Australia A Run Riot, Women's Eagles Make It Five: What the Nashville Weekend Means for the Americas
A 61–12 lesson for the men against Australia A, a 54–24 statement from the Women's Eagles against Italy, and a second straight Canadian win over world champions England in Ottawa. Here is what happened, why it matters for rugby in North America, and what to watch in New Jersey on Friday.
USA vs Australia A was supposed to be the night the Men's Eagles measured themselves against near-Wallaby opposition on home soil. Instead, Saturday at GEODIS Park in Nashville turned into a 61–12 defeat and a nine-try lesson in set-piece power and finishing. Two hours earlier on the same field, the Women's Eagles did the opposite: they came back from 12–0 down to beat Italy 54–24 and stretch their winning run to five Tests. And the night before in Ottawa, Canada beat reigning world champions England for the second time in eight days.
Three results, one weekend, and a very clear picture of where the Americas stand heading into the final window of the 2026 international season. This is our analysis of the weekend, built from the match reports and official releases listed in the Sources at the bottom. Where we give an opinion, it is labeled as APR's view. If you missed the build-up, start with our USA Eagles October series preview and last week's WXV Global Series weekend analysis.
- Men: Australia A (playing as an Australia XV) beat the USA 61–12 in Nashville. Nine tries to two; 26–12 at half-time. Tries for the Eagles from Michael Baska and Mark O'Keeffe.
- Women: USA 54–24 Italy at the same venue. Italy led 12–0 early; the Eagles scored eight tries, all by forwards, for a fifth straight Test win.
- Canada: 31–22 over England in Ottawa in front of a city-record 13,117. Canada keep the Utrecht Shield, women's rugby's lineal world title.
- Next: Friday, Oct. 30, Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey: Women's Eagles v England (5:15 PM ET), Men's Eagles v Australia XV (8 PM ET).
- APR's take: the women's program is building real momentum; the men's result is a reminder of the depth gap that a stronger domestic pathway has to close.
The Weekend at a Glance
Before the analysis, the scoreboard. The Nashville games were a doubleheader on Saturday, Oct. 24, at GEODIS Park, home of Nashville SC, with one ticket covering both matches. The venue opened in 2022 with a listed capacity of 30,109, and this was only its second rugby event after a Major League Rugby match in April. Canada's game was on Friday night at TD Place in Ottawa.
| Match | Venue | Result | Half-time | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada v England (women) | TD Place, Ottawa | Canada 31–22 | 12–7 Canada | 5–3 |
| USA v Italy (women, WXV Global Series) | GEODIS Park, Nashville | USA 54–24 | Italy led 12–0 early | 8–4 |
| USA v Australia XV (men) | GEODIS Park, Nashville | Australia 61–12 | 26–12 Australia | 2–9 |
Taken together, the three games produced 31 tries and two very different stories: North America's women winning, and North America's men learning a hard lesson about the gap to a tier-one system.
Men: Australia A 61, USA 12 — What Went Wrong
The Australian side that arrived in the United States was strong on paper. When it was named on Oct. 11, the 27-man squad included 12 capped Wallabies, with Stephen Larkham as head coach, Joe Schmidt and Simon Cron also involved, and hooker Matt Faessler as captain. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips came in for the injured Tom Lynagh and Zac Lomax was called up. For the Eagles, under head coach Scott Lawrence and captained by Jason Damm, this was the toughest opponent of the year outside the Pacific Nations Cup.
Australia started fast and were 19–0 up before the Eagles had settled. Then came the moment that could have changed the game. In the 15th minute, Australia's David Feliuai hit Tavite Lopeti high. He was shown a yellow card that the TMO review upgraded to a 20-minute red card, which means the offending team plays a player short for 20 minutes before a replacement can come on. For the next stretch the Eagles had the extra man.
They used it, briefly. Michael Baska ran in untouched in the 23rd minute after a pass from Chris Hilsenbeck, and Mark O'Keeffe finished in the corner just before the break from a Lopeti pass. Hilsenbeck's goal-kicking was accurate. At 26–12 at half-time, the game was not over. But Australia also scored while short-handed: Joe Brial ran in a 45-meter try under the posts after Tane Edmed tapped back a high ball, and that try took the sting out of the Eagles' best spell.
The second half belonged to Australia. Scrum-half Nathan Hastie scored the opening try of the half from close range and controlled the exits with his box kicking. Faessler scored from a lineout maul. Dylan Pietsch finished his second try in the corner. McLaughlin-Phillips scored with his first touch off the bench. Nick Frost and Tim Ryan also crossed, Ryan with a 40-meter run late on after a loose pass. Nine tries in total, four before half-time and five after it.
