Meet the Women's Jr All Americans
As the USA finishes its Women's Rugby World Cup campaign in France this Sunday, the next generation of potential Eagles will begin its high-performance journey with the Women's Junior All Americans (WJAA). The high schoolers and collegians will converge on Buffalo, N.Y., on Aug. 17 before heading to Ontario for the two-game Can-Am Series against the Canada U20s. The WJAA pool is a quickly changing one, so here are some brief bios on the 26 players selected.
Bridget Amoako began her rugby career in high school, playing with North Suburban in Minnesota. Upon enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania in fall 2013, the wing made waves throughout the Ivy League, becoming one of UPenn’s most dangerous finishers.
USA Men Look to Youth OlympicsThe USA Men's rugby 7s team at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China are in-country and ready to go. After a camp in San Francisco, the squad is looking to start off smartly against a tough Kenyan team. In the Youth Olympic Games, every country can send only one men's team and one women's team for team sports. So you have to pick out of rugby, soccer, hockey, handball, and basketball. It was telling that the US Olympic Committee chose to send two rugby teams, and no teams for those other team sports. So the pressure's on. Head Coach Ben Gollings told Goff Rugby Report that the team is looking good after having arrived in China. They will have a lot of work ahead of them.
USA Pressure Doesn't Translate
The USA is being praised for the pressure levied against New Zealand during the final pool stage of the Women's Rugby World Cup, but so many scoring opportunities were left on the field in the 34-3 loss. Yes, the Eagles drew offsides penalties, a yellow card even, and forced the Black Ferns into desperate, exciting goal-line defense, but the USA could not extend its pressure over the try line.
USA Women Name Roster v NZSubmitted by USA Rugby PARIS, France – At least one former World Cup champion will be eliminated from Finals contentionSaturday. It is do-or-die for two countries that each celebrate storied pasts in the elite tournament, yet face each other on the pitch where one has the potential to move on and the other does not. The inaugural IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup-winning Women’s Eagles face four-time defending champion New Zealand in what will determine which country will continue to vie for the another Cup, while the other will reach no higher than fifth. “This will be a very intense game,” remarked Eagles Head Coach Pete Steinberg.
Make-or-Break Game Looms for USA
Not since 1998 has the USA advanced to the semifinals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and breaking that streak depends on a knockout performance this Saturday, when the Eagles take on New Zealand in the final pool round. Even after the team’s impressive 47-7 victory over Kazakhstan on Tuesday, the gravity of game three was already making its presence known.
“I’m proud of the team for coming out harder in the second half, but we still have a lot more to give,” USA captain Kate Daley told IRB.com after Tuesday’s win. “We have a big game ahead of us.”
Irish Win Gives USA LifelineThe USA did enough and Ireland threw the Eagles a lifeline in the second day of competition in the Women's Rugby World Cup.
The Eagles needed a bonus-point victory over Kazakhstan to have any hope at all of a spot on the semifinals.
After a tense and scoreless first 20 minutes, they got it, scoring eight tries to win 47-7.
“We talked about getting four tries and it was great to see the team be relentless even though we got the bonus point [early],” Head Coach Pete Steinberg told USA Rugby. “The bonus point was important [to us], but so were the points.”
The Eagles needed a bonus-point victory over Kazakhstan to have any hope at all of a spot on the semifinals.
After a tense and scoreless first 20 minutes, they got it, scoring eight tries to win 47-7.
“We talked about getting four tries and it was great to see the team be relentless even though we got the bonus point [early],” Head Coach Pete Steinberg told USA Rugby. “The bonus point was important [to us], but so were the points.”
Big Win for USA at WRWC
The USA Women's National Team got back on track with a 47-7 defeat of Kazakhstan in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup Tuesday.
The Eagles struggled to break through for the crucial score in the early going, mirroring their experiences against Ireland in the opener. But once they did score - Mathalie Marchino doing the honors 20 minutes in, the floodgates opened. Fellow wing Vanesha McGee and hooker Kit Wagner followed with first-half tries. And then by the start of the second half Kazakhstan started to flag, and the Eagles ran in five more tries.
The USA is now 1-1 in their pool, Kazakhstan 0-2.
USA 47
Tries: Marchino, McGeee, Wagner, Stolba, Bydwell, Braaten 2, Bizer
Convs: Stolba 2
Pens: Stolba
Kazakhstan 7
Tries: Vakovleva
Convs: Daurembayeva
U20 Women Will Learn it AllThe USA U20 women’s team will play a two-game series against Canada in Ontario this month, after they have spent a humid few days training in Buffalo, NY. For the entire squad, this assembly has two purposes - one, to beat Canada (which is always paramount), and two, to give players a taste of international rugby a year before the next U20 Nations Cup. “The theme for this whole year is developing players,” said Head Coach and former Eagle Danielle Miller. “In selecting the team we looked for good athletes, but also tried to find the players that fit the way we want to play. We can’t ignore individual athleticism. In the Stars & Stripes games we made it clear how we wanted the teams to play, but we also wanted players to show their athleticism.” One player that did was Lilly Durbin.
