USA beat Canada to move step closer to Rugby World Cup 2023

The USA have won their two-legged Rugby World Cup qualifier against Canada to move a step closer to France 2023.

Canada went into the second leg with a 13-point advantage having beaten the Eagles 34-21 in Newfoundland last weekend, with USA head coach Gary Gold describing his team’s performance in that match as “completely and totally unacceptable”.

Yet the USA fought back impressively to overcome that deficit at Infinity Park in Colorado. They triumphed 38-16 in the second leg to win 59-50 on aggregate over the two legs and earn their place in the Americas One qualifier.

Back-rower Hanco Germishuys scored a first-half hat-trick for the Eagles while Christian Dyer, Ruben De Hass and Joe Taufete’e also crossed for tries. De Haas slotted a long drop-goal, too, while AJ MacGinty kicked five points.

Canadian captain Lucas Rumball said: “This game came down to our errors. You can’t win games at the international level making those mistakes and we let ourselves down.”

The USA will now play Uruguay next month in the Americas One qualifier, with the winners of that two-legged tie earning a place in Pool A at RWC 2023 alongside New Zealand, France, Italy and Africa One.

Those matches will take place on Saturday 2 October in Colorado and then a week later in Montevideo.

Canada, meanwhile, will take on Chile on 2 and 9 October for a place in the Americas Two qualifier. The winner of that two-legged play-off will face the loser of the Uruguay-USA tie to decide who earns a place in Pool D at France 2023 with England, Japan, Argentina and Samoa.

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