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The USA were underdogs heading into the vital 5th-place playoff in the Pacific Nations Cup against Samoa, but put in a far more assured albeit scrappy performance to defeat the Pacific Islanders 29-13 in Denver at Dicks Sporting Goods Park.
Nanai M. (61')
Tries
Fricker T. (22'), Carty L. (66'), Damm J. (76'), Geiger K. (80')
Lealiifano C. (62')
Conversions
Wilson M. (68', 79', 81')
Esekia Iona R. (4', 33')
Penalties
Carty L. (36')
The USA were underdogs heading into the vital 5th-place playoff in the Pacific Nations Cup against Samoa, but put in a far more assured albeit scrappy performance to defeat the Pacific Islanders 29-13 in Denver at Dicks Sporting Goods Park.
USA Captain Jason Damm said, “It's incredible. We kept putting in the work and kept believing. We focused on connection this week. We knew the pieces were going to come together; we knew we just had to keep getting together. I'm so proud of everyone.”
USA Eagles Head Coach Scott Lawrence, who was visibly emotional after the game, commented, ““Every morning for the last three years I’ve woken up visualising this moment, and seeing them lifting that [Qualified banner] up and the smiles on their faces – I’m glad that it happened,” he said, after his charges scored three times in the closing 10 minutes to break the game.
We fought for 80. We hadn’t scored a try in Q4 for a couple of games, and we put it away. We were trying to qualify and get experience at the same time. It’s done. Now we can prepare for ’27.”
The Eagles secured just a second win in seven appearances against Samoa and were full value for the victory as they improved in the second half to end their worst losing streak in the competition, but more importantly, booked their ticket to Australia.
A despondent Samoan side after the whistle will now need to take on Chile across two legs to keep their own ambitions alive, knowing they were well under par in this match.
Michael Alaalatoa, captain of Samoa, said, “I don't have words right now. We’re extremely disappointed. Fair play to the USA, they played very well in the second half. We threw a lot of shots [in the] first half but we didn’t convert our opportunities. That kept them in the game. They won the arm wrestle in the second half – they were too good in the end.
We had our moments. We’d have a good attacking phase, and they were really good at the breakdown, over the ball, and turn us over.”
A sparse crowd in Colorado can say they were there the day their team booked their place as the 22nd team among the 24 teams to play in Australia, and they will be massively relieved. They join Canada and Tonga from the PNC, who both qualified last weekend.
The Samoan bench included the return of Christian Leali'ifano, while two debutants;
Potu Leavasa and Abraham Papali'i were also selected for the must-win game.
The USA kicked off and secured their first lineout, which had been operating at a suboptimal 59% in the PNC before this game. However, they gave away two penalties in the opening 3 minutes, and Samoa were leading 3-0 by the third minute.
The Samoans' physicality has been a trademark as they have made the most dominant carries, and they put the hosts under pressure from the start. Both sides had poor handling mistakes and racked up penalties. A second penalty attempt for Samoa came off the post as they had a narrow lead in a very nervy, error-ridden game.
The USA had some patient phase play rewarded when Toby Fricker scored their first try and points after the opening quarter, but the conversion was missed.
Eagles scrumhalf Ruben de Haas had three kicks charged down as Samoa looked to pile on pressure, and they had numerous attacking opportunities, but dropped the ball at critical moments.
Replacement fly-half for the USA, Luke Carty, had a big impact and some nice in-field kicks in the tight opening half.
Samoa retook the lead 6-3 before the USA again led with a penalty of their own before the half, with USA’s Kullen Davis yellow carded in the 38th minute. Samoa missed another opportunity at the posts before the break.
Samoa will rue the halftime stats. They made 450 metres compared to the USA’s 207 metres, missed half as many tackles, but had 8 handling errors in the opening forty.
The second half saw the USA have slightly better control as the pack started winning scrum penalties and they looked for a more clinical game plan, but it was Samoa who scored first via Melani Nanai to lead 13-8 after an hour.
Luke Carty then scored a well-worked try after 67 minutes, and the Samoa discipline remained poor as USA took the ascendancy. The scoreboard pressure forced Samoa to make a lot of solo runs, but players were picked off by the USA defenders, and they won numerous turnovers.
In the 74th minute, the Eagles again crashed over, and after the umpteenth TMO intervention, the try was awarded to USA captain Jason Damm, who moments before had won a ruck steal, and they now had breathing space on the scoreboard, leading 22-13.
With Samoa forcing play, a dropped ball was kicked through by the US, and they grabbed another try to seal the win 29-13, thanks to Kaleb Geiger.
It will be the ninth Rugby World Cup for the Eagles after last having competed at Japan 2019.
Samoa will face Chile in a two-legged South America/Pacific Play-off on 20 September in Salt Lake City and 27 September in Viña del Mar, Chile, with the winner on aggregate claiming the 23rd place at Australia 2027 and the loser joining the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai this November.
Samoa’s gutted Head Coach Tusi Pisi said, “It's disappointing. We're in this situation now, and it's on us to dig our way out of it. We were slow to the breakdown and didn't take opportunities in the first half.”
