O’Sullivan ‘disappointed’ as US lose to neighbours Canada
The Canadians had been trailing 15-10 to Ireland’s Pool C rivals at half time but rallied in the second half courtesy of tries from Phil Mackenzie and Aaron Carpenter.
Played in front of a record rugby crowd of 10,621 fans at the BMO Field, it was the first of a two-Test series, the return clash set for next Saturday evening in Colorado.
“We are disappointed,” admitted O’Sullivan. “It would have been great to get the win here in Toronto. We let in a couple of tries from very simple errors that really hurt us, and put ourselves under pressure. But we responded well and got back into the game.
“There were plenty of positives. Our scrum was very solid and our line-out fired well for the most part.
“We scored some good tries, and with more time together, the team cohesiveness will only improve. We have one week to fine tune things before the return match.”
Wales suffered am double injury blow as they began their build-up with a 23-19 defeat against England at Twickenham.
Full-back Morgan Stoddard suffered a broken leg after being tackled by Delon Armitage, with Wales coach Warren Gatland admitting: “It looks like a bad break. It’s a shame for him.”
Stoddard, who will now miss the tournament in New Zealand, only started the game as Stephen Jones withdrew after suffering a suspected calf strain during the warm-up.
England, who visit Cardiff next Saturday for the return Test, have their own injury worries after captain Lewis Moody limped off with an injury to the same knee that forced him to miss the RBS 6 Nations.
In the southern hemisphere, Australia coach Robbie Deans called his side’s one-sided 30-14 loss to New Zealand at Eden Park a learning experience.
Apart from a dominant effort at scrum time, Australia were outclassed right across the park as the All Blacks reclaimed the Bledisloe Cup and fired the opening psychological shot ahead of next month’s World Cup.
“We learned a lot tonight. We’ll be better for that,” Deans said.
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