Rugby Canada – 80th minute Ben Cima penalty sends USA past Canada in winner-take-all World Rugby Under-20 Trophy qualifier on Saturday night in Austin

AUSTIN, TEXAS – An 80th minute penalty by Ben Cima sent the USA to the World Rugby U20 Trophy as they edged past Canada 19-18 Saturday night in Austin, Texas.

 
Canada had taken the lead in 76th minute when fly half Robbie Povey’s penalty flew between the sticks but Cima converted from inside his own half, having missed a penalty a mere 90 seconds earlier, to give the USA a one-point victory.
 
Povey’s penalty looked to have given Canada the win after they had been shutout the entire second half until that point while managing to stay in check despite Trenton Cooper’s yellow card, which came from a kickoff after Lorenzo Thomas’ try had given the USA a 16-15 lead in the 50th minute.
 
Cima opened the scoring in the third minute with a penalty but Canada grabbed the first try of the game as Cooper went over in the corner after Povey’s stretch pass in the 10th minute. Cima converted on two penalties in as many minutes to push the USA ahead 9-5 before Povey kicked his first penalty of the night in the 32nd minute to cut the lead to 9-8.
 
Canada struck right on half time though as Peter Milazzo, who had replaced an injured Conor Keys earlier in the half, powered through the USA line after taking a pop pass from lock Reegan O’Gorman.

Canada’s Roster for the World Junior Trophy qualifier vs. USA (Name, club, hometown)
 
1. Cali Martinez (UBC Rugby Club), Vancouver, BC
2. Andrew Quattrin (Aurora Barbarians), Holland Landing, ON
3. Matt Tierney (Pau), Oakville, ON
4. Reegan O’Gorman (Marist Albion), Vancouver, BC
5. Conor Keys (UVic), Stittsville, ON
6. Adrian Wadden (Oakville Crusaders), Oakville, ON
7. Nakai Penny (UBC Thunderbirds), Courtenay, BC
8. Luke Bradley (UVic), Port Alberni, BC
9. Cole Keffer (UBC Thunderbirds), North Vancouver, BC
10. Robbie Povey (Lutton RFC), England
11. Theo Sauder (UBC Thunderbirds), Vancouver, BC
12. George Barton (Clermont Espoirs), Duncan, BC
13. Phil Berna (UBC Thunderbirds), Vancouver, BC
14. Trenton Cooper (Oshawa Vikings), Zephyr, ON
15. Andrew Coe, captain (UBC Thunderbirds), Toronto, ON
16. Conor Sampson (UBC Thunderbirds), Vancouver, BC
17. Brendan Blaikie (Queen’s University), Toronto, ON
18. Curtis Delmonico (UBCOB Ravens), Vancouver, BC
19. Matt Beukeboom (Queen’s University), Lindsay, ON
20. Peter Milazzo (Toronto Saracens), Toronto, ON
21. Keaton Porter (Aurora Barbarians), Barrie, ON
22. Mitch Richardson (Stoney Creek Camels), Stoney Creek, ON
23. Aaron Evison (James Bay), Golden, BC
 
U20 Coaching Staff:
 
Head Coach – Jeff Williams
Assistant Coach – Kenny Goodland
Strength and Conditioning coach – Gareth Lynch
Manager – Jack Hanratty
Video Analyst – Aaron Takle
Head Therapist – Jessica Smith
 
USA’s Roster for the World Junior Trophy qualifier vs. Canada
 
1. Connor Cudeback
2. Steven Branham
3. Nick Kwasniewski
4. Sean Coleman
5. Malon Al-Jiboori
6. Uki Taumoefolau
7. Brennan Falcon
8. Hanco Germishuys (C)
9. Louis Mulholland
10. Ben Cima
11. Deion Mikesell
12. Brian Hannon
13. Lorenzo Thomas
14. Tyler Sousley
15. Mitchell Wilson
16. Zachary Haley
17. Chance Wenglewski
18. Mason Pedersen
19. Joshua Warnock
20. George Fotu
21. Ruben de Haas
22. Rodney Giles
23. Devin Lim

Scoring Summary:

Canada

Tries: Trenton Cooper, Peter Milazzo
Penalties: Robbie Povey (2)
Conversions: Robbie Povey

USA

Tries: Lorenzo Thomas
Penalties: Ben Cima (4)
Conversions: Ben Cima

About Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada is the national governing  body  of  the  sport  of  rugby  union  in Canada.  Rugby Football has a  long  history  in  Canada  dating  back  to  its  initial appearance in the 1860s. Since 1974, Rugby Canada has been a permanent fixture on  the  global  rugby  scene,  including  trips  to  each  of  the eight Men’s Rugby  World Cups and seven Women’s Rugby World Cups. As a regular on the Men’s and Women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Canada continues to climb the world rankings and challenge the dominant rugby nations in both versions of the game.

To support the growth of rugby at the grass-roots level and to ensure there are elite programs for prospering young rugby players to become involved with, Rugby Canada has put an emphasis on developing its junior programs.  Our goal is to develop and train competitive teams for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland and 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RugbyCanada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RugbyCanada

YouTube: www.youtube.com/RugbyCanada

Instagram: www.instagram.com/RugbyCanada  

Website: www.rugbycanada.ca 

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Bryan Kelly, Rugby Canada

Manager, Communications and Media Relations

Phone: 250-216-5272

Email: bkelly@rugbycanada.ca