Eagles hold off Russian Bears
The USA Eagles managed to grind out a hard-fought 13-6 victory over the Russian Bears who turned in a determined debut World Cup performance at Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth on Thursday.
That it was played was marvellous - the cold war on a rugby field and the cold was climatic, the war an exciting rugby match. That it was exciting in the New Plymouth cold and rain was wonderful - and bless the crowd for their enthusiasm at Taranaki Stadium on Thursday night. And it made history as for the first time ever the Russians played at the World Cup.
This is a great World Cup.
There was nothing much in it - a try's worth of difference, that is all, with the Bears battering at the Eagles' nest in the end. The Russians showed the world that they could play. Minnows they may be, Mickey Mouse they are not.
The Russians can tackle and they can scrum. They can run with the ball but their line-outs were appalling and they kicked far too much ball away. Strangely they are a team that runs best on counterattack and then kicks on attack. One late kick - a diagonal into the USA 22 when they were building a promising attack, flouted every rugby principle. In the first half they even kicked into the wind, which was so silly as they ran well with the ball and had clever footwork.
The USA were good at set piece and played phases. They played phases to the point of boredom and they were careless at the tackle. Nine of the ten penalties they conceded were at the tackle. But their try was brilliant.
Yury Kushnarev kicked off to start this historic match, the red-clad Russians wearing black armbands in sympathy for the deaths of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team in the air crash.
The Russians started in a rush. Sergei Popov charged d down a kick by Mike Petri from behind a tackle/ruck and the Russians attacked with a will with flank Artem Fatakhov in the van. Chris Biller went off side and Kushnarev had a kick at goal. The ball fell off the tee. The referee tapped his watch. But Kushnarev goaled to give Russia its first points ever in a World Cup. 3-0 after 2 minutes.
After that the USA took over. Kushnarev failed to find touch and the USA did a 10-phase trick. John van der Giessen stole a Russian line-out and again the USA attacked. Denis Antonov was offside and Chris Wyles goaled. 3-3 after 11 minutes.
A line-out started the USA try. They mauled and then went wide. Paul Emerick broke and Andrew Suniula raced away with the ball. He gave inside to Petri who was strong enough to reach the line, stretch in the tackle and score under the crossbar. Wyles converted. 10-3 after 18 minutes. In the next hour only six points were scored, both penalties late in the game. The rain came heavily down at this stage and the half-time score was 10-3.
In the second half Russia had the advantage of the wind. Vasily Artemyev had a strong run on the wing, Wyles countered brilliantly off an up-and-under and a break by Andrew Suniula was stopped right at the posts by Vladimir Ostroushko. The USA were attacking with eager phases till Takudzwa Ngwenya knocked on. (The Zimbabwean speedster's hands were brittle throughout the match.)
Wyles missed with a dropped goal but then goaled a penalty. After this Russia was in the ascendency, looking for a try, but settling for a penalty when Todd Clever was penalised at a tackle. 13-6.
That stayed the score which meant that Russia earned a bonus point for losing by fewer than eight.
They had a promising thrust down the left by Alexander Yanyushkin and finished much the stronger side, but then the Eagles had played Ireland only four days before while Riussia were playing their first match. When the final whistle went the Bears were attacking. The Eagles were elated by the win, the Russians plunged into disappointment.
Man of the Match: There were Russian candidates like brave Igor Klyuchnikov and wing Vasily Artemyev while the USA had its centres Paul Emerick and Andrew Suniula, line-out forward John van der Giessen, creative Chris Wyles and our Man of the Match massive prop Mike Macdonald who ran, tackled with force and scrummed so well throughout the match.
Moment of the Match: Mike Petri's try.
Villain of the Match: There were a couple of emotional outbursts and the nearest to a villain was the Eagles' captain Todd Clever, involved in one angry moment, guilty of a late, armless charge on Alexander Yanyushkin's head and unable to reach entente cordiale after the match.
The scorers:
For Russia:
Pens: Kushnarev, Rachkov
For USA:
Try: Petri
Con: Wyles
Pens: Wyles 2
The teams:
Russia: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Vladimir Ostroushko, 13 Konstantin Rachkov, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Yury Kushnarev, 9 Alexander Shakirov, 8 Vyacheslav Grachev, 7 Artem Fatakhov, 6 Andrey Garbuzov, 5 Denis Antonov, 4 Alexander Voytov, 3 Ivan Prishchepenko, 2 Vladislav Korshunov (captain), 1 Sergei Popov.
Replacements: 16 Valery Tsnobiladze, 17 Alexander Khrokin, 18 Vladmimir Botvinnikov, 19 Adam Byrnes, 20 Victor Gresev, 21 Alexander Yanyushkin, 22 Andrei Kuzin.
USA Eagles: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12 Andrew Suniula, 11 James Paterson, 10 Roland Suniula, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Nic Johnson, 7 Todd Clever (captain), 6 Louis Stanfill, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 John van der Giessen, 3 Matekitonga Moeakiola, 2 Chris Biller, 1 Mike Macdonald.
Replacements: 16 Phil Thiel, 17 Shawn Pittman, 18 Scott LaValla, 19 Pat Danahy, 20 Tim Usasz, 21 Nese Malifa, 22 Blaine Scully.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)