England overcome weather delays and disruption to clinch USA triumph

South Wales Argus

5 days ago

In a match that kicked off an hour later than scheduled owing to lightning strikes in the American capital, Curtis Langdon, Luke Northmore, Cadan Murley, Jack van Poortvliet, Harry Randall and debutant Gabriel Oghre all scored to make it three transatlantic wins from three following their impressive 2-0 victory in Argentina.
The clash was also delayed by a subsequent half an hour when the players were marched off after a second strike but Steve Borthwick's side, who did concede late on when Shilo Klein crashed over for the hosts, kept their composure to stroll to a comfortable triumph.
The result stretches England's current winning run to seven matches, their longest since back in 2020 ahead of upcoming autumn internationals against the likes of Australia and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
The Saturday night encounter was the second of an Audi Field double header after USA had battled past Fiji 31-24 in front of a US women's record 15,198 fans earlier in the afternoon.
That initially gave both sides just under an hour to gear up for the men's encounter as centre Max Ojomoh, full-back Joe Carpenter and second row Arthur Clark all prepared for their England debuts.
Exeter Chiefs flyer Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was also making his hotly-anticipated return after missing the Argentinian leg of the tour while serving a two-match ban for a high tackle in a pre-tour warm-up match against a France XV.
But a weather alert just 15 minutes before kick-off meant the match was delayed by an hour as the players were evacuated after a lightning strike.
With proceedings eventually getting underway at 6:05pm local time, both sets of players emerged to another packed-out crowd as the flashes in the sky were replaced by a pyrotechnics display to greet their arrival from the tunnel.
The encounter started scrappily but England could have grabbed an early breakthrough when debutant Clark was set free only for a penalty to be awarded for a forward pass from Van Poortvliet, matchwinner in the second Test against Argentina last weekend, in the build-up.
The Eagles were dealt a blow shortly after when fly-half Chris Hilsenbeck received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on – and England took full advantage when Langdon bundled over after a rolling maul just two minutes later.
And they doubled their lead moments after when Ojomoh deftly put centre partner Northmore in to cross under the posts.
George Ford, fresh off the back of his 100th cap in South America and a celebratory visit to the British Embassy in DC earlier this week, converted once again to fire England into a 14-0 lead.
England thought they had a third when Alex Dombrandt crossed following an efficient-looking line-out routine but the try was disallowed for obstruction from the Harlequins No.8.
And just seconds after that, both sets of players were marched off the pitch once again following more lightning within 10 miles from the stadium.
Official rules dictate that there has to be 30 minutes without a lightning strike before play can resume, with players therefore eventually emerging for a 7:10pm restart time.
The Red Rose thought they'd grabbed a third once again shortly after the stoppage but Carpenter was denied a debut try after a knock-on by Murley.
But the Harlequins winger made amends just moments later when he weaved in from the left to dot down and finally stretch England's lead to 19-0.
Borthwick's players continued their ruthless mood immediately after the break when Northmore played in Van Poortvliet for the scrum-half to grab his second try in as many matches.
The England chief begun to ring the changes as the second half progressed, bringing on Randall, Fin Baxter and Ben Curry just after the 50th minute.
And scrum-half Randall got in on the act 10 minutes after entering the fray, crossing after being played in by Feyi-Waboso following a brilliant break to extend England's lead to over 30 points.
Borthwick then handed debuts to hooker Oghre and fly-half Charlie Atkinson as the game headed towards a conclusion.
And both wasted no time in marking the occasion in style, with Oghre bundling over from close range before Atkinson's conversion hauled England's lead to 40 points.
USA grabbed a late consolation through Klein to give the home fans who remained something to cheer about but England's work was done as they ended their triumphant tour in style.
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