Eagle Women Pick for 2nd WRWC Match
PARIS, France – In a must-win match, the Women’s Eagles open the second round of pool play at IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 against Kazakhstan Tuesday. Having secured a bonus point against Ireland, the Eagles will need the victory and a bonus point by scoring four or more tries to keep the “Final in ’14” hopes alive.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7AM, EDT, 4AM PDT.
“Our goal has to be to win and score four tries,” pointed out Head Coach Pete Steinberg. “That is our only route to the [semifinals].”
Extensive changes have been made to the lineup that will promote a different style of play as well as give players a chance to affect the lineup in subsequent matches.
“We are using more of our squad with some bumps and bruises happening against Ireland,” said Steinberg of the roster changes. “Performances here will effect the selections moving forward.”
U20 Women Picked for Canada TripBOULDER, Colo. – The USA Rugby AIG Women’s Junior All-Americans will assemble in Buffalo, N.Y., in August to prepare for the U20 Can-Am Series in Ontario.
Runners-up to the Canadians at the 2013 U20 Nations Cup in England, the WJAAs held two regional camps this spring in Greeley, Colo., and Harrisonburg, Va., in conjunction with the AIG Women’s Collegiate All-Americans. The WCAAs recently returned from their trip to Canada with an undefeated, 2-0 record against the Ontario Storm.
The WJAAs lost twice in four matches at Nations Cup last year – both at the hands of Canada. Gabriella Cantorna is the only returning player from the competition selected for the 2014 tour, though Maya Learned was a non-traveling reserve for Danielle Miller’s squad.
The WJAAs lost twice in four matches at Nations Cup last year – both at the hands of Canada. Gabriella Cantorna is the only returning player from the competition selected for the 2014 tour, though Maya Learned was a non-traveling reserve for Danielle Miller’s squad.
Inside the 22 - Ireland Over USA
Inside the 22 is a column by Goff Rugby Report editor Alex Goff, which attempts to make a point in 22 words or fewer. All the photos surrounding this column were taken by Ian Muir and are form the USA's 23-17 loss to Ireland in the opening match of the Women's Rugby World Cup (click on smaller images to enlarge).
Experience, not points or penalties - Ireland has 6 Nations, USA doesn't. Hard to be ready when you don't have good annual competition.
Ireland Women Punish USA Mistakes
PARIS, France – A dominant lineout performance by the Irish and a near-perfect kicking outing from Niamh Briggs saw Ireland claim the opening pool play match of the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014, 23-17. Despite having momentum for most of the contest, penalties thwarted numerous opportunities for the Women’s Eagles.
“Ireland has the best maul in the world, and it really showed today,” said Eagles Head Coach Pete Steinberg. “Penalties really hurt us throughout the match and that is something that we will need to change.”
The Irish capitalized numerous times on Eagle penalties, whether it was through territory or points. Briggs slotted three penalty kicks on the day in addition to a perfect 2-for-2 in conversion kicks.
The fullback was also able to dot down a try, as did prop Ailis Egan.
Eagles Set for Women's World Cup Opener
Paris – USA Women's National Team Head Coach Pete Steinberg has named his starting lineup to face Ireland Friday on the opening match day of the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The teams kick off at the FFR Headquarters in Marcoussis at 11AM EDT, 8AM PDT, with live TV coverage provided by Universal Sports.
“We are looking forward to the test Ireland presents,” Steinberg told USA Rugby. “They are one of the best teams in Europe and we will know a lot about ourselves by the end of the game.”
Three Join 7s Eagles on Contract
New USA 7s team Head Coach Mike Friday said earlier that he was intrigued by some athletes not in residence with the team in Chula Vista, Calif., and he showed that Tuesday as Tai Enosa, Pila Taufa, and Perry Baker all received contracts.
Enosa is a former USA U19 player who has been capped at both the 15s and 7s level. He was on contract with the Eagles 7s team, but then left, playing last spring with the SFGG club, winning Man of the Match honors for the club in the Pacific Rugby Premiership final. Taufa has been on the radar for a long time. The Hawaiian has played for development USA teams, and got on the field for the USA team in London, but has not stuck with the program so far.
Eagle Women Look for Tries
The USA Women’s National Team has already unleashed a very physical, hard-nosed defense, but is that enough?
As the team moves from Granville in Normandy to just South of Paris, questions remain about their offensive output. Players who talked to Goff Rugby Report say, just watch the next game.
“We have a few things we’ve put in,” said captain Shaia Turley. “And you’re
“Everyone knows that defensively we pack a powerful punch,” said captain Shaina Turley. “And offensively we’re ramping up with a couple of new things as well. It’s going to be exciting - it’s going to be our style of rugby.”
But the Eagles know they need to score points as well as prevent them. To get to the top four, they have to be sure to garner bonus points, and a good points difference.
