Eagle Women to Semis of Cape Town 7s
Eagle Women to Semis of Cape Town 7s
The USA women are into the semifinals at Cape Town despite a bit of an up-and-down day in South Africa.
The Eagles had already clinched a place in the quarterfinals when they faced France on Saturday, and it was a good thing as the French controlled this game.
It was close at 7-0 at halftime but the French were starting to benefit from the long reach of some of their players (making for good fends and tying the ball up) and were powerful in contact.
For their part, the Eagles made some ill-advised passes and when players were trying to push the pace they seemed a bit frantic.
Head Coach Emilie Bydwell gave some additional time to players who don’t play a ton and while Alex Sedrick scored a try open a quick tap at the end of the game, she didn’t delay her touchdown a few seconds to ensure the game was over—it’s a small game awareness thing but some of the connections between the established players and the non-established players fell flat.
France 31, USA 7.
In the quarterfinals, the USA defense was very strong against a Fijian team that had the skill and speed to hurt them. Ilona Maher, who has been putting in a ton of work this week, scored the opening try, and while Fiji started their second half run with a try and a 7-5 lead, Sam Sullivan’s score with three minutes to go made it 10-7, which is how it ended.
Rebounding from a rough performance to beat a talented team takes some fortitude and certainly he USA team showed that.
The next step on Sunday will be difficult however as they face a very in-form Australia team. Still, a top-four finish two weeks in a row is good, and with both Fiji and France losing in the quarterfinals, there will be a more daylight between the top three (New Zealand, Australia, USA) and the rest.
