UNITED STATES 38 - CANADA 16
U.S. wins 59-50 on aggregate
sa国际传媒 was hoping to be one step from qualifying for the 2023 rugby World Cup in France when it came to Starlight Stadium on Oct. 2. Instead, it will be one step from oblivion and trying to stave off elimination.
Everything old is new again, and that鈥檚 unfortunate for Langford-based sa国际传媒. For the second successive World Cup qualifying cycle, sa国际传媒 collapsed in the second game of its opening-round set against the U.S., falling 38-16 Saturday night before 5,000 fans at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado. The Eagles won the two-game, total-point set 59-50 on aggregate score.
sa国际传媒 had carried a 13-point lead into the second match following its opening 34-21 victory last weekend in St. John鈥檚, N.L., but the high hopes from that encouraging start were crushed as the shift from friendly Newfoundland to suburban Denver proved jarring for sa国际传媒.
鈥淚t was one step too far for us. We failed to execute under pressure,鈥� said sa国际传媒 head coach Kingsley Jones of Sooke.
鈥淚t was certainly not what we wanted. We are disappointed but we鈥檙e a young group that will learn from this.鈥�
It was an uncanny and, for Canadian fans, depressing reprise of the previous World qualification cycle鈥檚 opening round between sa国际传媒 and the U.S. for Japan 2019. That set opened with a 28-28 draw at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont. But the second game was similarly a disaster for sa国际传媒 as the Americans ran wild in a 52-16 trouncing in San Diego, leaving sa国际传媒 to qualify for the 2019 World Cup the hard way through a much longer backdoor route. sa国际传媒 will have to do that again to get to France 2023 to extend its streak of having qualified for all nine previous World Cups.
sa国际传媒 is 39-24-2 all-time against the U.S., but the Americans have been the dominant team recently in going 12-1-1 in their past 14 games against the Canadians.
鈥淥ur set pieces were not functioning tonight and it鈥檚 hard to win when that happens,鈥� Jones said about Saturday鈥檚 setback.
World No. 21 sa国际传媒 will continue in the qualifiers on Oct. 2 at Starlight Stadium in Langford in the first game of a two-game, total-point set against No. 28 Chile, with the second game Oct. 9 in Santiago. The loser will be eliminated, with the winner staying alive and advancing to a repechage round. 鈥淲e have to make sure we win those games against Chile. That becomes our focus now,鈥� said Jones.
The No. 17 U.S. advances to play No. 16 Uruguay at home Oct. 2 and in Montevideo on Oct. 9 with the winner of that set advancing to the 2023 World Cup. The loser between the U.S. and Uruguay will be relegated to the back-door repechage route.
