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USA Eagles captain Jason Damm identified missed opportunities in the 22 offense as an area for improvement, despite the team extending its unbeaten run in Nations Rugby World Cup with a 28-26 win over Hong Kong China.
Chris Hilsenbeck smashed home the winning goal for the second time in the Nations Cup this season as the Eagles grabbed a late goal against another team that had qualified for the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027
Hilsenbeck scored a long-range penalty after the USA survived Portugal in the season-opening thriller earlier this year, before the Eagles lost Zimbabwe and Spain. Georgia are the only remaining undefeated team, while the other two teams have only lost once.
The USA only led for 28 minutes in total, but dominated possession in the closing stages as they chased points to go ahead. Substitute Kaleb Geiger leveled the scores with a try with less than four minutes remaining, before Hilsenbeck added the conversion.
As Damm pointed out after the game, the U.S. stayed patient and held on, surviving the nerve-wracking end of the test. The Eagles had more than 60 percent of the possession and territory in total, and were eventually rewarded on the scoreboard.
“We gave them some opportunities there, we didn’t execute ourselves. I think we had eight 22 entries in the first half and we only came away with 14 points. We have to be better in that part,” Damm said after the game.
“It’s just a decision. You look at the end there, the continued belief and just relying on each other, knowing that at 15 we can do it.
“No one was trying to shoot and make a big play by themselves. We just sat patiently on defense and knew if we kept hitting them and hitting them and hitting them, eventually we’d get the ball back.”
Romania will play the USA in the last match of the fifth round, which is played at the Arcul de Triumf stadium on Saturday night. They want to bounce back from a heavy defeat in Tonga in the high-scoring shootout, and are 1-2-1 all season.
Chile handed Romania a first-round defeat on July 4, before the European side played out a dramatic 36-all draw with Uruguay. Only one point separated Romania and Samoa in the third round, thus bringing the first phase of the Cup of Nations to an end.
But their biggest loss to Tonga was memorable, as the teams played the Test by 81 points on Friday. Romania made it a one-score game in the closing stages, but Tonga held on, improving their competition record to 2-2.
“We got to watch them play the other day and we saw their strength in the lineup, so we have to put our strength here tonight and use our lineup a little bit,” Damm added.
“It will be a good match against those big attackers.”