Cannucks edge Eagles

New skipper Aaron Carpenter scored the winning try and fullback James Pritchard kicked in 13 points as Canada beat the United States 28-25.

It was the first action for both teams since the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

"It was a tough game and a real nail-biter at the end, but we were happy to take the win," Canada head coach Kieran Crowley said.

"We gave up silly penalties and gave them free yardage," he added, "But it was a win in a test match, and we're happy for that."

Pritchard’s goal kicking proved the difference and Carpenter was named man-of-the-match in his 43rd Test cap, but first as captain.

Each side scored three tries.

Canada seized the lead in the 4th minute when Evans ran through the Eagles defence and scored a try, with Pritchard's conversion making it 7-0.

The United States responded four minutes later on a try by Luke Hume, with Will Holder's conversion attempt short to leave Canada in the lead 7-5.

Canada hit back in the 12th from a ruck, as Sean White passed to Ciaran Hearn who rounded the defence to score. Pritchard made the touchline conversion to extend Canada's lead to 14-5.

Two goals kicked by the Americans and one by the home side closed the gap to 17-11.

The United States took the lead for the first time as a pass from Holder to James Paterson got the winger to the line where he reached over for the try. With the conversion America edged ahead 18-17.

Pritchard converted a penalty in the 34th minute to give Canada a 20-18 lead at the interval.

The United States got off to a shaky start again in the second half, conceding a quick penalty that Pritchard converted for a 23-18 lead.

Hearn would miss a long penalty goal attempt for Canada in the 71st minute, but the US clearance did not find touch.

Instead, it was caught by DTH van der Merwe, who looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Van der Merwe dummied right but then popped, left allowing Carpenter to score in the corner after outrunning the cover defence as Canada stretched their lead to 28-18.

The US side came back hard in the dying minutes. Flanker Scott Lavalla barged over a try in the 78th with Holder's conversion accounting for the final score.

Scorers:

Canada:

Tries: Evans, Hearn, Carpenter

Cons: Pritchard 2

Pens: Pritchard 3

United States:

Tries: Hume, Paterson, Lavalla

Cons: Holder 2

Pens: Holder 2

Teams:

Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Sean Duke, 13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Mike Scholz, 11 Ciaran Hearn, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter (captain), 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.

Replacements: 16 Jason Marshall, 17 Tom Dolezel, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Kyle Armstrong, 21 Phil Mackenzie, 22 Jeff Hassler.

United States: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 James Paterson, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Will Holder, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Todd Clever (captain), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Scott Lavalla, 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Louis Stanfill, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike MacDonald.

Replacements: 16 Derek Asbun, 17 Shawn Pittman, 18 Tom Katzfey, 19 Taylor Mokate, 20 Shaun Davies, 21 Roland Suniula, 22 Colin Hawley.

Referee: Marius Jonker, South Africa