Americas Rugby Championship
Eagles' captain Todd Clever hat-trick powers USA over Canada
ESPN Staff
February 14, 2016
Todd Clever of the USA
Todd Clever of the USA© Steve Bardens/Getty Images

A second-half Tom Clever hat-trick powered the USA Eagles to their first win of the Americas Rugby Championship with a 30-22 win over Canada on Saturday night in Austin, Texas.

Despite the Eagles poor discipline, their attack was on fire with captain Clever finding the chalk three times within eight minutes. His first came from the back of a strong driving maul which saw him find the line. He was in again just four minutes later as another rolling maul pushed Canada's defence back and was one-man short following Allistair Clark's sin binning. A rolling maul only minutes later then saw Clever peel away from the back to add his third.

Canada put the pressure on early, punishing the Eagles poor discipline with half-back Gordon McRorie slotting two early penalties to take a 9-3 lead after 25-minutes.But it was the Eagles who got over for the first try with Chad London finding the line and James Bird converting to give the hosts the lead for the first time in the match.

Canada made sure to hit back before the break, however, with McRorie adding another 3-points to take a 12-10 lead into half-time.

Canada soon added to their lead after the break with a fifth penalty, but couldn't find their way through the Eagles defence. They were soon trailing 27-15 after Clever's triple, and although they finally crossed the line with Duncan Macquire slotting through the gap, an Eagles penalty in the final minutes put the game out of reach.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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