The men had the the chance to make it 3/3 on the day for Scotland but despite their best efforts, ultimately they came up just short against a USA team well-marshalled by former Super League star Peter Lupton.
The temperature was now much more agreeable as both teams were lead out by a local bagpiper to Scotland the Brave. If this wasn’t spine tingling enough, following a short interlude where the stadium announcer casually butchered the names of a number of players on either side, the rendition of Flower of Scotland was enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. If bonus points were given for performances of the national anthem, the Scotland would’ve been comfortably ahead come kick off.
The early exchanges were physical, with the forwards laying the platforms for the kickers to punt down field. Good chases meant each team started their sets deep in their own halves.
On fifteen minutes, Edinburgh Eagles’ Lewis Clarke took the ball at second receiver before bumping off the would be tackle of former NRL, Super League and WWE star Daniel Vidot, and cutting through the defence to race in from 15m. Luke Punton was successful with the boot to make it 0-6 Scotland.
Things continued back and forth until on twenty eight minutes, the USA got a bit of good fortune. A Lupton kick to the corner on the last tackle was collected by the USA and Scotland fullback Burns completed the tackle. Instead of a handover, and despite no apparent wiping of the tackle count, the USA were allowed to play the ball and winger Hlanguyo caught Scotland cold on the short side. The simple conversion was missed 4-6.
On thirty six minutes, Scotland thought they’d extended their lead when Grierson capitalised on a USA error to touch down. His effort was ruled out though as the touch judge, correctly, adjudged him offside from a kick and the referee considered him within ten metres of the winger collecting the ball and Carter’s tackle which forced the error.
Two minutes later, the USA took the lead. Clarke was deemed to have stripped the ball when it looked like the attacker let go when trying to avoid touch, giving the USA a penalty. From the resulting tap, Vidot pushed his way through some soft Scottish defence to score. Granby’s conversion made it 10-6.
The final say of the first forty went to Scotland however as Max Anderson-Moore read Vidot’s pass and intercepted to race 90m unopposed. Punton again added the extras, 10-12 at the break.
Whatever was said in the sheds fired up the hosts as the USA dominated the early part of the second half. Following a couple of penalties and forcing a drop out, Delaney was able to take advantage of a quick play the ball and dart out of dummy half to score. Granby’s conversion was good, making it 16-12 USA.
On fifty minutes Piggins forces his way over to extend the lead and give the home side some breathing space. Granby adding the extras once again, 22-12.
Scotland closed the gap five minutes later when the ball went wide and a Carter dummy allows him to slice through. Punton’s effort with the boot hits the post to leave it 22-16.
Entering the final quarter, USA bulldozer Tevita Bryce finds a gap to power over, with Granby tagging on the extras, 28-16 with fifteen to play. Some must’ve forgotten to put a dollar in the meter shortly after as the stadium went dark.
After some confusion, and presumably some choice words, a few minutes later the floodlights were again illuminated and the game able to finish. It was Scotland who had the final word when Andrew Brown went over in the corner from a Carter pass. Unfortunately the kick was missed but it meant little in the grand scheme of things. Final score, USA 28-20 Scotland.
Man of the match: Lewis Clarke
Coach Adam Houston said;
“I’m really proud of the boys tonight and cannot fault the effort. The ruck was much slower than we were expecting which is frustrating as that impacted our game. We wanted to get the ball wide as we felt that’s where we’d have success, and that was clearly evident when we were able to shift the ball quickly. The result is obviously disappointing but we need to take the positives, look at what we need to work on, and continue to build.”
