(USA Rugby photo)

In the highly-charged match, the US was first to get on board, capitalizing on a penalty to go up 3-0 in the game’s early minutes. Both sides attacked aggressively and the score remained unchanged until inside minute 19 when Canada’s Kyle Buckley ran in his team’s first and only try of the match. With Nathan Hirayama’s conversion, Canada went ahead 7-3.

As the half pressed on, the physical intensity from each side continued to mount and the remainder of points before the break came through penalty kicks from each side, with the USA’s Hamish Roberts accurately booting two and Hirayama contributing one to his side’s cause. The teams retreated to the locker rooms in a tight race, with Canada just barely ahead 10-9.

The US team gained momentum on the other side of the break and just inside minute 59, Zach Test muscled through the tight Canada defensive to dive in for a try in the corner, putting the US up 14-10. However, errors late in the game would prove costly for the US side and three additional penalty kicks in the books, in the game’s final 20 minutes Canada went ahead 19-14.

The resilient U.S. U-20 side continued to play with intense force, its eyes set tight on the try line but in the end, Canada would remain on top to take the Freedom Cup in 2008.

“Canada and the USA are very close in ability. If you look at the score last year, it was a one try difference and this year, we lost by five points. It comes down to little things,” said USA Under-20 Head Coach Salty Thompson. “We’ve got to be consistent.

“Looking ahead to June, both Canada and the US are going to be in the top tier of competition, and if we make these kinds of mistakes against international teams, it will hurt us – we’re a good side, but there’s a lot we still have to work on.”

USA
1.Stevie Johnston (Tempe Rugby , Ariz.), 2. Bill Wynne (Arizona State), 3. Shawn Pittman (Chuckanut, Wash.), 4. Scott LaValla (Trinity College, Ireland), 5. Kevin Erskine (Tempe, Ariz.), 6. Liam Murphy (Young Munster, Ireland), 7. Garrett Lambert (Life University), 8. Taylor Mokate (University of Oklahoma), 9. Sean Treacy (Clontarf, Ireland), 10. Hamish Roberts (Texas A&M), 11. Zach Test (University of Oregon), 12. Jack Tracy (Back Bay, Calif.), 13. Milemoti Pulu (East Palo Alto Razorbacks, Calif.), 14. Adam Ducoing (Louisiana State), 15. Nate Ebner (Ohio State)

Replacements: 16. Ryan Fitcher (Arizona State University), 17. Max Paganini (University of Purdue), 18. Mike Shepherd ( Brownsburg, Ind.), 19. Teddy Barron (Harvard), 20. Jamie Penca, 21. Steven Sablan ( Potomac Athletic Club), 22. Tyler Siceloff (Bristol University, England), 23. Austin Cella (Garryowen, Ireland), Eric West (Louisiana State), 25. Gareth Jones (Temple University, Penn.), 26. Nick Viviani

Tries: Zach Test - 1
Penalty kicks: Hamish Roberts - 3

Canada
1.Russ Ward, 2. Ryan Hamilton, 3. Mauro Perrizolo, 4. Struan Robertson, 5. Alex Hull, 6. Ian Manly, 7. Keegan Selby, 8. Thyssen deGoede, 9. Jamie MacKenzie, 10. Nathan Hirayama (C), 11. Kyle Buckley, 12. Matt Evans, 13. Mike Scholtz, 14. Ty Shannon, 15. Harry Jones, Replacements: 16. Russel Meidinger, 17. Andrew Tiedemann, 18. Dakota Poole, 19. Toni Wodzicki, 20. Sebastian Pearson, 21. Matt Mosby, 22. Sean White, 23. Peter Jawl, 24. Alistair Crow, 25. Scott Manning, 26. Jordan Wilson-Ross

Tries: Kyle Buckley -1
Conversions: Nathan Hirayama - 1
Penalty kicks: Hirayama - 4