Eagles Sail Into PNC Semifinals As Chicago’s Carty Steers Ship Against Canada

Written by Will Hooley | Photos by Alex Ho

A star performance from Chicago Hounds fly half Luke Carty helped the USA Men’s Eagles gain cross-border bragging rights last Saturday night in Los Angeles, California. The Eagles defeated Canada 28 -15, giving them an automatic spot in the semifinals of the Asahi Pacific Nations Cup, as they now head to Japan next weekend.

There’s rarely a more important game in the international calendar for North American rugby than a Can-Am clash, particularly when there is plenty of familiarity on the field, as 22 of the 30 starters represented Major League Rugby franchises. The Eagles were on a mission to grab their first win in 2024 and enhance their 12-1-1 record from the last 14 meetings against Canada.

Carty Class In First Half

Kingsley Jones’ side came into the game ‘battle-hardened’ after their 55-28 loss against Japan the week before in Vancouver to kick off their PNC campaign. The men in red were first on the scoreboard with an early penalty goal attempt just inside the Eagles’ half, which fly-half Peter Nelson beautifully struck to give the visitors a 3-0 lead in the first 5 minutes.

But the Eagles were quick to react. With a clean set piece ball to play off inside the Canadian half, an evident physical game plan of direct running, aiming to soften the Canadian defense, proved its value. The physical pressure eventually resulted in a penalty chance for Eagles and Chicago Hounds fly half Luke Carty to step up and level the scores at 3-3.

With Carty’s successful penalty goal, the Americans really sprung into life. Helped by some impressive box kicking from Seattle Seawolves scrum half, JP Smith, the US team once again found territory and possession inside the Canadian half. Continuing their early tactics, strong running over the gain line once again put the Canucks on the back foot, narrowing the defense to create space out wide. Carty’s awareness and some fine handling by Old Glory DC duo, Jama Fanana-Schultz and Tomasso Boni, clinically put away Seawolves winger Conner Mooneyham in the corner for his first score of the game. Cue celebrations of the LA crowd and US players, which got the stadium rocking but also created a moment for Carty to forget as the Eagles number 10 was denied taking the conversation due to going over the 60-second shot clock! It stayed at 8-3 to the Eagles inside 10 minutes.

A dream start for @USARugby! 👏

Conner Mooneyham dives over to extends their lead 🇺🇸#PacificNationsCup | #USAvCAN pic.twitter.com/b9D0VCC1WH

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) September 1, 2024

Carty was quick to shake off his error as the Hounds playmaker started opening up the Eagles attack and the Canadian defense. With the lineout showing dominance and some impressive ball carrying work from the Eagles forward pack and midfield, Carty continued to expose the narrow Canadian defense. A flat cross kick from the Irish-born US number 10 nearly gave his Hounds teammate Nate Augspurger a chance to dot down in the corner, if it wasn’t for some excellent scrambling Canadian defense preventing a second Eagles try. Following some patient phases, the ball eventually spun back out to Carty, who this time looped the ball over the top of the Canadian defense to find Mooneyham in open space and give the winger his second try of the match. Carty was able to this time attempt a conversion under the time limit, but sailed just wide, keeping the score at 13-3 to the Eagles after 15 minutes.

There wasn’t a whole lot for Canadian fans to cheer about in the first quarter, but some ill-discipline from the Eagles allowed the red-shirts to finally build some much-needed territory and possession. Dallas Jackals winger Nic Benn, who had been so impressive in MLR this season, started to get into the game and finally got an opportunity. A smart lineout play allowed New England Free Jacks Championship-winning hooker Andrew Quattrin to break away and feed a well-timed inside ball to Benn, who galloped over the line for the Canadian’s first try. The conversation from Nelson went just wide, keeping the scoreline at 13-8.

Towards the end of the first half, both defenses stayed firm. Smith and Carty used their kicking game to put the home side in the right areas of the field, keeping the pressure on Canada. In the end, it was Carty’s boot that eventually created the moment of magic needed to break the red wall in front of him. The fly-half chipped the ball over the top of the Canadian line, gathering it himself, before offloading to full back Mitch Wilson (Free Jacks) to race over the line for the Eagles’ third try. Carty unfortunately was once again unable to make the extras but the Eagles number 10 was already putting in a quality performance as the USA went into the half time break 18-8 up.

Eagles Prevent Canadian Comeback

Buoyed by the halftime victory parade from USA Women’s 7s Olympic Bronze medal stars Alex ‘Spiff’ Sedrick, Sam Sullivan & Steph Rovetti, the cheering continued for the US home crowd at the beginning of the second half as the power and physicality kept coming, with impressive scrum dominance from Jack Iscaro (Old Glory DC), Kapeli Pifeleti (Saracens) and Alex Maughan (RFCLA). In contrast, the set piece for Canada, both scrum and lineout time, did not provide any good feelings at all. A penalty conceded at the breakdown by the Canucks allowed Carty to improve his kicking stats of the day, adding three more points to his tally and the Eagles went up 21-8.

Carty continued to mix the game up with cross kicks and excellent kicks to the corner, suffocating the Canadians inside their own 22. A poor clearance to touch from the Canucks gave Seawolves center Tavita Lopeti his best opportunity of the day as the former St Mary’s College graduate burst through the tail of the Canadian lineout defense, brought down only inches out from the try line. A phase later, Smith managed to fire the ball across to send Pifeleti over the line, and whilst the TMO had to be called upon, the former San Diego Legionnaire got confirmation the ball was grounded. Carty kicked the extras, and the Eagles led comfortably 28-8. 

Canada did start to re-energize just before the 60 minute mark, helped by some poor Eagles discipline. Their reward eventually came through a well spotted gap from Free Jacks midfielder, Ben Lesage, who broke through the middle managing to get an offload away to Jason Higgins who in turn passed to replacement Cooper Coats to score in the corner. Nelson’s conversation put the score at 28-15 and there was a feeling that Canada were coming back.

The Eagles looked to fresh faces as Scott Lawrence unloaded his bench to give first caps to Houston Sabercats prop, Pono Davis, and Miami Sharks hooker, Sean McNulty. Whilst Canada continued to show much more promising signs in their attack, and definitely had the Eagles on the ropes, the American defense managed to hold on.

The final whistle was blown, and Scott Lawrence’s Eagles picked up all five points, resulting in an automatic spot in the PNC semifinals, even with a remaining game next weekend against Japan. It was a solid performance, with Luke Carty receiving the well-earned Play Of The Match award, but the Eagles will know they’ll still need to continue their improvement if they are to compete against Eddie Jones’ Japan and later in the final four. For Canada, they will be disappointed in the last two weeks as their PNC hopes of making the knockout stages come to an end. They will still also head to Japan to finish their campaign in the fifth-place playoff.  

One game played, Semi-Finals reached 🦅@USARugby are heating up at the #PacificNationsCup 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C508MoG7QU

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) September 1, 2024