Who stood up for the Eagles
There were positives, mostly in defense and effort. RugbyPass rated Damm one of the best on the field: involved in nearly everything, among the top first-half tacklers and a reliable lineout target. Inside center Dominic Besag made eight tackles in the opening half-hour. Payton Telea-Ilalio made a game-high ten tackles. Shilo Klein was accurate at the lineout, and Paddy Ryan and Makeen Alikhan were among the leading tacklers early on. Ruben De Haas gave a lift off the bench.
Read that list again and you see the problem. When your standout players are the ones making the most tackles, you are spending most of the night without the ball. Australia's set piece, especially the lineout maul and the scrum anchored by props like Tom Robertson, gave them a platform the Eagles could not match.
APR's view: this is a depth problem, not an effort problem
It would be easy to overreact to 61–12. We think the more useful reading is structural. The Men's Eagles are ranked 14th in the world and spent the summer winning tight games against Portugal, Zimbabwe and Spain, then losing heavily to Japan and narrowly to Canada at the Pacific Nations Cup. Australia A is effectively a second-tier Wallaby squad from a country with a full professional system behind it. The gap you saw on Saturday is the gap between a professional pipeline and a national team that still draws heavily on a five-team domestic league, overseas clubs and college rugby.
That is not an excuse; it is the context. Major League Rugby enters 2027 with five teams after Anthem RC ceased operations this summer, and our guide to pro rugby in the USA lays out how thin the pro layer currently is. Every extra game at a high level, every extra competitive tournament for players coming through, helps close that gap. That belief is a big part of why the APR Games exists.
The Eagles get an immediate chance to respond. The second match against the Australia XV is on Friday night in New Jersey, and the questions are obvious: can the forwards slow the maul, can the Eagles keep the ball for longer phases, and can they turn a numerical advantage into points if one comes their way again? For a team heading to Rugby World Cup 2027, where the USA face France (Oct. 2, Melbourne), Samoa (Oct. 9, Perth) and Japan (Oct. 15, Adelaide) in Pool E, the answers matter more than the scoreline.
Women: USA 54, Italy 24 — Five in a Row
The women's game started badly. Italy scored two tries in the first 15 minutes and led 12–0, and for a moment it looked like the Eagles' streak was in trouble. Then the forwards took over. According to RugbyPass, every one of the Eagles' eight tries was scored by a forward, and their mauls inside the Italian 22 were dominant.
The try list tells the story. Forward Keia Mae Sagapolu-Sanele scored the first two. Freda Tafuna scored a hat-trick, her second three-try game of the WXV Global Series after her treble against Wales in Cardiff on Sept. 26. Co-captain Georgie Perris-Redding, who scored three against Italy in Texas the week before, added another. Kate Zackary scored in the 76th minute. And Lauryn Carlton, a loosehead prop from the Boston Banshees of Women's Elite Rugby, scored on her Test debut. Bella Vogel kicked seven of eight conversions. Rugby World reported a crowd of more than 8,000.
Italy were not poor. They scored four tries of their own through Francesca Granzotto, Francesca Sgorbini, Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi and Beatrice Rigoni, and veteran Michela Sillari, who kicked two conversions, earned her 100th cap. But their scrum was under pressure all afternoon and RugbyPass put their tackle completion at around 80 percent, which is not enough against a pack in this kind of form.
Why the streak matters
Five straight Test wins is the first such run for the Women's Eagles since 2006. Look at how it was built:
| Date (2026) | Opponent | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 11 | South Africa | Pretoria | W 26–19 |
| Sept. 20 | Ireland | Dublin | W 40–36 |
| Sept. 26 | Wales | Cardiff | W 26–24 |
| Oct. 17 | Italy | Mansfield, Texas | W 36–27 |
| Oct. 24 | Italy | Nashville, Tennessee | W 54–24 |
Three of those wins were away from home and three were by a single score, which is exactly what a team learning to win looks like. Nashville was the first one that became comfortable. Head coach Jack Hanratty has also been finding new players: RugbyPass highlighted Vogel, fly-half Nina Mason and Abigail Paton among the new names, and Carlton stepped into a front row that has relied for years on Hope Rogers. Vogel, speaking after the game, said she and Mason are "so interchangeable", which hints at a backline being built for the long term.
APR's view: Women's Elite Rugby is starting to show up in the Test team
We pay close attention to one detail: a Boston Banshees prop scoring on debut. Women's Elite Rugby, with six teams and back-to-back champions Denver Onyx, gives American women a domestic league to develop in. When a WER forward can walk into a Test match and score, the pathway is working. The more competitive games women get at every level, from WER down to club and social rugby, the deeper that pool becomes. It is the reason the APR Games includes a Women's Social division with its own $5,000 prize purse, and why we will keep covering the women's game every week.
