{"id":261399,"date":"2025-07-13T10:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T10:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261399\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T10:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T10:59:11","slug":"double-test-upsets-as-rugby-europe-teams-shock-north-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261399\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Test upsets as Rugby Europe teams shock North America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spain have made history, defeating the United States for the very first time with a 31-20 victory at the American Legion Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n

After a brief kick-off delay due to weather, Pablo Bouza\u2019s side struck early through a clever short punt from scrum-half Tani Bay, regathered by wing Martiniano Cian<\/a> and dotted down in the corner. Men\u2019s Rugby Europe Championship<\/a> 2025 Player of the Tournament, Gonzalo L\u00f3pez Bontempo, slotted the conversion.<\/p>\n

The Eagles, rocked by Spain\u2019s fast start, struggled in the lineout and failed to capitalise on promising field position inside the opposition 22.<\/p>\n

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But the nightmare wasn\u2019t over for the hosts. A series of fumbles handed the visitors more momentum, with back row Matheo Triki<\/a> hacking the ball deep into the American half. Bay pounced to score under the posts.<\/p>\n

Five minutes later, L\u00f3pez Bontempo crossed for Spain\u2019s third try, stretching the lead to 21 points.<\/p>\n

With pride on the line, Scott Lawrence\u2019s men responded\u2014captain Ben Bonasso bagging a brace in quick succession, both converted by AJ MacGinty<\/a>, to close the gap to seven at the break.<\/p>\n

After the restart, the USA<\/a> looked sharper and closed the deficit to a single point with two MacGinty penalties.<\/p>\n

But as errors crept back into the game, both sides struggled for control. Spain\u2019s defence held firm, producing a string of turnovers to repel the American comeback.<\/p>\n

With the Eagles growing increasingly frantic, Spain seized the initiative\u2014L\u00f3pez Bontempo adding a penalty before number eight Rapha\u00ebl Nieto finished off a thunderous maul in the dying moments.<\/p>\n

It marks Spain\u2019s first win over the USA after five previous defeats. Bouza\u2019s side now head to Edmonton to face a wounded Canada, fresh off a shock 25-18 loss to Belgium.<\/p>\n

Belgium stun Canada<\/a> in historic upset<\/strong>
Despite taking an early lead, Canada were undone by a dazzling display from Matias Remue<\/a>, who orchestrated Belgium\u2019s attack and teed up his brother Florian for the opening try.<\/p>\n

The hosts hit back, but lightning wing Sim\u00e9on Soenen sliced through to score Belgium\u2019s second.<\/p>\n

Canada regained the lead through a dominant maul, with hooker Andrew Quattrin<\/a> powering over. But the tide turned again in the second half as Belgium<\/a> took control.<\/p>\n

Florian Remue kicked eight points via two penalties and a conversion, while Soenen bagged his second try to seal a famous win for the Diables Noirs.<\/p>\n

Sion Parry added a late consolation for Canada, who now prepare to welcome a buoyant Spanish side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain have made history, defeating the United States for the very first time with a 31-20 victory at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-261399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114845579042343876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}