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The 2005 Maccabiah Rugby tournament opened with a 31-10 victory by USA over an undersized and overmatched Australian side. The game was marred with frequent knock-ons and many injury stoppages, but it had few penalties and spirited play from both sides. USA controlled possession throughout with a dominating scrummaging game, while the backline exploited gaps for some exciting breaks. USA’s defense also held strong, as the Aussies were unable to penetrate the USA’s line.

The scoring started five minutes in as flyhalf Greg Van der Griff slotted a tough angle penalty kick from 22 meters (3-0). He would leave the game a few minutes later with an injury, and scrumhalf Jeremy Nash moved to flyhalf and Michael Fair came on to finish the game at #9. USA spent the next 20 minutes attacking but was unable to score until a sloppy lineout got cleaned up by blood sub prop Dan Gertzakov who led a charge that ended with hooker

Aaron Blatt charging through several defenders. Fair conversion (10-0). Despite dominant play, which included two stolen tightheads on the attacking 5-meter line, USA could not score again before halftime. The Aussies opened the scoring in the second half with a 30 meter penalty goal (10-3), but the USA responded right back. Off a scrum set piece, flyhalf Nash found a gap between 9 and 10 (one of many such breaks during the day) which ended with Blatt barrelling over to finish. Fair conversion (17-3). Midway through

the second half, USA applied the screws to the Aussie scrum at midfield, and flanker sub Aaron Ellison attacked to scoop up a loose ball and scampered the rest of the way to touch it down under the posts. Fair conversion (24-3). Australia responded with some pressure, and taking advantage of a few penalties, sub Dan Gershon took a quick tap from 5 meters and scored under the posts for the Aussie’s only try of the day (24-10). USA answered back a few minutes later by stealing a scrum in the attacking end. The ball was spun out, and outside center Andrew Lebowitz took the ball at pace and made a fake before finding the try zone. Fair conversion (31-10). Ten minutes of slow play at the end of the game saw no scoring. Full time.

Both packs were subject to 35 scrums due to the constant knock-ons, led by the Americans with 23 errors. However, the USA scrum stole 11 tightheads which starved the Aussies of possession. Aaron Blatt and flanker Guy Dotan spent the game hitting the line at pace. Van der Griff had some nice positional kicking before leaving the game with an injury, but his status is questionable going forward. Fullback Micah Mills had some beautiful counterattacks, but going forward the USA needs to get him the ball from attacking rucks off loose play. Mills is a weapon yet to be unsheathed.

The biggest blow to the team was the loss of #8 Kevin Armstrong who left the game 20 minutes into the contest with a groin pull and a broken arm sustained on the same play. Armstrong is likely out for the remainder of the tournament. Man of the Match honors go to hooker Aaron Blatt who lit up the field with his punishing drives with the ball, scoring two tries. Simply put, the man is built like an Israeli tank. Coach Stu Krohn used all 7 subs.

1. K. Schulman (D. Gertzakov) 2. A. Blatt 3. R. Perle 4. J. Kaplan (c) 5. A. Kaplan (J. Bakst) 6. B. Brown (D. Pitzele) 7. G. Dotan 8. K. Armstrong (A. Ellison) 9. J. Nash 10. G. Van der Griff (M. Fair) 11. J. Sturman 12. A. Manheimer (A. Meyer) 13. A. Lebowitz 14. B. Burns (D. Ostriker) 15. M. Mills