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TOKYO: USA coach Scott Lawrence believes the Eagles are coming into the Asahi Super Dry this weekend Pacific Nations Cup third-place play-off with real clarity, setting a goal to be “10 percent better” before facing rivals Canada in Tokyo.
Less than 13 months from Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, the Eagles will take to the field for their fifth Test of the season. An Eagles-heavy USA XV also had a thrilling 25-24 victory over Argentina XV in a non-test at Inter Miami FC Stadium last month.
The Eagles continue to build towards their first appearance at the Men’s World Cup since 2019, exploiting the best shots at a high level with challenging depth and taking some key lessons. This year they beat three other teams who also qualified for the top event.
Hosts of the Pacific Nations Cup Japan they booked their place in the 2026 finals with a dominant performance against the USA last weekend in Osaka. But the Eagles have regrouped after the loss, and each player and the team as a whole understand what the road ahead looks like.
“We’re always looking to be 10 percent better than where we were the week before. I think you have to have that approach,” Lawrence said RugbyPass.
“We had real clarity coming out of Monday, at the individual level and at the collection level, where we’re going to target those top 10 percent. They’re not always statistical in nature, just things we want to be better at.”
“We also got a really clear picture of where we want to be by the end of November and in some key positions.
“You have to take it week by week and you have to be patient patiently in terms of just following the process.”
The Eagles are focused on the clash with Canada, which will be the first meeting between them since August 2025. Canada won 34-20 in Calgary on August 22, with Tyler Ardron stealing the show with four tries.
Canada and the USA have split the match with two wins each in their last four, but the Eagles have dominated recent head-to-head tests prior to that. Since June 21, 2024, the USA has won 13 of the last 16 Tests between the sides.
“It’s huge. Obviously going from a performance that maybe we weren’t so excited about, to a game that could potentially have a lot of emotional energy — managing that and using it when we can, but making sure we stick to our plan and control what we can control,” USA captain Damm said when asked about the Canada game.
“One of the biggest things we can control is our mindset going into this game. I think that let us down a little bit when you look back at that Canada game last year, we just let them get over us too early in the game.
“Maybe we expected to perform a certain way and we didn’t live up to it in the top 20. For me, it’s just coming out, setting the tone and throwing bodies early and letting them know we’re here.”
