New Zealand pulverizes United States 104-14 in inaugural 1874 Cup

The highly anticipated rugby friendly between the United States and New Zealand went as many anticipated, with the NZ All Blacks rolling the US Eagles 104-14 at FedEx Stadium in Landover, MD, on Saturday. New Zealand ended up covering as a 73.5-point favorite on Matchbook.

Luke Jacobson got the action going for the All Blacks immediately in the 1st minute, the opening try putting them up 7-0. They kept pouring it on from there, going up by as many as 59 before Nate Augspurger made American rugby history, scoring the first-ever try for the Yanks against the All Blacks just seconds before the halftime whistle.

Ryan Matyas added a second try for the home team in the 53rd minute, but it wasn’t enough to keep the States within shouting distance, as they lost by 90. While the result wasn’t unexpected, many were hoping for the Eagles to be able to keep it under a century conceded.

This served as a warmup match for New Zealand, who will face Ireland in what should be a more competitive 80 minutes in three weeks.

This friendly was dubbed the 1874 Cup to commemorate the first year rugby was played in the United States and is part of country’s push to host either the 2027 or 2029 Men’s Rugby World Cup and the 2031 Women’s Rugby World Cup.