July 6, 2016
Canada Unbeaten at Women’s Rugby Super Series as they beat the Eagles
Photo: The Rugby Channel
Doug Coil
Canada are unbeaten in the Women’s Rugby Super Series after a 33-5 win against the USA Women’s Eagles. This followed a 52-17 win against England. They play France next and need either a win or a draw to claim the Super Series trophy.
The Eagles have two losses in the tournament and play England next at 3pm MT July 9 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah. In their first match against France they had a narrow 19-13 loss.
Canada struck first six minutes into the match as Brittany Waters took a Julianna Zussman offload in for a try. Andrea Burk converted for a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles answered back in the 18th minute as Hope Rogers took an offload for a try in the corner. The conversion was missed, so Canada led 7-5.
Canada had the opportunity to increase their lead at the 24th minute, but Burk’s penalty kick went wide. She was however, successful with another at the 33rd minute increasing Canada’s lead to 10-5.
The Eagles were covering the defenders well and both teams were struggling to hold on to the ball, as turnovers were an issue. This stymied attacks from both sides.
With three minutes left in the half, the USA had the ball and an errant kick allowed Canada to attack with Daleaka Menin going in for a try. Burk slotted the conversion and Canada had a 17-5 lead at halftime.
Shaun Allen, Canada’s Interim Head Coach said “We had a really good performance on defence today. The Americans put quite a bit of pressure on us in the first half but having those players who played in the first test out there to keep our composure and deal with it without putting us in a hole allowed us to compete in the rest of the half.”
Only four minutes into the second half, center Jenn Sever received a yellow card. An Andrea Burk penalty kick increased Canada’s lead to 20-5.
With the Eagles down a player, Canada went on the attack. Kate McNally was then tackled high by Saskia Morgan. Canada kicked to touch for a lineout from which a maul ensued. Quick ball wide allowed Burk to touch down for a try. She kick then hit the posts, but Canada had a 25-5 lead.
Naya Tapper, who had a try against France, came in as a substitute and made her presence felt at the 67th minute as she raced deep into Canada’s territory. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they lost possession due to a knock on before reaching the try line.
With three minutes remaining in the match, Jamila Reinhardt received a yellow card and Burk added three more points. They then added a try from a lineout with no time on the clock as Julianne Zussman went down the wing for a try.
The final score was Canada 33 and the Eagles 5.
Pete Steinberg said “At halftime we were actually pretty happy because we were struggling, but we were in the game. We had one chance in the second half where we really could’ve taken it but we came out the start of the second half, gave up that first try, and it was really hard for us to come back.
“We certainly had problems holding onto the ball. Canada was really good at turning the ball over and we really struggled to hold onto it. I think we’re showing a lot of heart and real determination in defending near our line in both of these games. We just have to be more consistent.”
Allen said “There’s a lot of pride in our group. There’s a willingness to play well for each other and for their country and Saturday is another day in which we get to show what we are capable of.”
Steinberg then added “This game was obviously disappointing for us. Against France we played well and didn’t win, and that was a hard loss to take. This is a hard loss to take because we just didn’t play our best. This Canadian team was obviously good; the same team put up 50 points on England.”
“We played well enough to create opportunities against France. We didn’t play well enough to create too many opportunities against Canada. Fair enough to them, they’re a good side and they’re looking like the class outfit of this tournament.”
The Women’s Rugby Super Series concludes on July 9th with Canada playing France at 1pm MT and the Eagles playing England at 3pm MT. Both of Saturday’s Super Series matches will be broadcast live on The Rugby Channel.
USA Women’s Eagles: 1. Catherine Benson 2. Kathryn Augustyn 3. Hope Rogers 4. Stacey Bridges (Capt) 5. Molly Kinsella 6. Elizabeth Cairns 7. Nicole Strasko 8. Jordan Gray 9. Jennifer Lui 10. Kimberly Rozier 11. Cheta Emba 12. Jenn Sever 13. Nate Serevi 14. Saskia Morgan 15. Jessica Wooden 16. Joanna Kitlinski 17. Tiffany Faaee 18. Jamila Reinhardt 19. Alycia Washington 20. Christiane Pheil 21. Deven Owsiany 22. Megan Foster 23. Naya Tapper
Canada: 1 Carolyn McEwen 2 Mary-Jane Kirby 3 DaLeaka Menin 4 Laura Russell (C) 5 Kayla Mack 6 Barbara Mervin 7 Latoya Blackwood 8 Jacy Murphy 9 Chelsea Guthrie 10 Emily Belchos 11 Katie McNally 12 Andrea Burk 13 Alex Tessier 14 Brittany Waters 15 Julianna Zussman 16 Demi Stamatatis 17 Olvia DeMerchant 18 Tyson Beukebbom 19 Fabiola Forteza 20 Katie Svoboda 21 Brianna Miller 22 Anais Holly 23 Frederique Rajotte
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