Canada U20 Women Over USA U20sWOLFVILLE, N.S. - The Women's Junior All-Americans have conceded their first match of the U20 Women's Tri-Nations Cup 36-12 to Canada's U20s. Despite a hard-fought effort, defensive miscues and challenges at the set piece proved costly, allowing the Canadians to run away with six tries en route to victory at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.
The beginning of the match was tightly-contested, however, with Head Coach James English noting his side's performance in the first half.
The United States brought defensive pressure early on, with two Canadian knock-ons providing the USA with opportunities. The All-Americans suffered a costly penalty of their own soon after, giving the Canadians a lineout dangerously close to the try line that saw their side move up 5-0 within the first 10 minutes.
WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The Women's Junior All-Americans have conceded their first match of the U20 Women's Tri-Nations Cup 36-12 to Canada's U20s. Despite a hard-fought effort, defensive miscues and challenges at the set piece proved costly, allowing the Canadians to run away with six tries en route to victory at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.
The beginning of the match was tightly-contested, however, with Head Coach James English noting his side's performance in the first half.
The United States brought defensive pressure early on, with two Canadian knock-ons providing the USA with opportunities. The All-Americans suffered a costly penalty of their own soon after, giving the Canadians a lineout dangerously close to the try line that saw their side move up 5-0 within the first 10 minutes.
Roster Set For Junior All American Women For Tri-Nations
CHULA VISTA, CA. - Women's Junior All-Americans' (U20s) Head Coach James English has selected 25 athletes for the upcoming U20 Women's Tri-Nations Cup beginning next week. Facing rival-Canada's U20s on August 7th and England's U20s on August 14th at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., English will have the support of new Women's National Team Head Coach Rob Cain throughout the tournament.
"This should be a great learning experience for the players. There is a really nice blend of experience in the squad, for some this will be their first taste of international rugby," says Head Coach English. "On the other hand, we want to see the more experienced players really step up and lead. The tour will be a great opportunity to benchmark as this group looks towards 2020 and beyond."
Hawk Eye Program Brings Eagle Hopefuls To Camp
CHULA VISTA, CA. - The first event of a newly introduced Women's Hawk Eye Training Program began this week in conjunction with the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 preparation camp. Allowing Women's High Performance staff to develop a pool of 10 U20 athletes, the event supports the Hawk Eye program's mission of expanding the senior women's player pool and tracking athletes for the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Held at the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Chula Vista, athletes will spend the next several days training alongside the senior Women's 7s players; after which both age-grade and senior women's athletes will compete against one another in trial matches. The full camp runs from July 2-6 focused primarily on 7s with an opportunity for athletes to cross over to the Women's 15s program in the future.
Martha Daines Named Director Of Girls HSAA
LAFAYETTE, CO. - Martha Daines has been appointed Director of USA Rugby's Girls High School All-Americans and Talent Identification, the organization announced today. Bringing extensive coaching experience, including significant time spent in the Women's National Team pathway, Daines will focus on building the Girls High School All-American (GHSAA) player pool and program in both 7s and 15s. Additionally, Daines will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of talent identification initiatives across all age-grades.
WJAA Assemble, English New Coach
LAFAYETTE, CO. - James English -- Rugby United New York's newly-named General Manager -- has been appointed as Head Coach of the Women's Junior All-Americans (U20s), USA Rugby confirmed today. Having previously spent time with the union as an Assistant Coach for the Women's Collegiate All-Americans, English will hit the ground running at this week's Women's Junior All-Americans' (WJAAs) training and selection camp for two international games taking place later this Summer.
English began his first official assignment as Head Coach today, using the camp which will run until July 1 to identify a roster for the WJAAs upcoming two match series. Details for the competition will be announced in due course.
USA U20s Win, But Canada Takes Qualifier
The USA Rugby Men's Junior All-Americans defeated the Canada U20s 40-22 Saturday at Rice University in the 2nd game of a two-game Junior World Rugby Trophy qualifier, but Canada has qualified on aggregate 82-62.
"We did not execute well at all on Tuesday," said USA Head Coach Scott Bracken. "The talented Canadian side capitalized on our mistakes and turned them into points. Our prep for tomorrow has gone well and I expect this will be another massive challenge."
The USA team played without Bronson Teles, who was red-carded in the first match. This forced Bailey Wilson to lock with Iona College standout Santi Moscolo coming in at No. 8.
USA U20s Warm Up, Ready To Face Canada
HOUSTON, TX. - The Men's Junior All-Americans will face Canada's U20sat Texas A&M's PenberthyPlaying Field on June 12th and Rice University's Rugby Field on June 16thin their two match World Rugby Trophy Qualification Series. Taking place at 7 PM and 3:30 PM, respectively, admission to both matches will be free of charge.
