Gagiano and co. lose to Canada
The USA Eagles, with UCT’s Varsity Cup skipper JJ Gagiano once again in the mix, suffered a big loss to neighbours Canada in RWC qualifying action on Saturday – handing the Canucks an immediate place at the 2011 World Cup.
The Americans took a six-point lead into the weekend’s second-leg clash in Edmonton, but they were blown away by a determined home team who won 41-18.
Canada have secured a spot in Pool A at the 2011 RWC – where they will face hosts, New Zealand, amongst others. The Eagles will now look to play Uruguay, the winner of the South American Qualification Play-off, in a two-game series to determine the Americas 2 qualifying side. Those match details have yet to be set.
“We are obviously very disappointed,” said Eagles boss Eddie O’Sullivan. “We played undisciplined in the first half and made some mistakes that Canada were able to capitalise on.
“We let the game get away from us early on and struggled to keep shape. We played better in the second half, but by that point we were chasing the game and forcing things a bit.”
Gagiano, meanwhile, has already returned to South Africa and will be looking to force his way into WP’s Currie Cup squad in the coming weeks.
He replaced Nic Johnson at No.8 on Saturday for a near ten-minute run, having last week had almost thirty minutes of action – also at the back of the scrum as a replacement for Johnson.
The 23-year-old Ikey Tigers star has had a productive time since joining his USA teammates after the 2009 Varsity Cup and some WP Super League action. He now has seven USA caps, having made his first start recently as well as scoring his debut international try.
Kevin Foote – Gagiano’s representative – told www.in-site.co.za: “JJ has had a fantastic time over there – even more enjoyable than when he made his international debut last November.
“This year he has played Tests against two top Six Nations teams, Ireland and Wales, featured in the Churchill Cup and also been part of these tough RWC qualifying matches.
“He is due back in SA this week and will hopefully then be able to push for a place in the WP Currie Cup squad – after training with the squad before he left to play for America.”
The USA team (v Canada in Edmonton): 15 Chris Wyles (Saracens FC), 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz Olympic), 13 Paul Emerick (Overmach Parma), 12 Roland Suniula (Pearl City RFC), 11 Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach), 10 Mike Hercus (Sunshine Coast Stingrays), 9 Tim Usasz (Nottingham RFC), 8 Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians), 7 Todd Clever (Xerox Lions, captain), 6 Louis Stanfill (New York Athletic Club), 5 Hayden Smith (Saracens FC), 4 John van der Giessen (Denver Barbarians), 3 Shawn Pittman (Bayside RFC), 2 Chris Biller (California), 1 Mate Moeakiola (Park City Haggis).
Replacements: 16 Joe Welch (Belmont Shore), 17 Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie RFC), 18 Alec Parker (Gentlemen of Aspen), 19 JJ Gagiano (Univ of Cape Town), 20 Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club), 21 Ata Malifa (Belmont Shore RFC), 22 Salesi Sika (Castres Olympique).
