“We are obviously happy to get the victory,” Falcons Coach Ray Lehner said. “And I was really pleased with the play by the deep three. Tyson, Jone and Zachary all had a great game.”
 
Although the game started with the Falcons controlling the majority of early possession, the Hawks actually came out and scored first just six minutes in when scrumhalf Mike Petri made a move and slid easily by defenders to touch down under the posts. Mike Graham converted and the Hawks marked its first and last lead of the game.
 
The Falcons recovered after a grubber kick led to captain Rikus Pretorius scoring their first try, which Zachary Pangelinan converted. Pretorius would score the Falcons second try just 16 minutes later and they would take a 14-7 lead over the Hawks with just 10 minutes left in the half.
 
The Hawks tied the match before half after wing Justin Boyd was able to get his hands on the ball and dive in the corner for the try.
 
“In the beginning we had a few players in positions they weren’t necessarily comfortable in and we were suffering from a bit of slow ball coming out of the rucks,” Lehner added. “We made some adjustments after half and moving Nese Malifa in really helped speed up the game a bit. After that we were able to move the players into their natural positions and I think that change definitely made the difference.”
 
Just eight minutes into the second half, Meek scored his first try intercepting a pass from the Hawks backline and snatching the momentum of the game from there on out. Fullback Jone Naqica dove in the corner for the next try of the match, giving the Falcons a 10-point lead.
 
Twelve minutes later the Hawks were able to make one more offensive surge as Justin Hundley made his way up the middle to touch one down under the posts. Graham successfully converted and it still looked like a ball game. That was, however, until Malifa came back with a vengeance and scored and converted his first try of the match.

The Falcons had again worked its way up to a 10-point margin and even after successful penalty kicks from both sides cleared the uprights, it was obvious that the Falcons would hold the Hawks off from a late comeback and Meek’s game-ending interception just sealed the deal.
 
“We’ve got very talented backs and we expected them to play well,” Falcons Pretorius said. “With only a couple of days of training before this match, the important part going forward is to continue to gel as a team and trust each other’s talent. We play a simplistic style of rugby and I think that we’ll only get better from here on out.”
 
The Hawks, though obviously disheartened by this early loss, are only looking forward with the same goals.
 
“The most important thing is to learn from our mistakes,” Hawks captain Mike Petri said. “We played our system well and the entire squad played their hearts out. There is a long month of matches ahead and we need to continue to learn and improve with each match. We can only pick it up from here.”
 
The next set of matches for the U.S. sides will be held in Victoria, British Columbia on July 15 when the Hawks face the West and the Falcons take on Canada East.
 
 

Falcons 39, Hawks 24

Falcons (39)
Tries: Pretorius 2, Meek 2, Naqica, Malifa
Conversions: Pangelinan 2, Malifa
Penalties: Malifa

Falcons: 15. Jone Naqica 14. Tyson Meek; 13. Luke Council (Valenese Malifa in @ 41); 12. Gary Golding 11. Zachary Pangelinan; 10. Volney Rouse (Vaha Esikia in @62); 9. Mose Timoteo (Timothy Usasz in @ 54); 1. Mate Moeakiola (Jonathan Kollerer in @ 47) 2. William Brazier; 3. Shawn Pittman (Mark Kernen in @ 58); 4. Jared Wolfgramm; 5. Louis Stanfill; 6. Peter Dahl; 7. Rikus Pretorius; 8. Naki Angilau (Mark Litke in @ 47).
Hawks (24)
Tries: Petri, Boyd, Hundley
Conversions: Graham 3
Penalties: Graham

Hawks: 15. Nate Ebner (Justin Hundley in @ 56); 14. Shawn Rafferty; 13. Owen Collins (Keikiokalani Misipeka in @ 49); 12. Mike Graham; 11. Justin Boyd; 10. Brendan Thompson; 9. Mike Petri; 1. Jon Vitale (Brian Olmes in @ 33-41); 2. Phil Abraham (Phil Thiel in @ 56); 3. Chad Slaby; 4. Brian Doyle; 5. John Van der Giessen; 6. Travis Meidinger (Pat Quinn in @ 66); 7. Nic Johnson (Josh Dean in @ 29); 8. Mark Aylor.
 
 

---