(Jordan Maat photos)
The U20s warmed up on Friday night with a 77-0 defeat of the Austin Elite Academy. U20s Head Coach Scott Bracken said "we wanted to get a good look at different personnel combinations and work our systems. We accomplished both. Happy with the way the team competed ... we identified some strengths and weaknesses to address going forward."
Simple Job Ahead For USA Men 7s
The fifth-ranked Men's Eagles Sevens will begin the final stop of the 2017-18 HSBC World Sevens Series this Saturday, June 9 at Paris Sevens. Currently 13 points behind fourth-place Australia after finishing sixth at Paris sevens, the squad has one last chance to deliver a compelling performance ahead of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco this July 20-22.
Final Stop
The USA did well enough last week in London, although the team was shocked by Ireland, which came into the event as the 16th team, somewhat cold, and made it to 3rd. But a tie with Kenya and wins over England and France served to get the Eagles into the Cup Quarterfinals and also served to put some distance between them and teams close in the standings (Kenya, France, and Argentina).
Brendan Keane Appointed Director of Boys HSAA
LAFAYETTE, CO. - Brendan Keane has been appointed as the new Director for the USA Rugby Boys High School All-American XVs, the organization announced today. Along with holding coaching positions with the 2013 and 2014 USA Rugby Stars & Stripes, Keane has also been a part of USA Rugby's Training & Education department, bringing a wealth of experience in coaching and mentorship to the High School All-American program.
"We are excited to have Brendan Keane lead the Boys High School All-Americans as he brings the experience of an educator as well as coaching knowledge at age-grade level," said General Manager for the Men's 15s Programs, Dave Hodges. "We can't thank Salty Thompson enough for the years of service and we know that Keane will access his experience under coach Thompson to improve the athletes in this program."
USA Men 7s Can Secure 5th In London
The USA Men's 7s team is set to play in the London Sevens this weekend, and the task for the final two tournaments is pretty straightforward: do better than Argentina, Kenya, and England.
Head Coach Mike Friday welcomes captain Madison Hughes back to the squad after an injury that initially looked to threaten his ability to play in the Rugby World Cup 7s in July. So it's very good news to see Hughes back.
Also back from injury is Folau Niua, who missed Singapore due to a knock.
Perry Baker is still out injured, but Carlin Isles has had a strong series of performances in his stead, leading the Singapore 7s with eight tries. Baker and Maka Unufe are still out hurt.
U20 Men Named For Qualifiers
LAFAYETTE, CO. - Men's Junior All-American (U20s) Head Coach Scott Bracken and his staff announce a 26 man roster that will compete in the two game World Rugby Trophy qualification series against Canada's U20s next month. Hosted in Houston, Texas on June 12th and June 16th at locations to be named later, the competition will see the team with the highest aggregate score advance to the international competition set to begin this August in Romania.
USA U20s Camp AnnouncedLAFAYETTE, CO. (USA Rugby Release) - The USA Men's Junior All-Americans have completed their training camp in preparation for the two match World Rugby Trophy Qualifier Series against Canada's U20s this June. Through the camp weekend, Head Coach Scott Bracken and his staff worked to identify players' strengths and weaknesses, with the goal of bridging gaps to prepare the next generation of youth for elite international competition.
U18 7s NA4 Set For Can-Ams
LAFAYETTE, CO. – The USA Girls’ and Boys’ U18 7s programs will compete in the USA Futures 7s competition during the 45th annual CAN-AM Rugby Tournament at Saranac Lake Placid July 27-29. Taking place in the host region of two Olympic Winter Games (1932 & 1980) and a U.S. Olympic Training Center (Lake Placid), more than 60 future Olympians will display their skills, after which USA will announce the boys’ extended squad for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Broadcast information will be confirmed closer to date.
Crucial Stop For Women's World Series
The 12 team captains gathered inside the Kokura Castle Japanese Garden on Thursday ahead of the third round of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series this weekend.
New Zealand are the defending HSBC Kitakyushu Sevens champions after beating Canada in the inaugural final last year, but captain Sarah Goss knows that it will not be easy to retain the title with a tough pool draw and coming down off the emotional high of winning the first-ever Commonwealth Games women's sevens gold medal in Australia last weekend.
"The vibes in our team at the moment are pretty positive. To come out and win that tournament was really special and it has been a hard high I suppose to come down from to prepare for this weekend," said Goss.
Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers Set For Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NV. - With a squad in place, USA Rugby will compete in the North American Region Qualifiers in Las Vegas on Mar. 1-3 to secure their position at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Lead by Emilie Bydwell on the girls side, and JD Stephenson on the boys side, both teams will seek an opportunity to represent the United States at the Games October 8-18.
"The Youth Olympic Games Qualifier provides an exciting challenge for both our staff and our players," said Girls Head Coach Emilie Bydwell. "This tournament provides an opportunity for our young players to experience and learn to thrive in a high-pressure environment; and through that, coming together to rely on each other to minimize stress and maximize performance."
