All-Americans win opener

(Jose Lagman photo)

The All-Americans have won their opening match of a three-game tour of New Zealand beating Massey University 21-15 in a hard fought match on Sunday.

With the conditions holding out, the AA's played some excellent rugby scoring two unanswered tries by Matt Byrd and Pat Danahy one being converted by Keegan Englebrecht.

Two early penalties converted by Englebrecht settled initial nerves for the All-Americans, but pressure from Massey resulted in a penalty to the home team and the match was within three points early on.

With a lead of 18-3, the wind and rain arrived and conditions became difficult. Massey adapted well to the conditions and scored an unconverted try, but Englebrecht converted another penalty leaving the AA's with a 21-8 lead with just under 10 minutes of the game remaining.

Massey continued to grow in confidence as the All-Americans struggled to come to terms with the conditions. A Massey converted try invariably came, setting up a close finish for the collegiate players. But, the AA's defense proved too strong for the Massey attack, holding out for a 21-15 victory.

“Any win in New Zealand is a good win,” said coach Nigel Melville after the game. “The All-Americans played with great heart and proved to be the better athletes, but lessons were learnt along the way. The weather played an important role in the outcome, but the team remained patient to the end and fully deserved their win.”

The squad now returns to Wellington where they will play Wellington Old Boys on Wednesday afternoon.

For information on how you can support the All-American Rugby Program, visit http://www.usarugby.org/goto/Support_USA_Rugby or contact John McNamara, All American Program Manager at john@allamericanrugby.com

Collegiate All-Americans:
1. Seth Strauss - Life University (South), 2. Joe Welch - California (Pacific), 3. Tony Lewis - Nebraska (West), 4. Pat Danahy - Stanford (Pacific), 5. Hayden Smith - Metropolitan State College of Denver (West), 6. Paul Jesseman - California (Pacific), 7. Steve St Pierre - BYU (Pacific), 8. Roland Evans - Arkansas State (South), 9. Zachary Triplett - California (Pacific), 10. Keegan Engelbrecht - California (Pacific), 11. Ryan Taylor - California (Pacific), 12. Kevin Swiryn (Capt) - St Mary’s (Pacific), 13. Matt Byrd - Utah (Pacific), 14. Dustin Muhn - California (Pacific), 15. Colin Hawley - California (Pacific)

Replacements: 16. Jacob Grubbs - Arkansas State (South), 17. Conner Coyne - St Mary’s (Pacific), 18. Eric Fry - California (Pacific), 19. Joe Fontana - San Diego State (So Cal), 20. Chad Clark - St Mary’s (Pacific), 21. Maximo DeAchaval - Colorado (West), 22. Jordan Kohn - Arizona (So Cal)