Australia A Thump USA 61-12 in Nashville Despite Red Card

Australia A run riot in Nashville

Australia A opened their two-match tour of the United States with a statement, beating the USA 61-12 in a non-Test rugby union friendly at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday 24 October local time. The visitors scored nine tries, led 26-12 at half-time, and then added five unanswered tries after the break to turn a competitive first half into a rout.

To be clear about the code: this was rugby union, not rugby league, and it is a different match, different code and different set of players from any Australia-Fiji rugby league story. Australia A are Australia's second side, below the Wallabies, and this fixture did not carry Test status, even though the Australia side featured nine capped Wallabies.

The red card that did not change the game

The start was as fast as the score suggests. Winger Dylan Pietsch opened the scoring in the fourth minute, diving over from close range, and Australia A raced to a 19-0 lead. Centre David Feliuai then set up lock Nick Frost for the second try. The USA were chasing the game before they had settled into it, and Australia A's scrum dominance kept giving the tourists field position.

Then came the moment that should have changed the match. Feliuai was initially yellow-carded in the 15th minute for a high shot, caught upright as he tried to make a tackle and collecting the USA attacker in the head. The television match official review upgraded the sanction to a 20-minute red card. Australia A were down to 14 men, the USA had a one-man advantage, and the home crowd had a reason to believe the game could turn.

It did not turn. Australia A became more dangerous instead. Joe Brial delivered the spark while short-handed, backing up a bomb from Tane Edmed to race clear. USA Rugby's report notes that Australia A managed two more tries while a man down, a detail that captures the hosts' frustration: the numerical advantage arrived, and the scoreboard kept moving the wrong way.

The USA did find a way onto the board. Michael Baska reeled in a long ball off a five-metre lineout for the home side's first try, capitalising on the extra man. Australia A responded through their rolling maul, with captain Matt Faessler scoring from the back of the lineout drive, and the USA had the final word of the half when Mark O'Keeffe crossed after the USA converted a midfield penalty into another five-metre lineout. At 26-12 at the break, the USA were still in touch, and the second half was theirs to chase.

A one-way second half

It became one-way traffic instead. Scrumhalf Nathan Hastie scored the first try of the second half from close range after sustained forward carries, and Kadin Pritchard followed within five minutes as Australia A took complete control. Wallabies debutant Harry McLaughlin-Phillips then scored with his first touch of the ball, diving over from close range in a moment that capped a memorable month for the young playmaker. Pietsch's second try brought up the half-century, and Tim Ryan sealed the win by latching onto a loose pass and running 50 metres for the final try. The USA, who had scored twice before half-time, did not cross the try line at all in the second half.

For USA head coach Scott Lawrence, the value of the exercise was never only in the result. This series is a development opportunity for an extended player pool, a run-up to next month's Nations Cup Tests and a measure against Rugby World Cup-calibre opposition before next year's World Cup. Lawrence said the long defensive periods were useful, but the USA had to back them up with more continuity in attack, and he pointed to the lineout as a continuing challenge even as the set-piece improved off the bench.

What comes next in New Jersey

For Australia A head coach Stephen Larkham, the satisfaction was different. His side controlled the game for 80 minutes, in Rugby Australia's words, despite the red card, and the tries were spread across the team. Pietsch's double, Frost's work rate, Faessler's maul try, Brial's opportunism and Hastie's control at scrumhalf all featured, and the second-half shutout will have pleased the coaches as much as the attacking return.

The Nashville crowd had already seen a home win earlier in the day: in the women's part of the double-header at the same venue, the USA Women's Eagles beat Italy 54-24, completing a series sweep over Italy and extending their winning run to five Tests. The men's match ended very differently, but the double-header gave both USA sides a showcase on the same day.

What happens next is straightforward. The teams meet again on Friday 30 October at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, at 8pm Eastern Time, live on Paramount+. The USA have six days to turn Nashville's lessons into fixes: cleaner lineout execution, better continuity in attack, and a way to punish a side down a man rather than conceding tries to it. Australia A will look to back up a dominant second half and give more of their squad a run.

The 61-12 scoreline should therefore be read for what it was: a strong, sometimes ruthless performance by a well-drilled second side against a developing USA team building toward bigger Tests. It was not a Test, it was not rugby league, and it was not as close as the half-time score suggested.