Heavily beaten in Las Vegas, Sean Rutgerson’s United States Hawks are set to continue their development with a ground-breaking tour of Malta.
The Hawks started strongly on Friday in what was to be the Second Test against Greece - after the First Test clash was canned because lighting failure - at Silver Bowl Park.
But a wonderful individual try in injury time at the end of the first half from halfback Eddie Markopoulus turned the tide irrevocably in Greece’s favour, with Sydney luminaries Nick Politis and Mark Bouris left beaming by a 46-10 victory.
“The boys are very disappointed they didn’t play on Wednesday night - it was out of our control,” said Greece coach and former premiership star with Eastern Suburbs, Western Suburbs and Wests Tigers, Steve Georgallis.
“We brought a squad of 25 young players over - eight from Greece, 17 from Australia - looking at the next World Cup. There were a lot of 21, 22, 23-year-olds and it was great to watch them play.
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USA v Greece - Rugby League International
“Ten of them I rested and 15 played in the Nines yesterday so there’s about eight who backed up from the Nines yesterday. They won four games in the Nines and qualified for the finals so no-one could play both.”
It was the first time the countries had played each other and the first men’s and women’s double-header hosted by the USARL.
The women’s game was a big 46-0 win for the Americans.
Malta Rugby League boss Anthony Micallef was at the game to finalise arrangements for a two-Test men's series in Malta in early September.
The games will be played on a Saturday and the following Tuesday in a recognised soccer stadium, Maltese government officials having undertaken to attend.
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USA Women v Greece Women - Rugby League International
Rutgerson said he understood only Greece-based players would play Friday’s match as he had brought only domestic men but added: “there are different excused but in the first half we were sticking with them.
“We made a couple of errors and they made us pay. They’re a quality side. It got away from us at the end of the game.”
