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Gold's USA stay perfect with ARC win over Brazil

Los Angeles - The United States remained unbeaten in defense of their Americas Rugby Championship crown on Saturday with a 43-16 victory over Brazil in Sao Paulo.

Three of the Eagles' seven tries came late in an erratic second half as the Americans sealed their fourth win in four matches.

With one round remaining they top the table on 19 points, three ahead of Argentina XV who dominated Canada 40-15.

The United States conclude the tournament next week at Uruguay, which crushed Chile 67-15.

"Even though we haven't played brilliantly, we put ourselves in a good position to win this championship next week," said US head coach Gary Gold.

The US seized the initiative less than five minutes in when Mike Te'o crossed the line.

After a Josh Reeves penalty for Brazil, Huluholo Mo'ungaloa pounded over from short range, and the Americans got lucky when Bryce Campbell was awarded a try after crawling through contact to the line.

Up 19-3, the Americans secured the bonus point with a fourth try from Hanco Germishuys.

Brazil responded with a try to make it 26-10 at the interval, with Stefano Giantorno breaking through to set Moises Duque free on the left side.

Energized, the hosts came out strong in the second half, but their hopes took a hit when Giantorno received a yellow card for a shot on Eagles captain Nate Augspurger.

A high tackle on Ariel Rodriguez then saw the Eagles' Nick Civetta shown a yellow card as well, and the US were scrambling after Reeves converted two quick penalties.

But Brazil's lack of discipline proved costly when Diego Lopez was shown the yellow for a kick to the head of Tony Lamborn.

Lamborn responded with a try from the ensuing lineout, and after Brazil saw Jardel Vettorato sent to join Lopez in the sin bin the Eagles added two more tries.

"It wasn't perfect, and never is going to be, but we keep moving forward and getting better," Augspurger said.

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