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No athlete or team in sports likes to lose, and that USA Eagles are no different. But captain Jason Damm acknowledged the value the losses can have in highlighting key actions, with the Eagles looking to bounce back from a 63-14 defeat in Japan in Osaka.
The USA cruised through the July internationals with a 3-0 unbeaten run at the brand new Rugby World Cup, which included wins over three teams that also punched a ticket to the men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia.
Coach Scott Lawrence then took charge of the Eagles’ tough USA XV, which gathered for a camp at IMG Academy in Florida before facing Argentina XV. That American team cruised to a hard-fought one-point victory last month, with Marno Redelinghuys among the scorers.
As the U.S. continues to push toward its first Men’s World Cup appearance since 2019, those performances have given the Eagles plenty to build on. But so is a 49-point loss to the Brave Blossoms in the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup semi-finals.
Japan raced to a 28-0 lead after just 16 minutes and piled on a string of unanswered points during a dominant second half. Brave Blossoms scored nine tries to two, stepping up on both sides of the ball to shut out the Eagles in the second half.
“You learn a lot in any game of rugby. You can learn absolutely a lot from your losses,” Damm told reporters after the game.
“It shows you a lot of areas you need to improve and you don’t have to look that hard sometimes, it’s pretty obvious in losses like this what you need to work on.
“The other thing is, it also just tests our character and our ability to stick to a plan when we’re not ahead. Sometimes it’s easy to take a plan and stick to it when you’re winning. Sometimes it can be a lot harder if you’re not on the wrong side of the scoreboard playing your plan.”
“Finding ways we can put in more energy and execute at a higher level.”
Shilo Klein and Tavite Lopeti each scored a try in a 10-minute span as the Eagles cut their former 28-point deficit in half. Two converted tries separated the teams late in the second half, but several key moments affected the final score.
Soujirou Ootsuka crashed over for a try on the final play of the half, before Dylan Riley netted a brace in the first minute of the second half. Then USA captain Damm received a yellow card, and the home team made the most of their one-man advantage.
Jack Cornselsen and Esei Ha’angana crossed for tries before the Eagles reverted to their full 15-man contingent. But the USA fought until the final whistle, playing with almost 70 percent of the possession in the final 10 minutes.
The Eagles finished with a slightly better takedown percentage, had fewer turnovers and won 100 percent of their restarts. But the set was the talk of the game after the game, with the U.S. winning 64 percent of its lines.
“We have to take a big step forward,” Damm said.
“The lineout is something we could rely on, the set-piece is generally something we could rely on in our previous tests, and today we exposed ourselves a little bit.
“It’s something that we as a forward pack take hard … at the end of the day, our platform is what sets the tone for the game. If we’re not winning the ball on the line, if we’re giving them easy access through scrum penalties or mauls, then we weigh that, that’s what we aim for.”
“It’s hard for us to move forward and we know we have a lot to learn and we can’t just rest on our platform, we have to keep building.”