Another excellent weekend for the Rugby Europe sides, as Portugal, Romania and Georgia grabbed wins over Tonga, Samoa and Chile, while Spain came close to beating the home team, USA, but fell short in the end.
Find out what happened with the help of our round 3 report.
Stejarii with a comeback for the ages
It wasn’t a clash for the faint of heart, but it will certainly be remembered for years to come, as Romania pulled a stunning 17-point comeback, snatching the win in the game’s last play to overcome Samoa 38-37.
The Stejarii had to go through a hard start to the game, with Samoa nailing their first converted try and penalty kick to take a 10-point lead before the first quarter. Romania eventually clawed back, claiming two converted tries from Nicolas Onutu and Iliesa Tiqe.
Nonetheless, Samoa would go to the halftime break with the lead, thanks to a bone-crushing carry from No.8 Abraham Papali'i – AJ Alatimu added the extras.
Unfortunately for David Gérard’s side, the Pacific Island nation crossed the whitewash twice ten minutes after the break, widening their lead to a 17-point margin.
With few expecting Romania to pull back, the Stejarii mounted a sensational comeback that began with Player of the Match Alexandru Savin finding room next to Samoa’s in-goal area with the prop grounding the ball in the corner.
Marius Simionescu followed his teammate’s suit and claimed a finish of his own, with Alin Conache slotting in his third conversion of the game, with Romania trailing by 5 points.
In the final ten minutes, Samoa slotted in two additional penalties with Romania getting their 4th time finish, thanks to a cunning ruck exit from Cristi Boboc who threw his body over the whitewash.
With no time left on the clock, Romania went chasing for the match-winning five-pointer that came from a heroic carry from Savin. With all the time in the world, Gabriel Rupanu triumphantly punted the conversion that gifted a remarkable 38- 37 victory over their Pacific Island rivals.
Romania’s Nations Cup July campaign wrapped up with one win, one draw and one defeat, marking the Stejarii's resurgence just one year after conceding heavy losses to Uruguay and Chile.
The Lelos go three for three
Georgia reigned supreme over Chile with Pierre-Henry Broncan’s side clinching a 49-22 win to finish July at the top of the Nations Cup standings.
The Lelos asserted their dominance from the get-go, with the set-piece taking control of the game and forcing the home team to concede several penalties in the opening 10 minutes.
Exeter Chiefs prop Bachuki Tchumbadze was the first to add his name to the scoreboard, following an unstoppable driving maul.
Chile collected a penalty kick before the European side managed to collect two more five-pointers from replacement hooker Vakhtang Jintcharadze and flanker Luka Ivanishvili.
The Cóndores managed to score their first two tries, but Georgia responded with another of their own to head into the break with a 28–15 lead.
While there were no changes to the score for almost 20 minutes, Georgia kept their thumb on Chile, with Vasil Lobzhandize delivering a superb performance all over the park. Although the home team tried to repel the Lelos from reaching the in-goal area, it ultimately wasn't enough, as Tornike Kakhoidze managed to break through, scoring his side’s 5th finish.
Until the final whistle, the 2026 Men's Rugby Europe Championship runners-up scored two more tries, with Chile also scoring their third.
Georgia returns home with three wins on the bag, looking to be the side to beat when November comes.
Portugal with a hard fought win over Tonga
Simon Mannix and his Lobos had to fight until the 85th minute to come out as winners in their clash with Tonga, with the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship earning a 32-28 win at Princess Auto Stadium.
With both sides slipping in their discipline – a total of 5 yellow cards were shown – Tonga had an astonishingly strong start to the game with Patrick Pellegrini nailing two penalty kicks while No.8 Otunuku Jr Pauta wrestled his body across the finishing line.
Portugal’s attacking flair kicked in with Raffaele Storti scoring his first of two tries of the afternoon after brilliant team play. Even though the ʻIkale Tahi managed to secure their second finish, Portugal went on a rampage and collected two additional five-pointers, going to the half-time rest with a 3-point margin lead.
Storti scored four minutes later after the break, with the winger collecting a short punt from Samuel Marques to ground the ball in the corner.
Tonga responded in the best possible way four minutes later, with Telusa Veainu side-stepping two Portuguese players before sliding over the try-line.
Unfortunately, the contest devolved into an indiscipline-fest with both teams conceding several penalties, which ultimately broke the game’s flow and intensity.
With Tonga and Portugal each scoring a try, Lobos held a four-point lead with five minutes remaining in the match. The ʻIkale Tahi seemed destined to earn a comeback, but after seven minutes straight of attempts, they came away empty-handed, handing their European rivals the win.
Portugal now heads back to Europe, sitting in second place in Pool B of the Nations Cup, having finished July with two bonus-point wins and a loss to the USA.
Los Leones close to bringing the Eagles down
Spain and the USA were completely entangled for 80 minutes, with the locals pulling off a 29-22 win despite Los Leones efforts to snatch a win.
With neither side able to fully dictate the law from the set-piece, it came down to their playmakers to create something special, and for the USA, that came in the form of Mitch Wilson. The fullback brilliantly evaded a Martiniano Cian before jumping to the whitewash to push his side into the lead.
Spain immediately fought back with Estanislao Bay bagging their first try following an excellent break from Cian, with the centre sending the ball to his scrum-half.
However, Los Leones' defence made more than a few mistakes, allowing the Eagles to pounce quickly and add another five-pointer to their tally.
Although the Iberian side managed to cross the whitewash once more before the break through a powerful carry from Jaime Manteca, the USA still headed into half-time with a 19–12 lead after Julian Roberts scored the hosts’ third try.
Pablo Bouza's half-time words seemed to work to an extent, as Spain scored another converted try and added a penalty kick to take the lead for the first time in the contest.
Unfortunately for the visiting side, the Eagles regained control of the game and the lead thanks to a finish from Perry Mayo and a penalty try conversion from Luke Carty.
With no further changes to the scoreboard, the USA emerged with their third victory of the Nations Cup, while Spain finished July with a win, a draw and a loss, leaving everything wide open ahead of November.
Highlights of every game can be found on World Rugby's YouTube channel.
By Francisco Isaac
Images: World Rugby
