UNITED STATES聽 42
CANADA聽 17
It happened in men鈥檚 soccer, where the U.S. surpassed sa国际传媒, and men鈥檚 hockey, where the U.S. became relatively even to sa国际传媒. So it should come as no surprise it has also happened in men鈥檚 rugby.
The world No. 15 U.S. Eagles continued their recent domination of the Langford-based Canadian national team with a 42-17 Test victory Saturday before a capacity crowd of more than 6,000 fans at the Wanderers Ground in Halifax.
鈥淚t鈥檚 international sport, and we learned some hard lessons,鈥� said Canadian coach Kingsley Jones.
鈥淭he game now is about manufacturing errors from the opponent and capitalizing on those. Both teams made errors, but they [U.S.] capitalized when we coughed up more of them. We have switch-off moments and continue to let teams off the hook. In the first half, I felt their points came from our errors. We鈥檝e got to stop beating ourselves because when we have the ball, we look like a good team.鈥�
sa国际传媒 is 38-19-2 all-time against the U.S., but sa国际传媒 has not beaten the Eagles since 2013, and is 0-8-1 in its last nine games against the Americans.
Cam Dolan led the U.S. with three tries. Evan Olmstead and Jeff Hassler scored the Canadian tries, with Shane O鈥橪eary kicking seven points. Island players Luke Campbell and Phil Mack of Victoria and Josh Larsen of Parksville started for sa国际传媒.
World No. 22 sa国际传媒 finished 0-3 in its summer Test series following earlier losses, 48-10 three weeks ago to No. 7 Scotland at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, and 43-20 last week against No. 19 Russia in Ottawa.
The national team now returns to Westhills Stadium in Langford to prepare for perhaps the most crucial tournament in Canadian men鈥檚 rugby history 鈥� the last-chance qualifier, in November, for the 20th and final berth into the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
sa国际传媒 has never failed to qualify for the World Cup, but is now on the brink. 鈥淲e wanted to win these [three] games but also find some depth [for November],鈥� Jones said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not the biggest team in the world, so we need to be smarter and quicker with [the ball]. We鈥檙e not as big and physical as the U.S. The front five of the U.S. was a handful 鈥� very big and powerful. Then there are those psychological moments.鈥�
Whatever it is, psychological or otherwise, it鈥檚 back to the couch, drawing board and practice pitch at Westhills to find those elusive answers by November.
