldn’t clear their lines. Eventually it was another scrum collapse that let to a second penalty try for the home side to leave it 24-14 to the USA at halftime.
Early in the second half the Canadians were in US-territory but a loose pass ended in the arms of Ballinger. The No8 made it over halfway before being hauled down. Saunders had a shot at goal from wide out that was just beyond his range. At the other end Bennett fired a speculative cross-kick that Spencer Cotie plucked from the air to score, with Bennett’s conversion closing the gap to just three points.
There would be no comeback for the Maple Leafs. Ollie Cline entered the game for the USA and in short order sent Jordan Vassel in to score with a nifty inside pass. Cline tacked on two more, and then added three on a penalty goal. Canadian captain Olly Wiseman saw yellow for a high tackle and Cade Crist finished off the scoring from close range with Cline’s conversion the final act of the game.
| SCORING |
CANADA 21
Tries (3) – Penalty try 2 (27′, 40’+3′), S. Cotie (51′)
Cons (3) – No kick 2 (27′, 40’+3′), M. Bennett 1/1 (52′)
DG (0) – M. Bennett 0/1
YC (1) – O. Wiseman (77′)
USA 41
Tries (5) – H. Hahn (12′), R. Santos (17′), T. Wagner (30′), J. Vassel (65′), C. Crist (80′)
Cons (5) – B. Saunders 3/3 (13′, 18′, 31′), O. Cline 2/2 (66′, 80’+1′)
Pens (2) – B. Saunders 1/3 (5′), O. Cline 1/1 (72′)
YC (2) – L. Ballinger (27′), A. Ross (35′)
| LINEUPS |
CANADA u20
1 Thorson Noble, 2 Jeffrey Young, 3 Brighton Feldman, 4 Ryan Cozens, 5 Daragh Doyle, 6 Grant Meadows, 7 Garin Schroeder, 8 Olly Wiseman (capt.), 9 Paddy Kirwan, 10 Matthew Bennett, 11 Thomas Wells Richards, 12 Marco Mitchell, 13 Morgan DiNardo, 14 Spencer Cotie, 15 Ben Greenstein
Replacements: 16 Riku Konrad, 17 Justin Tasse, 18 Charles Trollip, 19 Eric Vann, 20 Austin Allen, 21 Liam Kinghorn, 22 Liam Turnbull, 23 Caleb Seumanutafa
USA u20
1 Thomas Wagner, 2 Seth Smith, 3 Asbjorn Ross, 4 Maseah Young, 5 Miles Malone, 6 George Engels, 7 Holden Hahn, 8 Logan Ballinger, 9 Paddy Casey, 10 Ben Saunders, 11 Keelan Farrell, 12 Max Threlkeld, 13 Dom Besag (capt.), 14 Jordan Vassel, 15 Rand Santos
Replacements: 16 Cade Crist, 17 Luke Schaefer, 18 Tevita Kutu, 19 Brice Muller, 20 Dylan Fortune, 21 Solomon Williams, 22 Ollie Cline, 23 Tito Edjua
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Thursday, June 6
Venue: Starlight Stadium, Langford
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: sunny, 64°F (18°C), wind SW 4-6mph (6-10km/h)
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
The post USA sweep Canada series to book u20 Trophy ticket appeared first on Americas Rugby News.
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