'The quality is there': South African-born captain backs battered USA
REACTION: USA XV captain Marno Redelinghuys remains confident in the quality of the Eagles-heavy side, despite finishing a two-match series against a star-studded Australia A lineup with a 52-0 defeat under Friday night lights in New Jersey.
South African-born Redelinghuys took over leadership duties from usual captain Jason Damm ahead of the match, with coach Scott Lawrence naming an almost entirely different starting XV to play at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
The USA had fallen to a 61-12 six days earlier in Nashville, and the Australians again gelled as they put on an attacking clinic. Australia led 33-0 at half-time, with capped Wallabies lock Nick Frost racing away for a try just before the break.
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips was one of the away side’s second half try-scorers, as the recent Test debutant steered the visitors to a comprehensive victory. ‘HMP’ was awarded Player of the Match honours post-game, following a five-star effort from the Aussies.
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Redelinghuys said last week that there were “still a lot of positives” for the Americans, despite going down by a big margin in Tennessee, and the backrower again spoke fairly positively about what the squad is capable of moving forward.
“It’s disappointing. Obviously we put in a lot of hard work during the week,” Redelinghuys said post-game on the broadcast.
“We wanted to come out and make the fans proud out there.
“I think we created a few opportunities, we just couldn’t convert any tries or points.
“We need to go and have a hard 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 figure it out and get the best out of us.”
Australia A had nine capped Wallabies in their lineup for the match in Nashville, and the side was full of star power on Friday night too. Former NRL star Zac Lomax got to wear representative gold for the first time in rugby union, lining up at outside centre.
The USA Eagles turn their focus now to the second World Rugby Nations Cup block, following a three-Test window in July. They went unbeaten earlier in the year against teams also bound for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, including a thrilling win over Portugal.
Coach Lawrence and the Eagles have soon-to-be World Cup debutants Hong Kong China up next on November 8, before facing Romania and Georgia. But these two home-soil hits have given the Americans plenty to reflect on, as Redelinghuys had said.
“Especially in our home country, it’s amazing having these people here,” Redelinghuys added.
“It always helps a little bit out there on the field so we love it.”
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