ROUND ROCK, Texas – USA Eagles beat Brazil Os Tupis 51-3, with rapid fire tries, in week two of Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) 2017 at Dell Diamond Stadium last Saturday.
USA came to Dell Diamond at Round Rock, Texas (just outside Austin) with an attitude ready to earn a win. The Eagles didn’t merely keep possession of the ball this year, but they made the ball put in work.
Eagle outside center Bryce Campbell snagged the ball from an Os Tupis line out and dished it right wing Aaron “Spike” Davis for a corner try, but with a missed conversion. Brazil earned a penalty soon after, and USA flyhalf Will Magie turned it into an 8-0 lead for the Eagles with a successful kick.
Os Tupis kicked their aggression into overdrive, which led to Brazil’s captain and 8-man high tackling Magie, and receiving a yellow card. Brazil threw all their energy at USA, which held the Eagles back from scoring until minute 27. Eagle inside center JP Eloff cut, juked, stepped out of a tackle and dove into touch, which kept USA in the lead 13-0 for the first half.
Brazil started showing signs of fatigue in the second half when open side flanker Tony Lamborn scored a try off a maul with a dive, bringing USA’s lead 18-0. However, USA slipped up and gave Brazil an easy penalty kick in front of the uprights.
Os Tupis inside center Moises Duque – the same man who made the kick to beat USA last year – successfully kicked the penalty, which dashed USA’s chance at a shut-out, 18-3 USA.
USA Head Coach, John Mitchell told USA Rugby, “We fell into the trap of almost playing at the same tempo Brazil wanted.”
USA fixed their tempo immediately, and the remainder of the game became a flurry of Eagle tries. Including, but not limited to, Eagle left wing Nate Augspurger’s amazing run through the Brazilian defense, which ended with a try line pop to USA’s diving full back Mike Te’o.
Brazil seemed to have given up when substitute right wing Peter Tiberio scored his first debut try, and solidifying the Eagles win 53-3.
This game not only gives USA four ARC points for winning a game, but they received a bonus point for scoring four tries during the match. USA and Argentina XV are the only two teams to win both week one and two, and score an extra ARC point, which sets both teams at nine points overall.
USA’s next contender is Canada, which will be hosted by Canada at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Te’o said, “Oh yeah, we’re ready for Canada.”