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Lucas Rumball became the fourth most capped player in Canadian men’s rugby history in a gritty 19-16 win over USA Eagles in Tokyo. The 70-plus Test veteran was visibly delighted after the game, all smiles after an emotional week that ended with a “massive” result.
Canada have won just three of the last 16 meetings between the North American sides as they look ahead to the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup playoff for third place. They were looking to back up their heroics from last year, with a 14-point win over the Eagles in Calgary.
But this was a match played at a neutral venue, and the Eagles were 10 places higher than the Canadians in the world rugby rankings. The USA also started the season 3-0 in the brand new Rugby World Cup, while Canada went 1-1-1.
McMullin also missed a tough penalty attempt in the first few minutes, but Canada still took control early. Tries from Ben LeSage and Mason Flesch saw the 24 run for a 12-0 lead before the 20 minute mark.
The USA repeatedly fought back and even made it a three-point game with less than 10 minutes left. They looked set to steal the win late on, but a last-ditch defensive stand by the red-clad players ensured a famous win.
“Personally, it’s huge. I’ve gone through my career and I’ve lost to the USA quite a bit, to be honest. The first year I was captain we lost to them and we continued that streak until last year,” Rumball said. RugbyPass.
“It’s been an emotional week for me and last night we had the shirt presentation where it got a little emotional.
“I’m really proud of the guys for the effort they put in and the way they wore their hearts on their sleeves and never gave up.”
Canada opened the 2026 international season with a remarkable draw with Spain, with the teams scoring more than 80 points between them. They faced two other teams who also qualified for the men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, which is less than 13 months away.
Rumball and the other Canadians returned to the Test arena on Japan Rugby Football Union 100th anniversary match, losing to Brave Blossoms by 45 points in Niigata. Canada turned their focus to then-PNC defending champion Fiji the following weekend.
Fiji he scored after just 21 seconds, before Frank Lomani raced over for another try during the early exchanges. But Canada ended up putting up 29 points on a top-10 side taking part in the Nations Championship and this year.
“Massive. I think we’ve grown a lot,” said the captain.
“The first 20 minutes, the first 30 minutes, I think we actually played a positive brand of rugby. We’re looking to attack, we’re looking for space.
“I think we’ll probably look at the game and be disappointed with some of the options we took in the second half and our inability to finish sets.
“But that first one, that first half, I was really proud of the guys for not being afraid to play, for turning up, taking options and that’s a huge growth for us, that’s something we can really build on in November.”
