POOL C: United States 13 Russia 6:THE United States denied Russia a dream World Cup debut with a scrappy victory in their Pool C encounter yesterday.
The United States’ greater experience of playing at a higher level made the difference as kickers endured a miserable night in soggy conditions.
US fullback Chris Wyles slotted eight points with the boot through two penalties and a conversion of scrumhalf Mike Petri’s try, but he missed another three penalties and a drop goal.
Russia outhalf Yury Kushnarev notched his country’s first World Cup points, though he too missed three penalties before centre Konstantin Rachkov took over to slot a late penalty.
“We tried to show our best, it was our first game and we tried to prepare for it as much as possible but it was very tough,” Russia lock Alex Voytov said.
Russia had waited 24 years to reach the World Cup but it took just two minutes to earn their first points when Kushnarev slotted over a penalty.
The Americans took a couple of deep breaths and slowly worked their way back into the game, taking a controlled approach as they built phases and pressure downfield.
Wyles slotted a long-range penalty to open their account before the Suniula brothers, Roland and Andrew, combined to breach the Russia defence and scrumhalf Petri scored a try.
Wyles converted to give the United States a 10-3 lead and despite camping out in Russian territory they were unable to build, Wyles missing two further penalty attempts.
A torrential downpour at the break ended any hopes of the game opening up in the second half as both sides struggled to hold on to the ball.
Wyles’s poor kicking continued with a missed penalty and fluffed drop goal before he finally gave his side a 10-point lead with his second penalty in the 65th minute.
Kushnarev missed another penalty attempt before he was replaced by centre Rachkov, who slotted a long-distance penalty to narrow the gap with three minutes remaining.
“I was nervous (in the final minutes),” US captain Todd Clever said. “They’re a tough team and they’re getting better and better, now I’m just proud of the guys we were able to finish through that.”
UNITED STATES:Wyles, Ngwenya, Emerick, A Suniula, Paterson, R Suniula, Petri, MacDonald, Biller, Moeakiola, van der Giessen, Smith, Stanfill, Clever, Johnson. Replacements: Scully for Paterson (38 mins), Usasz for Petri (67 mins), Pittman for Moeakiola (39 mins), LaValla for Johnson (66 mins). Not used: Thiel, Danahy, Malifa.
RUSSIA: Klyuchnikov, Ostroushko, Rachkov, Makovetskiy, Artemyev, Kushnarev, Shakirov, Popov, Korshunov, Prishchepenko, Voytov, Antonov, Garbuzov, Fatakhov, Grachev. Replacements: Botvinnikov for Popov (73 mins), Byrnes for Antonov (60 mins), Gresev for Garbuzov (58 mins). Not used: Tsnobiladze, Khrokin, Yanyushkin, Kuzin.
Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU).
