46 Sentences About 23 Players: How Eagles Performed vs Canada

46 Sentences About 23 Players: How Eagles Performed vs Canada

Alex Goff uses 46 sentences to discuss the 23 USA players and their performances against Canada on July 1.

Jul 2, 2017 by Alex Goff
46 Sentences About 23 Players: How Eagles Performed vs Canada
Here's a look at every USA player's performance from the Eagles' 52-16 win over Canada in San Diego on Saturday, in two sentences or less. The USA not only qualified for the 2019 World Cup in Japan as Americas 1 with its 36-point triumph, but also notched its largest margin of victory in its rivalry against the Canadians.

Tony Purpura took it upon himself to secure the area around the rucks, which was needed. He made small but key contributions with the ball in hand, but his greatest success came in the clearouts.

James Hilterbrand got the set pieces done right, and his lineout throwing was not perfect but OK. In the open field, he's an aggressive presence.

Chris Baumann was supposed to be one of the missing puzzle pieces, but he was injured in the first 10 minutes, came back, and then had to leave again. In those minutes he did show, he was doing his job.

Nate Brakeley might need to be a bigger physical presence at times, but he gets around the field. He had a crucial role in a couple of USA tries (and scored one).

Nick Civetta may well be the go-to lock the Eagles have needed for a while, rather than a converted loose forward. He's good in the lineout and is starting to embrace the grittier sides of the job.

Todd Clever put everything he had into his last game for the Eagles. And he had a steal followed by a little referee lobbying that helped regain the USA's momentum early in the second half.

Tony Lamborn was someone we said could be a try-scoring threat, but that wasn't where his value lay. Instead, Lamborn decided to smash people and make sure ballcarriers has support.

Cam Dolan has the ability and the skills to break games open, and he did exactly that against Canada. He is solid at the back of the scrum and is a dependable lineout jumper -- we'll forgive him the scary quick lineout that caused Madison Hughes all sorts of problems -- but it's in the open field that he shines.

Nate Augspurger was hit with some criticism but kept the offense moving well. He likes to take risks, and when they pay off, they pay off big.

AJ MacGinty may well be the USA's best player, and he is certainly in the middle of everything they do offensively. He kicks well and defends well but sometimes resorts to the grubber in the red zone a bit too often.

Ryan Matyas has a big work rate and has good field awareness. His pass back to Campbell for the opening try was a thing of beauty.

Marcel Brache played better than last week, taking more of a distributor role mixed in with a crash runner. He loses the ball in contact a bit too much, but fit into the system much better this week.

Bryce Campbell made a few key offensive plays (see the opening try) but mostly was successful in pushing the gain line back. He is a very good open-field tackler.

Mike Te'o was superb under the high ball, and somehow managed to secure those kicks despite being shorter than everyone except his fullback. On offense he pretty much always makes the first person miss.

Madison Hughes didn't have as much to do as expected but handled himself well. He made some good counters (one leading to a try) and also is able to fill in as a scrumhalf.

Joe Taufete'e made an impact, just as he needed to against Canada. He was a big load when running the ball, threw well in the lineout, and scored two tries from maul.

Ben Tarr picked up where Purpura left off. The message regarding defense around the ruck was heard loud and clear, and Tarr, along with everyone else, secured that area.

Dino Waldren had one of those really difficult jobs -- he was expecting to come on in the second half and instead replaced Baumann early, came off again, and went on again to play about 65 minutes. He adjusted really well, and in fact, the scrum might have been stronger when he came in the game.

David Tameilau is a good impact sub when the game opens up. He came in at lock and hung in there well.

John Quill gives pretty much what you expect -- a fiery attitude and a lot of aggression. He hasn't really let up.

Andrew Durutalo had a break that could have resulted in a try, except he looked the wrong way. We haven't seen the Andrew Durutalo of 2015.

Shaun Davies and Will Magie didn't get much time on the field but did just fine.

The USA team overall showed continuity and ball handling that was much, much improved, and because of this the Eagles didn't have to play as much defense. Even so, the defense in tight was night-and-day different from Hamilton, and the finishing and teamwork was worthy of a record victory.