The IRB International Series Double header provided plenty of tries and some massive tackles at Eirias on Saturday night, and the North Wales rugby crowd enjoyed plenty of action over the 160 minutes.
Following report by Scott Lawson
*****
Tonga kicked of the night just edging USA in a close game, and from the 1st kick it was a game full of powerful running and they opened the scoring with a try in the corner from winger Will Helu after some quick passes from the backline. The Eirias crowd expected the Tongans to build on that early try but the USA showed that they were in the game as well. The Americans wanted to pass the ball around as they tried to make some yards in attack but were finding the Samoan defence strong with every wave of attack. Winger Cornelius Dirksen spurned a good scoring chance after work from scrum half Robbie Shaw, and number 8 Todd Clever was an attacking force with the crash ball.
Although the Eagles had both the possession and territory it was the Samoans who looked more dangerous with ball in hand as they looked to the pace of their wingers at every opportunity. As the game settled down USA were forcing Tonga back and were dominant in the pack. USA had an opportunity to score but Zachary Pangelinan failed to collect a pass when the defence was split. A drive to the line for USA was knocked on minutes later, so opportunities were being created but not taken. The Eagles got their 1st points from the boot of Pangelinan with a big penalty kick. The USA finally got the try their play deserved after centre Andrew Suniula smashed through the defence and cleverly offloaded as he was tackled yards out and Robbie Shaw collected to run over for the 5 points. The conversion from Pangelinan made it 10-5 to the USA at half time.
The 2nd half started with the USA number 8 Clever driving the Eagles forward with ball in hand, as Tonga struggled to stop him on a couple of occasions. The USA lead was extended to 13-5 with penalty from Pangelinan. The USA scrum was also dominating with the winning a couple against the head. USA were matching Tonga in the big tackles and the north Wales crowd were enjoying the power on display. Tonga were reduced to 10 men on the 45th minute when ‘Apikotoa was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on.
The try of the game went to Tonga with quick offloads and brilliant support play with Moa, Lilo, Helu all involved before Joe Tu’ineau crossed over for the try that had Eirias crowd out of their seats and with the conversion 15-13 lead for Tonga.
The Tongans began to find the right passes at vital moments to take a hold of the game and centre Piukala used a nice sidestep to leave the USA on the backfoot and even though he was tackled a couple of yards from the line he managed to get the ball over for the vital try. Conversion by Apikotoa 22-13. Tonga will travel to Aberdeen next week for a game against Scotland so the victory will give them confidence but USA proved a stern test for them and the Americans should take a lot of credit for matching Tonga on every level.
The opening 20 minutes of the Canada v Russia match was a battle of the boot with penalty kicks being traded by both teams. James Pritchard hit the first points for a 3 nil lead to Canada but the Russian fullback Igor Klyuchnikov struck back with a penalty soon after. With both teams failing to take a hold of the game Pritchard made it 6-3 to Canada with another penalty. The game continued to be scrappy until the Canadian winger Jeff Hassler took the ball in his own 22 and ran 80 yards down the wing to beat a number of challenges to score a superb solo try. With the conversion the lead was 13-3.
Canada then sprung into life after the try and Tyler Hotson made a barnstorming 30 yard charge down the middle of the park before being stopped by a couple of Russian tackles. Canada continued to dominated the game and Russia were on the ropes defending deep. Conner Braid tried to extend the Canucks lead with a long range penalty but it fell short. Minutes later fullback Pritchard was successful with a penalty from the same position to make it 16-3. Canada continued to pressure the Russian defence with Taylor Jones and Pritchard both making attacking moves before half time.
Hassler’s pace and skill lit up the match early in the 2nd half as he skipped over a number of Russian tackles before passing to Jones who sprinted 20 yards to touchdown under the posts and Pritchard added the conversion.
Nick Blevins got another Canada try after charging down a Russian clearance to chase the ball over the line for the 5 points. Pritchard’s boot was successful with the conversion for a 30-3 lead. The standout man of the match Hassler got his 2nd try with his direct running proving unstoppable and the Russian backline was split open and he sprinted into the corner.
It wasn’t just in attack that Hassler looked impressive as he made a number of big tackles in the last 15 minutes to stop some Russian try scoring efforts including a superb tackle as Russian wing Simplikevich bared down on the try line.
Canada were put under pressure on their own line for the final 10 minutes as Russia looked for a try but the Canucks stood strong with every wave of attack and Russia couldn’t get across the line, no matter what they threw at them.
After the Samoa defeat last week Canada were looking for a big performance against Russia, and the players definitely delivered with every player playing a part in a victory that was solid in defence and impressive in attack.
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