If it wasn’t downright unwise of the speakers at Audi Field to send the US Eagles and Scotland onto the field with Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing, it was certainly tempting fate.
The large crowd – 17,418 – that came to the banks of the Anacostia on a sticky night paid their money and took their chances, certainly. So did World Rugby, which got the game underway. The Eagles scored nothing. But the Scots mostly took their own chances, and the Americans generally didn’t either, and the result was a procession that, in the second half at least, descended into the swamp.
You couldn’t say that American rugby is in serious trouble: MLR, the men’s professional league, is wrapping up season seven, the women’s game is strong, the global governing body has big ambitions for the 2031 and 2033 World Cups. But over the next seven years, as the U.S. eyes those tournaments, it’s going to need more compelling content.
The big winger Duhan van der Merwe got the first Scottish try, after letting a tackle slip away with relative ease after five minutes of possession, fly-half Adam Hastings wasting a kickable three in search of the seven he was awarded. A few minutes of American possession followed, but so did the first of a flurry of American penalties. This time the Eagles defence held and the hosts escaped upfield, only to have their own fly-half, AJ MacGinty, go for a three-pointer and miss. Then the Americans conceded another penalty, Hastings kicking towards the corner and after a messy line-out hooker Ewan Ashman drove over it. Once again Hastings fired the kick.
The pattern repeated itself in the 26th minute. Ashman again crossed the line on a penalty, this time earning Eagles mainstay David Ainu’u a yellow card and a 10-minute break. Hastings also fired the ball into the corner.
As if by magic, the Eagles were awarded a try. Their own kick-to-the-corner-and-drive routine didn’t work, but Scotland’s No.8, Matt Fagerson, came from the back of a defensive scrum, took a good hit and saw the ball come loose. A few phases later, the Eagles had their shock-haired centre, Tommaso Boni, over the Scotland line. The home fans, mostly wearing school, college or club colours, showed their appreciation. MacGinty made it 21-7.
It could have been 21-10, had Eagles full-back Luke Carty’s 55-metre penalty not ended up to the left of the posts. As it was, the Eagles were immediately stuck in their own 22 with a defensive lapse after that miss, Hastings kept firing penalties into the corner, and after much huffing and puffing, and lengthy official decision-making, Ashman plopped over for a hat-trick from extremely close range. Hastings made it 28-7 at the break.
Scotland scrum-half George Horne got the first try of the second half after finishing a break from his full-back, Kyle Rowe, after the Eagles scrum had given away a penalty and reasonable field position. Hastings scored again.
With 25 minutes to go, the Eagles stripped their front row. The new props and hooker eagerly took their first scrum, pushed too early and saw the whistle blow again. It was becoming one of those nights: the kind where substitutes come in at regular intervals, all rhythm breaks down and fans start to get worked up in front of the cameras.
It was humid as hell, so slips and drops from both teams were understandable, if not entirely forgivable. The Eagles brought on a youthful replacement in the second row of the scrum: Saia Uhila from the Utah Warriors, positively jolly at 37. With 10 minutes to go, the crowd dared its first chant: “USA! USA!” They saw their team’s scrum wheel and Scotland won the put-in.
Yet Scotland had not scored in 20 minutes. That was it. It looked like the drought would break, but Kyle Steyn dropped the ball on a kick-through with the line begging. Even the home fans groaned at that.
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They groaned again as Fagerson atoned for his mistake for the American try by controlling the ball at the back of a galloping attacking scrum for a good old-fashioned pushover try. Hastings stayed perfect off the tee to make it 42-7.
Then it started to rain, which was no surprise on a day when the skies were darker than a lobbyist’s conscience. Behind the West Grandstand, the Washington Monument disappeared into the darkness.
In the end, a 23-man Eagles team, with only three players not in MLR, held up well, showing improved fitness and resilience. They had also come up against a strong Scottish team, 13 of coach Gregor Townsend’s 23 players coming from Glasgow Warriors, winners of the United Rugby Championship last month with a stunning triumph in South Africa.
The match ended with the Eagles battering the Scottish line but being stopped once more. The Scots now head south to face Chile and Uruguay.