The US ground out an abrasive 13-6 victory over World Cup debutants Russia yesterday to get their campaign back on track.
The US team, which lost their opener 22-10 to Ireland, enjoyed large periods of advantage in terms of territory and possession, but could not fully convert them into points in the face of a doughty Russian defense.
Mike Petri scored the only try of the game, with US fullback Chris Wyles adding a conversion and two penalties in tricky kicking conditions before the US held off a late fight-back.
Photo: Reuters
“It’s an awesome feeling — I’m proud of the boys for sticking in there,” US captain Todd Clever said.
“We made it tough on ourselves, but the crowd helped us get through that one. I was very nervous, they’re a tough team and they’re improving and they’re just getting better and better,” he added.
Russia struggled both at the set piece, with the scrum wilting under pressure at times and the lineout malfunctioning, and also at the breakdown where Clever, fellow flanker Louis Stanfill and man-of-the-match prop Mike MacDonald were outstanding.
Russia coach Nikolai Nerush was left lamenting a wasted opportunity in their history-making match.
“We really wanted to show what we could do, we really wanted to win,” Nerush said. “Unfortunately, the lineout didn’t go well and the balls we could have won could have helped us win the game.”
It was the debutants who got off to the better start when a charged-down clearance kick saw Sergey Popov and Andrey Garbuzov go close before the US infringed at a ruck.
Fly-half Yury Kushnarev stepped up to kick the third-minute penalty for Russia’s first-ever World Cup points, to roars of delight from a packed house at Stadium Taranaki.
Kushnarev failed with a second ambitious effort from 46 metres in swirling wind shortly after, but Wyles equaled the scores with an 11th minute penalty for a blatant offside in midfield.
Momentum then swung the US team’s way. US Samoa-born flyhalf Roland Suniula broke the line, passed back on his inside to center, his brother Andrew, who offloaded to Petri, who fended off fullback Igor Klyuchnikov to go in for a try that Wyles converted.
Wyles missed a second penalty but the US suddenly looked the dominant side as the Suniula duo and Clever began to punch holes in the Russian midfield.
When the Russian scrum wilted and collapsed in their own 22-meter area, US kicked for touch but could not get over the line despite a sustained period of pressure.
Unable to clear their lines and with a scrum under the cosh, Russia defended valiantly and were again let off the hook as Wyles badly skewed a third penalty attempt on the half-hour mark to make it 10-3 at half-time.
Russia now face a tough game against Italy on Tuesday, while the US take on Australia on Friday.
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