And in that game the Eagles and the Canadians battled back and forth for much of the first half. But once Naya Tapper beat two off a standing start the USA seemed more in control. Canada did answer, scoring 90 seconds after the first half hooter sounded. But in the second half the USA pulled away to win 21-7. Steph Rovetti zipped through a tiny gap to open the second half, and it stayed a one-score game until less than two minutes to go. Canett sent a grubber ahead for Spiff Sedrick to chase down. Sedrick was pushed away off the ball. No one was anywhere near so penalty try, and the game was done at that point.
Box Scores:
USA 40 Spain 5
Tries: Levy, Sullivan, Maher 2, Sedrick, Thomas
Convs: Canett 3, Kelter 2
USA 34 Great Britain 7
Tries: Kirshe, Maher, Doyle, Rovetti, Ramsey 2
Convs: Kelter 2
USA 22 Canada 19
Tries: Sullivan 2, Kelter, Canett
Convs: Kelter
USA 24 South Africa 7
Tries: Maher 3, Ramsey
Convs: Olsen, Canett
USA 19 Australia 26
Tries: Sullivan, Sedrick, Kelter
Convs: Sedrick, Kelter
USA 21 Canada 7
Tries: Tapper, Rovetti, Penalty Try
Convs: Kelter, Canett, Penalty Try
Ilona Maher led the team with six tries.
What does this all mean? It means that the USA is perfectly capable of winning a SVNS tournament. They scored at least three tries in every game (and three tries is basically your win threshold) and exceeded that in four times.
They made their first podium of the season, and took sole possession of 4th in the World Series, behind Australia, New Zealand, and France, in that order. So the Eagles are secure in marking the top eight and being in position to win the World Series
