Falcons help Eagles fly to draw
Newcastle Falcons pairing Todd Clever and Eric Fry made try scoring contributions for the USA on Saturday, as the Eagles opened the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship with an entertaining draw.
Taking on an Argentina XV in Houston, Texas, the duo’s tries saw the Americans score 35 points against a non-Canadian team for the first time since 2012 and open the tenure of new head coach John Mitchell in style.
Both Falcons players added their scores in the second half, with Clever the first of the club’s representatives to get his name on the score sheet, following a series of pick and drives that ended with club mate Fry bundling over with the flanker.
Clever had managed to cross the whitewash five minutes earlier, but that effort was ajudged to have been held up.
Having assisted in that score, the Kingston Park folk hero looked to have given his side a telling win in the 75th minute with a close range effort, converted by James Bird. The Argentines had other ideas though and restored the equilibrium through winger Tomas Carrio.
Speaking post match to USArugby.org Fry said: “We saw, when we were able to get in our systems, how effective it was. The thing to shore up was between, when we turned the ball over and when we gave away the penalty and allowed a quick tap.”
“We have a lot of faith that this system can work very well. It’s very exciting. A lot of new boys – they brought a lot of energy and physicality, and you can see just how dangerous we’re going to become once we get these systems nailed down, once we get our fitness up.”
Fry and Clever remain with the USA squad for this weekend’s second match in the series against Canada, which takes place in Austin on Saturday.
