Eagles bounce back in Bucharest
The USA Eagles bounced back from their heavy defeat to the All Blacks with a 27-17 victory over Romania in Bucharest on Saturday.
Biarritz winger Taku Ngwenya marked his first appearance with coach Mike Tolkin’s team since the World Cup 2015 Qualifier series against Canada last year with a try.
In the fourth minute of the match at Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf, Ngwenya brushed off two defenders deep inside the Eagles’ half and sprinted away to dot down in the corner.
“The first try gave us much-needed momentum,” Tolkin said. “They were pressing us and we turned that around with Taku’s try. They were deflated for a while.”
In a productive half for the Eagles’ young flyhalf Adam Siddall successfully kicked his first conversion from the touchline to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
On the other side of the pitch, Siddall’s opposite number, Florin Vlaicu, had already missed a penalty-kick attempt but gave Romania three points with a successful kick in the ninth minute.
The Eagles struggled to get much time with the ball in hand due to the strong play of Romania in the scrum and maul, but they did not give their opponent much territory.
It was not until the 21st minute when the visitors created the next scoring opportunity, albeit through a penalty. Vlaicu missed his second of three kicks to keep the Eagles’ lead at 7-3.
Romania did manage to threaten inside the Eagles’ 22 in the 26th minute, but was undone by a knock and lost scrum. A forced line-out inside Romania’s half three minutes later set up captain Todd Clever for a barging run.
The Eagles swung the ball to the opposite side of the field and back again to Clever on the wing, where he waited for the perfect offload to Tim Stanfill, who dotted down the try. Siddall’s successful conversion extended the lead to 14-3.
The momentum had fully turned in the Eagles’ favor and Clever helped lead more attacks on the Romanian tryline in the final 10 minutes of the first frame. A Siddall penalty kick to end the half sent the teams into the break with the Eagles leading, 17-3.
Romania started on the front foot to open the second period of play and got the ball over the tryline inside five minutes. Referee Leighton Hodges did not see the ball strike ground in-goal, however, and asked the TMO for confirmation. No try was awarded, though Romania’s ensuing scrum forced a penalty try. Vlaicu’s conversion kick was successful for a 17-10 scoreline.
Vlaicu failed to draw his side closer with a third missed penalty kick in the 53rd minute, and the Eagles punished the mistake with a physical attack up the pitch. Within 10 metres of the tryline, Mike Petri sent a drop-goal between the posts to give the Eagles’ a 20-10 lead.
The additions of John Cullen, Greg Peterson, and Shalom Suniula contributed to the continuation of the Eagles’ defensive structure to keep Romania from approaching a scoring opportunity in the following minutes.
Ngwenya pushed the Eagles over the 22 in the 66th minute with a darting run, and support followed to get the ball to the opposite wing. There, fullback Folau Niua exploited a gap in the Romanian defense with a dummy to Tim Stanfill and forced the ball in-goal over a defender in the corner.
Siddall, who had been shaken up following a tackle minutes earlier, kept his perfect kicking success rate with a successful conversion from the touchline.
Not long after the restart, Romania replied with a try from Daniel Carpo between the sticks. Vlaicu’s conversion kick rose above the outstretched hands of Clever and Tim Stanfill and through the uprights to draw Romania within 10 at 27-17.
Romania enjoyed most of the possession in the final 10 minutes of the match, but was suppressed by the Eagles’ defence. Hodges blew his whistle to signal the team’s first win of the November Tour and the second conquering of Romania in Bucharest under Tolkin.
“Set piece is their strength so a bit surprising, especially against our guys, many of whom are new to the squad,” Tolkin said. “Cullen and Peterson added fresh legs and punch and Trouville handled a lot of dirty ball.
“Winning is a positive, the defense was good along with some of the sequences of play. Siddall’s kicking and overall play was very good,” he added.
The scorers:
For Romania:
Tries: Penalty try, Carpo
Cons: Vlaicu 2
Pen: Vlaicu
For USA:
Tries: Ngwenya, T. Stanfill, Niua
Cons: Siddall 3
Pen: Siddall
DG: Petri
Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Adrian Apostol, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Robert Neagu, 10 Dorin Manole, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Daniel Carpo, 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Mihai Macovei, 5 Alin Coste, 4 Marius Sirbe, 3 Ion Paulica, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar.
Replacements: 16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Horatiu Pungea, 19 Valentin Popirlan, 20 Vlad Nistor, 21 Florin Surugiu, 22 Robert Dascalu, 23 Florin Ionita.
USA: 15 Folau Niua, 14 Taku Ngwenya, 13 Seamus Kelly, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Tim Stanfill, 10 Adam Siddall, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Matt Trouville, 7 John Quill, 6 Todd Clever (captain) 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Tai Tuisamoa, 3 Olive Kilifi, 2 Phil Thiel, 1 Nick Wallace.
Replacements: 16 Tom Coolican, 17 Benjamin Tarr, 18 Mate Moeakiola, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 John Cullen, 21 Kyle Sumsion, 22 Shalom Suniula, 23 Roland Suniula.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Neil Hennessy (Wales)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
