USA’s Taku Ngwenya reminded rugby fans of what they can look forward to at Rugby World Cup 2015 when he marked his return to Eagles’ colours with a stunning try in a 27-17 win against Romania.

Making his first appearance since the Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifier series against Canada, Biarritz star Ngwenya brushed off two defenders and outpaced the covering defence to score from 60 metres out in the fourth minute of the match in Bucharest.

While not quite in the same class as his brilliant solo try against South Africa at RWC 2007, it was still a potent piece of finishing nonetheless and got the Eagles' November campaign off to a flying start. "The first try gave us much-needed momentum,” USA head coach Mike Tolkin admitted afterwards. “They were pressing us and we turned that around with Taku’s try. They were deflated for a while.”

Adam Siddall nailed the touchline conversion and also improved Tim Stanfill’s try before kicking a penalty, as USA went into the break leading by 17-3. 

A penalty try, converted by Florin Vlaicu, who scored Romania’s first half points, gave the hosts some much-needed momentum at the start of the second period. But a third penalty miss from the normally reliable boot of Vlaicu was punished by Siddall who made no mistake from the tee to put the Eagles 20-10 up.

Another Ngwenya run on 66 minutes set up good field position from which USA scored their second try through full back Folau Niua. Siddall maintained his perfect kicking record with another superb conversion from wide out.

Not long after the restart, Romania replied with a try from Daniel Carpo, which Vlaicu converted for the final scoreline of 27-17 in USA’s favour. It was the Eagles’ third straight win over the Oaks and the perfect response to their heavy defeat at the hands of the All Blacks in Chicago.

It also saw them become the first recipients of the Pershing Cup, named in honour of US Army General John Pershing, the organiser of the Inter-Allied Games in Paris in 1919 which featured the first-ever international between USA and Romania. The Pershing Cup will be awarded to the winner of all Romania-USA matches from now on outside of Rugby World Cups.

Kingsholm set for World Cup dress rehearsal

The Eagles will now travel to the English rugby hotbed of Gloucester for next weekend’s match against Tonga at Kingsholm. The famous West Country venue will play host to both countries at next year’s Rugby World Cup, with the USA up against Japan and Tonga taking on Georgia.

Tonga scored a psychological boost ahead of that 19 September meeting against the Lelos with a 23-9 win in Tbilisi on Saturday. All three of Tonga’s tries came in the second half through Taniela Moa, with two, and Vungakoto Lilo.

Canada scored a morale-boosting win in North Wales against fellow Rugby World Cup participants Namibia. Flanker Nanyak Dala capped a fine personal display with Canada’s only try in a match every bit as tight as the 17-13 scoreline suggests.

In another closely-fought encounter, Japan pushed Maori All Blacks close in Tokyo but were ultimately unable to deny their opponents a second tour victory. Leading by three points with the clock ticking down, Japan looked to be heading for a historic win in what has already been a memorable year for the Brave Blossoms. However the Maori All Blacks conjured up a try for Dan Pryor with their last attack of the match to deny their hosts.

Japan head coach Eddie Jones, while no doubt disappointed to lose in such fashion, can at least console himself that it was a better performance than the 61-21 thrashing they received at the hands of the Maori in Kobe a week earlier.

Wonder try little consolation for Fiji

Fiji were on the wrong end of a hat-trick from France debutant Teddy Thomas as Les Bleus ran out 40-15 winners in Marseilles. While outplayed for long periods, particularly in the first half when they trailed 14-0, Fiji will take some encouragement from an improved second-half performance going into Saturday’s Test against Wales. Timoci Nagusa’s sensational 80-metre solo try certainly ensured they signed off in style.

Samoa were unable to hold onto a 10-3 interval lead as they slipped to a 24-13 defeat to Italy in Ascoli Piceno. Azzurri captain Sergio Parisse scored a decisive late try and New Zealand-born fly half Kelly Haimona kicked 14 points to hand Italy their first win of the year.

Russia ran in three tries as they overcame the disappointment of missing out on RWC 2015 with a 31-10 win over fellow repechage losers Hong Kong. The victory was all but sealed in the first half after they led 23-3.

Russia's tries came from wings Andei Otrokov and Igor Galinovskiy and replacement Mikhail Sidorov, while fly half Yury Kushnarev kicked 16 points.