It’s job done for Day One at the Vancouver 7s for the USA women.
The Eagle women kicked off their Vancouver campaign playing as if they needed to win the tournament right then and there. The frantic nature of their play—captain and recent returnee Spiff Sedrick getting dragged into touch after trying to reel off a big break, for example—led to China having the better of possession and territory in the first half.
A turnover, a missed tackle, and then a 50-50 call that didn’t go their way resulted in a try for Wang Wanyu. China got the ball back and pressured the USA again and bullied their way over through Chen Keyi.
The Chinese were physical, worked hard off the ball, and didn’t go down easily.
But with time almost up in the first half and stuck in their 22 the USA got a break. Sariah Ibarra made lemonade out of some broken play and raced in from long range. She converted her effort and the teams changed ends with China up 10-7.
You could tell that USA Head Coach Emilie Bydwell told her team to revert to their pattern and relax a little. The result was some short-range offloads and less panic. Jess Lu picked up and dove over from close range, and then some really good teamwork and unselfishness from Lu set up Su Adegoke for her first SVNS World Series try.
Up 21-10 thanks to some solid kicking from Kayla Canett, the USA was up two scored with time winding away. China kicked deep and almost scored. That play wasn’t pretty, but what it did showcase was what any coach wants to see from late-game subs—effort. It was Adegoke and debutante Tessa Hann who raced back to save the try, and that’s just as it should be.
