US fight back to beat Uruguay, reach 2015 World Cup

Shalom Suniula of the USA Eagles on his way to scoring a try against Mario Sagario of Uruguay in the opening qualifying match of the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Saturday in Kennesaw, Georgia.Reuters/AtlantaThe US overturned a 10-point deficit to beat a tiring Uruguay 32-13 in Atlanta on Saturday to qualify for next year’s eighth Rugby World Cup in England. Trailing 13-3 at halftime after last week’s first match in Montevideo ended in a 27-27 draw, the Americans piled on 29 unanswered points in the second period to win the two-leg playoff. The US will join South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and the winners of the Asian qualifying tournament in Group B at the World Cup while Uruguay go into a repechage for a final chance of qualifying. The Eagles reached the World Cup for the seventh time since the inaugural tournament in 1987. The only one they missed out on was in 1995 but they had to work harder than expected to beat Uruguay, who had qualified just twice before, in 1999 and 2003. The South Americans dominated the first half as the Americans struggled at the scrums and paid the price for their ill-discipline. Uruguay outside centre Joaquin Prada scored the only try of the opening period when he strolled over in the 23rd minute after the Eagles had been reduced to 13 men. Inside centre Andrew Suniula was sin-binned for punching and replacement prop Nick Wallace was shown a yellow card for an infringement at the scrum. Uruguay spurned the chance of an easy three points by opting for a series of re-set scrums on the American line and were rewarded when Prada crossed unchallenged. Flyhalf Felipe Berchesi added the conversion but the Eagles hit back quickly when they returned to full strength. They were unlucky not to score a try when winger Blain Scully and Suniula both managed to get over the Uruguay line, only to be held up on each occasion. The Americans eventually opened their account when fullback Chris Wyles booted a penalty when Uruguay captain and hooker Arturo Avalo was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle. Despite being down a man, Uruguay stretched their lead to 10 points by the interval after Berchesi added two more penalties, the first for a dangerous tackle by lock Louis Stanfill then a second at the scrum. The Americans came out a different side in the second half, scoring four unanswered tries as the Los Teros began to fatigue. Tighthead prop Eric Fry cut the deficit to three points when he burrowed his way over from the back of a ruck and scrumhalf Mike Petri gave the Americans the lead for the first time when he caught the Uruguay defence napping and scored off a quick tap in the 62nd minute. Replacement Shalom Suniula side-stepped his way through some tired defenders as the floodgates opened before his brother Andrew finished off the rout when he crashed over. “I always though we’d get there,” US captain Todd Clever told Universal Sports. “But it took longer than I expected and I’m proud of everyone in the team for sticking in there.”