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USA XV coach Scott Lawrence insists fitness is not an issue for the Eagles squad, but instead identified consistency as an area of focus after the 61-12 defeat by the Stars Australia Page in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nine Wallabies have been selected in the 23rd match of the Australian side, with a tight five in which players with the international team have set markers. The visitors jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the first half, but the USA XV then started to come back.
Tries from Michael Baska and Mark O’Keeffe helped breathe new life into the contest and the USA trailed by just 14 at the break. Australia also had to play 20 minutes less, with David Feliuai receiving a red card during the first half.
But the second term was one-way traffic, with the Australians racking up 35 unanswered points during a clinical finish to the match. The opportunity for the U.S. to take those lessons and bounce back now awaits, ahead of the teams’ second matchup this weekend in New Jersey.
“It’s not ability, it’s consistency. That’s where we are right now in our growth,” Lawrence, who is also the coach of the USA Eagles, said after the game, as seen in a video on USA Eagles Instagram page.
“That’s not our ability. We have the ability to do things at times. We just need to do them consistently and that’s where we are as a team.”
Australia A ran in five tries to none during the second half, with a good western Force halfback Nathan Hastie among those to get on the scoresheet. Hastie helped the Force win their first Super Rugby AUS title earlier this month alongside a number of Australia A teammates.
Dylan Pietsch scored a hat-trick in the win over the NSW Waratahs and the Wallaby was also one of the goalscorers in Nashville. Tom Robertson, Will Harris and Mac Grealy were the other Force players in this Australian starting side.
Queensland Red flyer Tim ‘The Junkyard Dog’ Ryan was the final scorer in this match, racing home from around 40 meters with five minutes remaining. It completed a dominant display from the visiting side, who put on a show at Geodis Park.
“I thought Australia, we knew they were going to try to keep the ball and really press us and that’s a good thing. It just builds our resilience going forward,” Lawrence reflected.
“I get that because there were some really long stretches on defense where we hung on, we stopped the momentum, but we did it.
“On the other hand, we have to back that up with more continuity in our offense … that’s something we’ve been working on consistently. It’s something we have to do day in and day out and we’re doing. We have to build some continuity in the offense.”
