Samoa brush Canada aside
Samoa put together a powerful performance on Friday, running in five tries to emphatically defeat Canada 42-12 at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay.
The star for the Islanders was debutant wing Robert Lilomaiava who touched down four times as the Samoan backline ran their opposition ragged.
With the talented Tusi Pisi pulling the strings at flyhalf and James So'oialo adding 17 points with his boot, the Samoans had a clear upper hand over their North American rivals who fought back with a determined second-half display.
The scorers:
For Canada:
Tries: Moonlight, Braid
Con: Pritchard
For Samoa:
Tries: Tui'fua, Lilomaiava 4
Cons: So'oialo 4
Pens: So'oialo 3
Samoa: 15 James So'oialo, 14 Paul Perez, 13 George Pisi, 12 Setaimata Sa, 11 Robert Lilomaiava, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Jeremy Su'a, 8 Taiasina Tui'fua, 7 Fomai Tivaini, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Fa'atiga Lemalu, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ropeti Lafo, 17 James Johnston, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Johnny Leota, 22 Fa'atoina Autagavaia.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Phil Mackenzie, 11 Matt Evans, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Sean White, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole (captain), 6 Tyler Ardron, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jon Phelan, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Jason Marshall, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Brett Beukeboom, 20 John Moonlight, 21 Eric Wilson, 22 Nick Blevins, 23 Jeff Hassler.
Referee: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
USA 40-26 Russia
The USA Eagles, scored six tries and 26 unanswered points to put rivals Russia away 40-26 at Eirias Park Friday.
Four Eagles (John Quill, Toby L’Estrange, Cornelius Dirksen, and Zach Fenoglio) earned their first international caps against Russia, a promising sign for the future of head coach Mike Tolkin's team.
Tolkin after the game praised his side’s defence and set-piece. The scrum has been an issue for the Eagles in recent years, but it was very proficient against a big Russian pack on Friday.
Experience in the front rowers Shawn Pittman, Chris Biller, and Eric Fry made a big difference and perhaps surprised the Russians who got the better of the USA pack in their World Cup matchup last year. It comes down to excellent preparation, said Tolkin.
"All of our coaches did a great job preparing their respective units," Tolkin said of his staff's effort. There were improvements across the board from the June tests, but the scrum and the kicking game were outstanding against Russia.
A precise and effective kicking battle and the speed and intensity of the USA forwards knocked the Russians out of rhythm early. The work of loose forwards Scott LaValla, debutant John Quill, and captain Todd Clever set a physical tone that Russia struggled to keep up with.
Clever said after the game that he was proud of the effort from the forwards and praised the backline including a two-try performance by Robbie Shaw.
Five of the six USA tries were converted by Saracens fullback Chris Wyles, effectively answering any questions about who would take kicking duties for the Eagles. Wyles was also lethal kicking out of hand.
The scorers:
For Russia:
Tries: Ostroushko, Temnov 2
Con: Klyuchnikov
Pens: Klyuchnikov 3
For USA:
Tries: Fry, L'Estrange, Doyle, Wyles, Shaw 2
Cons: Wyles 5
Russia: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Vasily Artemyev, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Sergey Sugrobov, 9 Alexey Shcherban, 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Kirill Kulemin, 4 Alexander Voytov (captain), 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze.
Replacements: 16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Alexey Volkov, 18 Innokentiy Zykov, 19 Andrey Garbuzov, 20 Ramil Gaysin, 21 Gleb Babkin, 22 Vladimir Boltenkov, 23 Dmitry Gerasimov.
USA: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Cornelius Dirksen, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 Luke Hume, 10 Toby L'Estrange, 9 Robbie Shaw, 8 Todd Clever (captain), 7 John Quill, 6 Scott LaValla, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Brian Doyle, 3 Eric Fry, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Shawn Pittman.
Replacements: 16 Zachary Fenoglio, 17 Nick Wallace, 18 Tony Purpura, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Peter Dahl, 21 Mike Petri, 22 Rolan Suniula, 23 Gearoid McDonald.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)