After being warned repeatedly by the media, and observers, that Uruguay was a scary team with huge potential, the USA went out Saturday and smacked Los Teros to the tune of 61-19.
The Eagles took charge early, bashing their way to the line where Tony Lamborn (of course) wriggled and writhed his way over. Mike Te'o, who was magical on the day, shaked and baked his way to paydirt, and then it was Dylan Fawsitt turn out of contact to score.
Wouldn't be rugby Saturday without a Mikey Te'o TRY!@williammagie conversion ?
— 2018 ARC Champs (@USARugby) March 3, 2018
USA 14-0 URU#ARC2018 #USAvURU pic.twitter.com/c0I6mkngTh
Midway through the first half it was 21-0, and the tries kept coming, with a penalty try (and a yellow card after Uruguayan tempers flared), and then a nifty kick ahead by Dylan Audsley set up captain Nate Augspurger for a breakaway.
Hanco Germishuys scored the final try of the first half - and the first one Will Magie failed to convert - for a 40-0 lead after 40 minutes.
#BackToBack baby!! How good!!! @USARugby @AmericasRCh ???
— Will Magie (@williammagie) March 4, 2018
In the second half, the Eagles slacked off a little, or more to the point, Uruguay didn't go down without a fight. Te'o did score the opening try of the half, once again bamboozling defenders as he did so. But Uruguay managed a couple of answers.
The Eagles replied and didn't let the game devolve even when the Teros players got really frustrated, and the USA players closed it out. This is the first time any team has gone 5-0 in the new full-test ARC. And while it's true that the Argentina XV playing in this competition is nowhere near the full Pumas side, it's still a solid group.
And it's worth noting that the USA had to deal with a massive number of player changes. From Nick Civetta's suspension for Saturday to players having to return to their pro teams, head coach Gary Gold was forced to use 34 players through the five games. Twenty-three of those players were starters.
To go 5-0 with so much player turnover is doubly impressive.
USA 61
Tries: Te'o 2, Lamborn, Fawsitt, Augspurger, Germishuys, Penalty Try, Whippy, Wooching
Convs: Magie 6, Cima
Uruguay 19
Tries: Mieres Valente, Arata Perrone, Cat Piccardo
Convs: Albanell 2
Notes: Argentina defeated Brazil 28-8 to finish 4-1 and in 2nd. Canada defeated Chile 33-17 to finish 2-3.