Canada 31, England 22: The Utrecht Shield Stays in Canada
If the Women's Eagles are on the rise, Canada are already there. On Oct. 16 in Toronto, Canada beat England 24–21 to end England's 41-match unbeaten run. On Friday in Ottawa they did it again, 31–22, in front of 13,117 fans, a new record for the city that beat its 2025 mark of 11,500.
Canada led 12–7 at half-time after tries from Julia Omokhuale (16th minute) and captain Sophie de Goede (19th). De Goede scored again in the 55th minute, DeLeaka Menin scored in the 61st, her third try in consecutive games against England, and Savannah Bauder crossed in the 64th. De Goede kicked all three of her conversions. England replied through Feaunati, a Zoe Harrison penalty, a converted try from Amy Cokayne and a late try from Emma Sing.
The result means Canada keep the Utrecht Shield, which Rugby Canada describes as women's rugby's lineal world title, tracing back to the first women's international in 1982. Head coach Kevin Rouet said that "to get two wins is amazing", and pointed out that many players are still new to the group, with the target being the 2029 Rugby World Cup. Canada's players now return to their clubs, many of them overseas; their next 15s fixture is the Pacific Four Series in April 2027, and some will move into the HSBC SVNS Series in Dubai (Nov. 28–29) and Cape Town (Dec. 5–6).
APR's view: North America now has two genuine women's powers
Two wins over the world champions in eight days is not a fluke. Canada were runners-up at the 2025 Rugby World Cup and have now shown they can beat England in front of big home crowds. With the USA also winning, North American women's rugby is in its strongest position for years, and that matters for the 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup in the United States. Strong teams draw crowds; crowds help build the case for host cities; host cities create the facilities and attention that grow the game further. It is a cycle worth backing.
Watched the Eagles? Now play under the lights yourself.
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Three Lessons From the Weekend
1. The maul is still the great equalizer, and the great separator
Both Nashville games turned on driving mauls. Australia's captain scored from one, and the Women's Eagles' forwards built their comeback on them. Set-piece dominance does not require a world-class backline; it requires organized, well-coached forwards who practice together. For developing rugby nations, that is good news, because it is a skill that can be coached at every level. The flip side is that if you cannot defend a maul, a better-drilled side will keep going back to it.
2. Discipline cards change games only if you take the chance
The 20-minute red card trial is designed to punish foul play while keeping matches competitive: the offending team is short for 20 minutes, then can bring on a replacement. On Saturday, the Eagles had that advantage and scored one try during the window, but Australia also scored a long-range try while down a player. Converting a numerical advantage into points is a skill in its own right, and it is one the men will want to fix by Friday. Our explainer on how long a rugby game is covers how sin bins and the 20-minute red trial work.
3. Crowds are growing, and cities are watching
More than 8,000 in Nashville for a women's Test and 13,117 in Ottawa are healthy numbers for the North American game. Nashville is one of 27 U.S. cities and areas in the applicant phase for Rugby World Cup 2031, with 33 venues in total; World Rugby expects to narrow that list to candidates by the end of 2026, with final host decisions after the 2027 tournament. Events like this doubleheader are partly an audition. Las Vegas is not among the applicant cities, which is one reason we think a homegrown event in the city matters. We explain why in why Las Vegas is the perfect home for pro rugby.
What It Means for 10s Rugby and the APR Games
The APR Games is a 10s tournament, not a Test match, but the lessons transfer. In 10s, teams typically line up with five forwards and five backs. That leaves more space than 15s, which rewards fit, skilful players, yet the forwards still decide who gets the ball. A small, well-organized pack that wins its own set piece gives its backs room to attack; one that is pushed off its own ball spends the game tackling, just like the Men's Eagles on Saturday. Our guide to 10s rugby positions explains how those five forwards and five backs divide the work. Full APR Games rules and squad sizes will be confirmed with player registration.
The weekend also showed how quickly new players can make an impact when they get chances. Carlton scored on debut. Vogel is running a Test backline. Canada's coach talked openly about integrating new players. The common thread is opportunity. That is what the APR Games is designed to create: a competitive, prize-money tournament on Memorial Day Weekend, May 29–31, 2027, where players can test themselves under floodlights in front of a crowd. Five founding Las Vegas franchises are already in place, including the Vegas Blackjacks, founded in 1976 and billed as Las Vegas's oldest sports club, and the Vegas Lions, alongside the Vegas Kings, Vegas Knights and Downtown Rugby. See all of them on the teams page.
If you are thinking about getting into the game after watching the Eagles, our guide on how to start playing rugby as an adult in Las Vegas is the place to begin. Coaches can look at the APR Coaching Clinic, May 28–31, 2027. And if the forward battles in Nashville inspired you, our weekly Tuesday Skills series breaks down one core rugby skill at a time.
