SCOTLAND 44 USA 12
IAN GOLDEN, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Monday

SCOTLAND qualified to face Wales in the fifth-placed play-off after a tough, often ugly, win over USA.

The only side that the US have ever beaten is Scotland, and that was four years ago in their first ever match.

Like they did then, they took the lead through Mack Johnson, as he grounded after four minutes and Brent Hawkins converted.

The match in the 2022 tournament was a high-scoring thriller. Unfortunately, this encounter failed to reach those standards, but Scotland will be happy as they remained in control and didn’t look like losing after Arran King’s try double.

They went into the break 28-6 up after Calum Davidson, who kicked four goals, Sarah Devlin and Alex Howe each added first-half tries.

It took until the 57th minute for Scotland to add to their lead when Calum Japes scored in the corner, then with eight minutes remaining, Howe beat his markers well to score under the posts. Robertson converted both.

USA got points back with five minutes remaining thanks to an Antoine Gray try that collapsed the posts. Hawkins converted.

But Scotland finished on a high when Japes went over for his second try.

SCOTLAND: 1 Calum Davidson, 2 Arran King, 6 Max Owen, 7 Sarah Devlin, 12 John Clarke. Subs (all used): 9 Calum Japes, 10 Mark Robertson, 11 Alex Howe

Tries: King (7, 10), Davidson (19), Devlin (28), Howe (37, 72), Japes (57, 78); Goals: Davidson 4/5, Robertson 2/3

USA: 1 Mackenzie Johnson, 7 Antoine Gray, 8 Brent Hawkins, 3 Jabrier Lee, 5 Jesse Lind. Subs (all used): 11 Andy Kingsley, 6 Eric Wooten, 4 Freddie Smith

Tries: Johnson (4), Gray (75); Goals: Hawkins 2/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 10-6, 16-6, 22-6, 28-6; 34-6, 40-6, 40-12, 44-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Players of the Match
Scotland: Arran King; USA: Mackenzie Johnson

Penalty count: 5-1; Half-time: 28-6; Referees: Robert Burgin and Karli Wilkinson; Attendance: 400