Canada West remain the only side to lift the IRB North America 4 trophy in the cross border competition’s three-year history after once again beating the USA Falcons in the final, this time by the smallest margin yet of 16-11 at the Glendale Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado. This was the third time the two representative sides had met in the final, West triumphing 31-20 in 2006 and then 43-11 last year.
The fact that the final was a close run affair would have surprised some, given West had convincingly beaten their rivals 55-3 only a fortnight earlier in the round robin stages, scoring eight tries and dominating every aspect of the match. The heavy loss, though, gave the Falcons extra motivation with captain Rikus Pretorius admitting they were “licking their chops and excited to get another shot at them” to set the record straight.
With temperatures touching 35C in the area, it was the defending champions who edged into an early lead with two penalties from fly half Matt Evans in the first 10 minutes. The Falcons, though, were determined not to leak tries like they had in their previous meeting and seemed content to try to stop West playing the expansive game they favour, whereby frustrating their opponents.
The Falcons made the most of two kickable penalties to level the scores with their talented fly half Zachary Pangelinan slotting both between the uprights, although it was Canada West who went in leading 9-6 at half-time thanks to another Evans penalty. The fly half missed a chance to extend that lead with a long range effort in the 48th minute and then had a drop goal attempt charged down just before West worked the ball wide for number 8 Tom McKeen to score the first try.
With West now leading 16-7 the pressure was on the Falcons, but it wasn’t until the 77th minute that they found a way through when replacement Volney Rouse touched down after a side step and slick offload from Pangelinan. The conversion was crucially wide, meaning a penalty they were awarded two minutes later was not a kickable option, they had to keep the ball in hand. West defended with all their worth and when the ball was turned over Evans booted it into touch to seal the ‘three-peat’.
Player development a key element of NA4
There was to be no Canadian double on American soil though as Canada East saw yet another victory slip through their fingers in the dying stages, this time a 79th minute try from number 8 Pat Quinn snatching a 17-17 draw for USA Hawks in the third place playoff. This try meant that East ended the 2008 competition without a win to their name, the first time that has happened in the North America 4’s short history.
The opening quarter of the match had passed by scoreless before the Hawks, who recorded their only 2008 win by defeating East 32-5 in the round robin stages, established a 10-0 advantage after 32 minutes, only to see their opponents hit back to lead 14-10 at the interval with tries from Aaron Carpenter and Tyler Wish. That advantage was increased to seven points with Steven Piatek’s penalty just before the hour, but there was to be one final twist to East’s dismay.
The IRB North America 4 continues to play a significant role in the ongoing player and competition development programmes for both Rugby Canada and USA Rugby, a fact highlighted by the number of players who went on to represent both Unions at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France and also the handful of players who graduated from representing their countries at the IRB Junior World Championship 2008 to get a taste of this competition.
Canada West fly half Evans was one prime example of this progression, just as their No 10 last year had been in Nathan Hirayama who went from the IRB Under 19 World Championship to RWC 2007 via the NA4 in the space of six months. Struan Robertson sat on the bench, while the Falcons had Shawn Pittman in the front row and USA Under 20 captain Scott Lavalla among their replacements.
They weren’t alone with Canada East fielding another pair of Under 20 players in Tony Wodzicki and Keegan Selby on the bench in the third place playoff, while the Hawks gave 17-year-old Hanno Dirksen his first North America 4 start after he impressed as a replacement in their 30-12 semi-final defeat by the Falcons a few days earlier.
Twists and turns in Oregon
A number of players who represented Canada and USA on the IRB Sevens World Series also took to the field throughout the competition, which kicked off in May with the all-Canadian affair that went right down to the wire, Pat Riordan’s injury-time try breaking the deadlock and giving West a 20-15 victory over East at Fletcher’s Fields, Markham.
The competition resumed nearly two months later in mid July after Canada and USA’s participation in the Barclays Churchill Cup with the all-American encounter, another match full of twists and turns before four second half tries saw the Falcons triumph 39-24 at Mount Hood Community College in Portland, Oregon.
Next stop was Shawnigan Lake in British Columbia for the first double header of 2008 and contrasting results with Canada West signalling their intentions to retain their title with a clinical 48-0 defeat of USA Hawks, scoring eight tries in the process. The Falcons found life harder again East, having to recover from 15-3 down at half time to triumph 26-22 and leave the Canadians with only a losing bonus point as consolation for the second match running.
There was little more for East to smile about four days later when they were beaten 32-5 by the Hawks in the battle of the winless sides, meaning they propped up the standings and would face the top-ranked side after the round robin stage in the semi finals a week later in Glendale. That turned out to be the defending champions after West ended the Falcons’ unbeaten run in emphatic style with captain Adam Kleeberger and Brock Nicholson both scoring two of their side’s eight tries.
East were hungry to avenge their injury-time loss by West in round one, but while they scored the opening try, it was the defending champions who again came from behind in the final 10 minutes to seal a 30-24 victory with Nick Blevins’ try. The Falcons had an easier passage as, inspired by Pangelinan, they ran in four tries to triumph 30-12 and earn the chance to make it third time lucky – or not as it turned out – against Canada West in the final.
RESULTS:
17/05/2008 Canada East 15-20 Canada West
10/07/2008 USA Falcons 39-24 USA Hawks
15/07/2008 Canada West 48-0 USA Hawks
15/07/2008 Canada East 22-26 USA Falcons
19/07/2008 Canada East 5-32 USA Hawks
19/07/2008 Canada West 55-3 USA Falcons
29/07/2008 Semi-final: Canada West 30-24 Canada East
29/07/2008 Semi-final: USA Falcons 30-12 USA Hawks
02/08/2008 3rd Place Playoff: Canada East 17-17 USA Hawks
02/08/2008 FINAL: Canada West 16-11 USA Falcons
This review appears in the IRB World Rugby Yearbook 2009, to purchase a copy of the Yearbook for the reduced online price of £10.99 visit the publishers' website www.visionsp.co.uk.
