The USA moved to 2-0 in the Americas Rugby Championship after defeating Canada 29-10, but it wasn't easy.
The Eagles never trailed, but it wasn't until late in the game that they were able to shake a tenacious Canadian squad. The Eagles wen up early when scrumhalf Nate Augspurger spotted some space on the weak side, called his own number, and went in at the corner.
Up 7-0 after Will Magie's conversion, the Eagles stretched their advantage with a little piece of brilliance. After a long sequence of phases, punctuated by a couple of power runs from prop Titi Lamositele - who is playing with a ton of confidence - and Joe Taufete'e, the ball was sent to the left.
Dyland Audsley sniped ahead and was caught, but dealt out a nifty backhanded pass to Ryan Matyas - a nice all-Arizona connection as both players played their high school rugby in the Grand Canyon State - and Matyas put on a burst and was away.
After that, Canada ramped up its defense, and held onto the ball through most of the rest of the first half, and in to the second. Fullback Pat Parfrey went over to make it 14-7, and it could have been much closer with a little bit of luck for the Canadians.
Somehow, the Eagles entered the break up seven points. This despite a weird moment when play was stopped to investigate a Canadian punch inflicted on Cam Dolan. The upshot was that Dolan was sin-binned for an illegal tackle.
In the second half Canada did close the gap to 14-10. But then things started to shift the USA's way. A clearance kick from the Canadians rolled all the way past the dead ball line, making for a scrum back in the Canada 22. The USA took advantage and a rollicking run from Hanco Germishuys earned the flanker his first USA try.
And that kind of changed the mood of the game for the USA. Canada's hopes dwindled somewhat, and a well-taken penalty from sub flyhalf Will Hooley put the USA up 14 points again at 24-10.
Then some snappy passing from Hooley and Mike Te'o set up the bonus point try, and a second for Matyas.
And that was it. The USA held on, but overall made a statement by remaining calm and not losing composure during a frustrating part of the game. Matyas was a terror, and Lamositele led a tight five effort that was helped by an aggressive, lineout-proficient, and uncompromising Nick Civetta at lock.
Germishuys keeps making plays, and the center pairing of Audsley and Bryce Campbell worked out nicely.
With the win, the USA leads the ARC by points difference over Uruguay, who won 27-18 over Brazil on Friday. Argentina XV beat Chile 57-12 on Saturday.