The USA Eagles flew high over Russia this evening, completing a record 62-13 win over the Bears in Colorado. The match was the opening game for the USA in their three match June Internationals series and has them well positioned to press for an upset next weekend against Scotland.
The Eagles’ impressive win saw Russia scoring first. Mikhail Babaev bagged a third minute try for the Bears. It would be their only try of the match.
Russia’s 7-0 lead could be but to two points in the 12th minute. Getting the Eagles onto the board was Worcester hooker Joe Taufete’e. AJ MacGinty’s attempted conversion was off the mark and Russia quickly responded.
With Samu Manoa penalized following a tackle Yuri Kushnarev added to his earlier conversion to quick a penalty. It gave Russia a 10-5 lead after 15 minutes.
With the opening quarter coming to a close the Eagles scored their second try and claimed the lead. Following good go-forward ball from Eric Fry veteran flanker John Quill went over for the try. MacGinty made it 12-10 after 19 minutes.
Three minutes later and the Eagles were in again. Inside center Paul Lasike managed to reach over to stun the Russians. MacGinty converted to make it 19-10.
27 minutes in and Russia would hit back. Scoring was Kushnarev who would complete the scoring for the day for the Bears. Six minutes later saw MacGinty canceling it out with a penalty of his own.
The 22-13 lead quickly grew. With five minutes remaining in the opening half Shaun Davies broke from scrum-half. Smart play saw the width of the field used with Taufete’e finishing off an excellent team effort from the Eagles.
There was room for one more opening half score. Touching down was utility Marcel Brache. Today playing on the left wing Brache exploited the Bears’ defense. With it the Eagles were leading Russia 34-13 at half time.
The second half got underway with Brache scoring his second. This time a freak bounce from a kick through from MacGity was fumbled by Babaev. Brache gladly accepted the offer.
A period of opportunities and errors followed from both teams. Having seen dropped balls dominate proceedings point scoring resumed late in the piece.
Scoring the seventh try for the USA Eagles was Nate Augspurger. The replacement scrum-half was in the right place at the right time to finish off a break from Dylan Audsley. Replacement Will Magie converted to make it 48-13.
With five minutes left to play Cam Dolan added his name to the scoresheets. The San Diego Legion forward broke past two defenders to touch down under the posts. Three minutes later the final try came with Captain America, Blaine Scully collecting a brilliant off-load from Nick Civetta. Maggie converted both late tries to complete a 62-13 victory.
Both there USA Eagles and Russia will play again next weekend. The Eagles are at home against Scotland while Russia travel north to face Canada.
SCORING
USA
Try: Taufete’e (2), Quill, Lasike, Brache (2), Augspurger, Dolan, Scully
Conversion: MacGinty (4), Magie (3)
RUSSIA
Try: Babaev
Conversion: Kushnarev
Penalty: Kushnarev
USA
1 Eric Fry, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Samu Manoa, 5 Nick Civetta, 6 John Quill, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Shaun Davies, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Blaine Scully (capt.), 15 Will Hooley
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ben Landry, 21 Nate Augspurger, 22 Will Magie, 23 Dylan Audsley
RUSSIA
1 Valeri Morozov, 2 Stanislav Selskiy, 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 4 Bogdan Fedotko, 5 Evgeny Elgin, 6 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 8 Anton Rudoi, 9 Konstantin Uzunov, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 11 Alexei Mikhaltsov, 12 Sergei Trishin, 13 Dmitri Gerasimov, 14 Mikhail Babaev, 15 Vasili Artemiev (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Evgeny Matveev, 17 Sergei Sekisov, 18 Anton Drozdov, 19 Andrei Garbuzov, 20 Dmitri Krotov, 21 Vasili Dorofeev, 22 Kirill Golosnitskiy, 23 Alexander Budychenko
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