USA record historic win over Tonga in France

MATCH REPORT: The USA Eagles claimed their first win over Tonga in 25 years with a convincing 36-17 victory at the neutral venue of Chambéry on Saturday.

The Eagles managed to score five tries en route to this historic result signifying their intent for an attacking game plan.

At the start, it was the Tongans who looked sharp as Patrick Pellegrini broke free to set alarm bells ringing.

Not long after Fetuli Paea burst clean through the line before casually touching the ball down. A high tackle gave the Eagles a chance to respond, and after several phases, Dom Besag powered through a tackle to score out wide. The conversion attempt was no good and the Tongans held a slender two-point lead.

Discipline became an issue for the Tongans and more penalties gave away field position. The Eagles pack went to work until Jason Damm squeezed in under the posts. A raking kick downfield from AJ MacGinty pinned Tonga back in their end and when the Eagles regained possession they again looked to their big men up front.

This time Jack Iscaro was the man to dot down on the edge of a ruck, and suddenly the USA were ahead by a dozen points with a half-hour played.

Tima Fainga’anuku was proving a menace for the Eagles’ defense and a high shot on the rampaging right wing resulted in a red card to USA fullback Mitch Wilson.

A line break from Lotu Inisi put the Americans on the retreat and soon after a kick ahead appeared to sit up perfectly for Tupou Afungia, only for the flanker to drop the ball with the line at his mercy. The Eagles were ahead 19-7 heading into halftime.

An exchange of tries came not long into the second half. South African-born Ruben de Haas intercepted a loose pass from Pellegrini to scorch in untouched from 40 meters. At the other end, Afungia made amends with a perfectly weighted skip pass to Fainga’anuku, who barged in to give the Tongans some hope.

Strong carries from Cory Daniel, Alex Maughan, and Greg Peterson got the Eagles in behind the Tongan defense. A few phases later MacGinty would do his best forward impression with a pick-and-go from a ruck to score.

It was nearly followed by a try from Kapeli Pifeleti, but the replacement hooker lost control of the ball while sliding over the line.

A sniping run from Siaosi Nginingini gave the Tongans their third try but that would bring a close to their scoring for the day. MacGinty notched a penalty goal for some insurance, and what looked to be a De Haas double on the end of a lovely sequence was wiped off the board when the TMO determined Luke Carty’s offload had drifted ever-so-slightly forward.

Next weekend the Eagles head to Madrid where they will face Spain on Saturday, while Tonga are off to Tbilisi where Georgia will be waiting on Sunday.

Scorers:

For the USA:
Tries: Besag, Damm, Iscaro, De Haas, MacGinty
Cons: MacGinty
Pens: MacGinty

For Tonga:
Tries: Paea, Fainga’anuku, Nginingini
Cons: Pellegrini, Havili

Teams:

USA: 15 Mitch Wilson, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 13 Dom Besag, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 11 Nate Augspurger, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Ruben de Haas, 8 Paddy Ryan, 7 Cory Daniel, 6 Vili Helu, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Jason Damm, 3 Alex Maughan, 2 Shilo Klein, 1 Jack Iscaro

Tonga: 15 Wlliam Havili, 14 Taniela Filimone, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Fetuli Paea, 11 Tima Fainga’anuku, 10 Patrick Pellegrini, 9 Aisea Halo, 8 Lotu Inisi, 7 Sione Havili, 6 Tupou Afungia, 5 Harison Mataeie, 4 Semisi Paea, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Sam Moli, 1 Tau Koloamatangi

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France) & Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)

Additional source @USAEagles