The USA Eagles survived an early onslaught from Samoa to book their ticket to the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup - prevailing at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado.
The 29-13 win sees the stars and stripes return to the men's premier event for the first time in over eight years, after missing out on the 2023 version of the tournament.
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It didn't come without several challenges, however, as Samoa took the lead early with a penalty goal, providing plenty of pressure to the hosts.
The hosts regathered to take the lead through a try to Toby Fricker, however Samoa reclaimed the lead through a second penalty goal. The USA responded in kind to that an 8-6 lead at halftime.
Samoa would retake the lead a third time after a tense period to lead 13-8 at the 60th minute, the Eagles ran away in the final 20 minutes, with tries to Luke Carty, Jason Damm and Kaleb Geiger to hand the hosts a famous victory.
"This has been three years coming, and it feels good," Head Coach Scott Lawrence said after post-match.
"We've been building this team, they're young in caps, but they went out there and performed today.
"We had been getting back training to the intensity we needed to, so we knew we could put in a full 80 minutes. We did it against Japan, but we were better this week and that's all you want.
"I think we start looking at the 2027 squad going into the November test series. We've got a U20s World Championship next year with a new crop of players coming through, so we're ready to invest in them and spend time with that playing group. Otherwise we just start planning.
"It was a three year plan to get here, so it will be another two year plan into the Rugby World Cup."
The result will mean Samoa have failed to secure direct entry into the World Cup - however all is not lost for the side, as they enter into the World Cup if they win a play-off against South American side Chile.