What to Watch on Friday in New Jersey
The October series ends with a doubleheader at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, on Friday, Oct. 30.
| Kickoff (ET) | Match | Key question |
|---|---|---|
| 5:15 PM | USA Women v England | Can the Eagles make it six against a world champion side that has now lost twice in a row to Canada? |
| 8:00 PM | USA Men v Australia XV | Can the pack slow the Australian maul and give the backs enough ball to compete? |
England will arrive in New Jersey after back-to-back defeats, which arguably makes them more dangerous, not less. For the Women's Eagles, a sixth straight win would be the biggest statement yet. For the men, a closer, more competitive performance against largely the same Australian group would be real progress. We will cover both results here and on @americanprorugby.
Planning to travel for rugby next year? Our partner Luna Appleton publishes guides to where to stay, eat and celebrate in Las Vegas, handy for anyone building a Memorial Day Weekend trip around the APR Games. And clubs and venues looking to make their game nights look as big as a Test match can talk to American LED Signage, another official APR partner.
The APR Games is made possible by our partners. Players and fans can support the businesses that support American rugby.
Our Tuesday Skills series is brought to you by Clann13, an official APR partner. Interested in the business side of Las Vegas sport? In Too Win focuses on Las Vegas business and investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the score in USA vs Australia A in Nashville?
Australia A, playing as an Australia XV, beat the USA Men's Eagles 61–12 at GEODIS Park in Nashville on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. Australia led 26–12 at half-time and scored nine tries to two.
Who scored the USA tries against Australia A?
Michael Baska scored in the 23rd minute after a pass from Chris Hilsenbeck, and Mark O'Keeffe scored in the corner just before half-time from a Tavite Lopeti pass.
Why was an Australia A player sent off?
David Feliuai was shown a yellow card in the 15th minute for a high tackle on Tavite Lopeti. A TMO review upgraded it to a 20-minute red card, so Australia played a player short for 20 minutes before a replacement could come on.
What was the score in USA Women vs Italy in Nashville?
The Women's Eagles beat Italy 54–24 at GEODIS Park after trailing 12–0 early. They scored eight tries, all by forwards, including a Freda Tafuna hat-trick and a debut try from prop Lauryn Carlton.
How many games in a row have the Women's Eagles won?
Five straight Test wins: South Africa, Ireland, Wales and Italy twice. It is the team's first five-game winning run since 2006.
Did Canada beat England again?
Yes. Canada beat England 31–22 at TD Place in Ottawa in front of a city-record 13,117 fans, eight days after beating them 24–21 in Toronto to end England's 41-match unbeaten run.
What is the Utrecht Shield?
Rugby Canada describes the Utrecht Shield as women's rugby's lineal world title, tracing back to the first women's international in 1982. The holder keeps it until they lose a Test match. Canada retained it with the Ottawa win.
When do the USA play next?
On Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey: Women's Eagles v England at 5:15 PM ET, then Men's Eagles v the Australia XV at 8 PM ET.
Who do the USA play at Rugby World Cup 2027?
The Men's Eagles are in Pool E with France (Oct. 2, Melbourne), Samoa (Oct. 9, Perth) and Japan (Oct. 15, Adelaide).
How is the APR Games different from a Test match?
The APR Games 2027 is a 10s rugby tournament in Las Vegas on Memorial Day Weekend, May 29–31, 2027, with two 20-minute halves per game, Men's Elite, Women's Social and Youth divisions, and $15,000 in prize money. Player entry is $299 and the waitlist is open at americanprorugby.com.
Keep Reading
Don't miss the next one: follow @americanprorugby, sign up to the APR newsletter, catch up on the latest rugby news, grab a team jersey in the APR shop, or read rugby jerseys explained to see the five APR kits up close.
Sources
- RugbyPass: USA XV player ratings vs Australia A
- RugbyPass: Australia XV player ratings vs USA
- USA Rugby: Australia XV take match one of two-game set with Men's Eagles
- RugbyPass: Talking points — USA make it five straight Test wins
- Rugby World: Eagles win 5th straight for first time since '06
- Rugby Canada: Canada defeats England 31-22 in front of 13,117 fans in Ottawa
- CBC Sports: Canada's second straight win over England
- Hoodline: Nashville hosts rugby doubleheader, eyes 2031 World Cup bid
- Rugby Australia: Australia A two-match series against the USA
- Vegas Blackjacks Rugby Club · Vegas Lions Rugby (team sites)
This analysis is based on the match reports and releases listed above, current as of Oct. 26, 2026. Opinions labeled "APR's view" are ours. Scorers and statistics are as reported by those sources; check official match centers for final records. APR Games 2027 competition rules and squad sizes will be confirmed with player registration. Images are illustrations of fictional players, not real matches or results. Questions? Contact us.