Tough day at the office for the lads. Here’s how it went down.
The USA U18s showed some early fire against Buenos Aires, but a promising opening quickly unraveled into a frustrating day for the Americans.
The boys came out hungry, landed a few strong tackles, and spent some early time in the Buenos Aires half. But a string of penalties handed possession and territory straight back to the hosts, who opened the scoring from a lineout maul.
From there, Buenos Aires took control.
Their speed and willingness to move the ball exposed a USA defense that never looked fully connected. Some defenders shot out of the line while others held back, creating large doglegs for a talented Buenos Aires backline to attack.
Kingston Hawkins | Flyhalf vs Buenos Aires
📸 Dan Caple
There were a few big individual hits from the Americans, but support runners too often found gaps after an offload. Buenos Aires repeatedly found space through the middle or moved the ball beyond the scrambling defense.
The biggest problem, though, was holding onto the ball long enough to make anything happen.
The USA simply could not string phases together. Nearly every promising possession ended with a penalty, knock-on, poor pass, or turnover at the breakdown. The boys became trapped in a cycle of defending for long stretches, briefly winning the ball back, and immediately handing it away again.
OC Lehner carries the ball vs Buenos Aires
📸 Dan Caple
Buenos Aires showed no interest in letting them settle.
They punished penalties with quick-taps, capitalized on missed tackles, and repeatedly turned their lineout maul into points. Early in the second half, a loose pass was soccer-kicked into the try zone and recovered by Buenos Aires for another score, increasing their lead and setting the tone for the remainder of the second frame.
The final 20 minutes wasn’t pretty for either side. Slippery conditions led to handling errors, and the game slowed to a grind. Kudos to the USA for keeping Buenos Aires under pressure and forcing many errors, though we were guilty of our share of mishaps as well. The result was a long stretch of scrums and penalties — and not much momentum for either team — to close out the game.
Thomas Parrott rumbles into contact
📸 Dan Caple
Thomas Parrott was one of the USA’s strongest backs on both sides of the ball before leaving with an injury midway through the second half. Game captain Alex Drury also produced one of the biggest defensive hits of the match in the second half and smashed defenders whenever he had the ball.
The USA pack continued carrying hard late in the contest, but by then the outcome was already decided.
It was a disappointing way to close the tour, especially after the confidence-building victory over Brazil earlier in the week.
But international rugby has a way of exposing weaknesses quickly, and Buenos Aires did exactly that.
Final Score: Buenos Aires Academy 40 — 0 USA U18s
Miles Caple helps a teammate from the floor
📸 Dan Caple
The U18s leave South America with a tight contest against Uruguay, a convincing win over Brazil's U19s, and a difficult loss to Buenos Aires Academy.
Riot Take:
The biggest question I came away with wasn't the scoreline — it was continuity between games on this tour.
Three matches are a great opportunity for a group to grow together, yet we never saw the same 9/10 pairing twice, and some players shifted positions significantly throughout the tour. From the outside, it was difficult to tell which combinations the staff were trying to build around.
The Brazil win felt like the squad had found something to build on. But it was surprising to see several key players from that game completely absent from the roster against Buenos Aires Academy.
Maybe there were long-term objectives that weren't obvious from the outside. If so, fair enough. But watching the tour unfold, it often felt like each match started from scratch rather than building on the previous one.
So, what exactly was the objective of this tour? Winning games, trying new lineups, getting everyone on the pitch? Something else?
I’m puzzled. I’ll leave it at that.
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Regardless, congratulations, lads, on representing the United States this summer. It’s always a pleasure to watch you play this beautiful game. And thank you for being a great example for all the young rugby players across the USA!
Onward and upward.
Cheers!