mens
international
USA XV captain Marno Redelinghuys remains confident of the quality of the Eagles’ squad, despite ending their two-match run against the stars Australia A lineup with a 52-0 loss under the lights Friday night in New Jersey.
South African-born Redelinghuys took over from regular captain Jason Damm ahead of the match, with coach Scott Lawrence naming an almost entirely different starting XV to play at the Sports Illustrated Stadium.
The USA fell 61-12 six days earlier in Nashville and the Australians gelled again as they put on an attacking clinic. Australia led 33-0 at half-time and Nick Frost ran in a try just before the break.
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips was one of the visitors’ second-half scorers as the recent Test debutant led the visitors to a comprehensive victory. ‘HMP’ received the man of the match award after the match, following the five stars of the Australians.
Redelinghuys said last week that there were “still a lot of positives” for the Americans, despite falling by a wide margin in Tennessee, and the tight end again spoke quite positively about what the team is capable of moving forward.
“It’s disappointing. Obviously we put in a lot of hard work during the week,” Redelinghuys said after the match on the broadcast.
“We wanted to go out there and make the fans proud.
“I think we created a few chances, we just couldn’t convert any tries or points.
“We have to go and take a good look at ourselves and see what we can fix and what we can do better, because I know the quality in the team is there, we just need to understand it and get the best out of ourselves.”
Australia A had nine Wallabies in his squad for the match in Nashville, and the squad was full of stars on Friday night as well. Former NRL star Zac Lomax donned representative gold for the first time in rugby in June, lining up at outside centre.
The USA Eagles are now focusing on another Nations Rugby World Cup block, after a period of three tests in July. Earlier this year they went undefeated against teams that also played for men Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, including a thrilling win over Portugal.
Coach Lawrence and the Eagles are about to make their World Cup debutants Hong Kong China next on November 8, before the confrontation Romania and Georgia. But these two hits at home gave the Americans plenty to think about, as Redelinghuys said.
“Especially in our homeland, it’s amazing to have these people here,” added Redelinghuys.
“He always helps a little bit on the field, so we like him.”
