Russia 6 USA 13: match report

Russia, a full 24 years after they declined an invitation to compete at the inaugural World Cup, finally made their competition debut and gave a performance full of spirit and courage against the USA Eagles, before slipping to a 13-6 defeat in New Plymouth.

Russia's defence was excellent and, although their threat in attack was limited, if their goal-kickers had enoyed a better night they could have gone even closer. They will sit down and watch the video and be both proud and frustrated.

"Russia are a tough team and they are improiving every time we play," said USA captain Todd Clever. "They get better and better and they did themselves proud here tonight. I'm proud of my boys for sticking with it after the Ireland game just four days ago, we were a little slow out of the blocks at times but we came through.

The respective national anthems were impeccably observed, although "Two tribes go to war" might have been more suitable, and it was Russia, despite the nerves and adrenalin of making their World Cup debut, who got off to the most confident start as they immediately put the Eagles under pressure.

Their mobile prop, Sergey Popov, went charging for the line only to be felled by what looked like a high tackle, but the USA soon went offside anyway and Yury Kushnarev stepped up to land Russia's first ever World Cup points with a nicely struck penalty.

Alas, for him, it heralded a poor night with the boot for the experienced fly-half from the VVA club in Moscow.

The Russians were pressing and the USA had to go on red alert for a while before they eased their way back into the game with a penalty from Saracens full-back Chris Wyles, who is not ordinarily a front-line kicker but needs must in a USA side that is very much lacking in that department.

It had all become a bit cagey when the game exploded into life with a large splash of South Pacific flair from the Suniula brothers. Roland and Andrew, from Pago Pago in American Samoa, combined delightfully in midfield to create a try for Newport Gwent Dragons scrum-half Mike Petri.

According to my best research American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the USA, just to the southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa having formerly been called German Samoa and the Friendly Isles.

The impressive Andrew Suniula has already been spotted and is heading to Cornish Pirates as soon as his stint on national duty is finished.

Wyles converted and although the USA were good value for their 10-3 half-time lead they were having to dig deep and work hard against a ferociously competitive Russian team.

Once they refine their skills and get more international exposure they will improve quickly. They are also, for a country full of giant athletic guys, strangley short of a couple of real monsters up front. Once they are unearthed they could improve very quickly.

After the break, with the rain heavier than ever, the Russians enjoyed a brief spell of pressure but Kushnarev was off-target with a longer range effort, after which the Eagles began to slowly turn the screw, their greater experience in key positions beginning to tell.

Wyles added another penalty to extend their lead to 10 points and provide just a little breathing space.

Konstantin Rachkov belatedly took over kicking duties for Russia and landed a 40m shot that suggested the switch should have been made earlier.

The States held on, though, and now have a much-deserved rest before they tackle Australia next weekend.

Match details:

Russia XV: Igor Klyuchnikov (VVA); Vladimir Ostroushko (Enisey STN), Konstantin Rachkov (Stade Marseilles) Alexy Makovetskiy (Krasny Yar), VAily Artemyev (Northampton Saints); Yury Kushnarev (VVA); Sergey Popov (Slava), Vladislav Korshunov (VVA, capt), Ivan Prishchepenko, (Krasny Yar), Alexander Voytov (VVA), Denis Antonov (Slava), Andrey Garbuzov (Krasny Yar), Artem Fatakhov (VVA), Vyacheslav Grachev (Blizanos)
Replacements: Gresev (VVA) for Fatakhov (40)
Scores: Pen: Kushnarev, Rachkov

USA XV: Kevin Wyles (Saracens); Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz), Paul Emerick (Life University), Andrew Suniula, (Chicago Griffins); James Paterson (Otago Highlanders); Roland Suniula (Boston), Mike Petri (Newport Gwent Dragons); Mike MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie), Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate), Matekitonga Moeakiola (Bobigny), John van der Giessen (Utah Warriors), Hayden Smith (Saracens), Louis Stanfill (Mogliano), Todd Clever (Suntory, capt), Nic Johnson (unattached)
Scores: Try: Petri. Con: Wyles. Pens: Wyles (2)
Replacements: Blaine Scully for Paterson (38), Shawn Pitman for Moeakiola (40)

Referee: Dave Pearson (England)