Dolan on The Tale of Two Halves
Dolan on The Tale of Two Halves
“A tale of two halves” is the phrase being used to describe the USA’s 21-16 loss to Samoa during the first leg of the Pacific Nations Cup. Samoa dictated the first 40 minutes, staying on offense and trying to knock the spirit out of the USA. The visitors were nearly successful, ending the first half with a soft try, but the Eagles did well to regroup and post 13 unanswered points before the final whistle.
“We came out a little flat in the first half – I thought we defended pretty well,” USA flanker Cam Dolan said. “We didn’t put enough pressure on their breakdown, and we soaked in the tackle a little bit. I don’t think we had the ball for five minutes in the first half.
“We can’t come out slow like that – that happens to us a lot,” added Dolan, who clarified that he’s been healthy for nine months now. “We come out slow and start chasing games. We’ve got to come out and be ready to go – put our shots in, hit the line hard, get points on the board. If we’re chasing games the whole time, we’re really going to struggle.”
The USA was down 21-3 entering the break, but all accounts of the halftime talk were positive. The squad wanted to assert itself. Despite some heart-breaking moments – like the driving lineout that was turned over at the try line – the USA chipped away at the deficit with two more AJ MacGinty penalties (21-9).
“I thought we attacked a lot better in the second half,” Dolan said. “We kept the ball for phases and got some go-forward. It’s always going to be a physical match against a Pacific Islander team, and I think we handled them pretty well. They came off the line hard and put some shots in, but we did the same.”
And then, with about 10 minutes to go, the USA sustained an offensive campaign inside Samoa’s 10 meter. Previously, those opportunities withered after a few phases due to inadequate support of the ballcarrier; but with the game winding to a close, the Eagles were driven to get a try on the books. One dive-over was held up, but replacement prop Titi Lamositele eventually found a seam through which to stretch and score.
“You’re not tired anymore; there’s too much adrenaline going,” Dolan remembered those phases crashing against a rock-hard Samoan defense. “We had the momentum going there. We knew if we could keep that going – they’re tired, they used a lot of energy in that first half, not kicking it out of their half. We had a little more energy, had good subs come on – we have a lot of depth now.”
The Eagles ended the game in Samoa’s end, an unfortunate turnover allowing the eventual victors to kick to touch to seal the victory. There was a sense that, given more time, the U.S. could have overcome the point differential, but that hypothetical will have to be answered on Sept. 20, when the pair meet in their opening match of the Rugby World Cup.
“Dramatic games like that are great – not only for the players, but for the fans,” Dolan said. “And we have six more games until we meet them in Brighton. That’s a long time to gel together as a squad.
“The energy at camp is great,” Dolan added. “There’s a lot of competition, which is awesome. If we can keep this going, we’ll be good for the first leg of the World Cup.”
The Rugby World Cup run-up continues on Friday, July 24 in Sacramento. The second leg of the Pacific Nations Cup will occur at Bonney Field and pit the Eagles against Japan, which defeated Canada 20-6 yesterday, at 8 p.m. PT. The game will be preceded by Fiji vs. Samoa at 5 p.m.
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