Scotland defeated the USA 24-14 in Friday’s WXV match, overcoming the Americans having the lion’s share of the possession, especially in the second half.
In the opening 10 minutes the Eagles had the ball and good field position but couldn’t get any points out of it. They ran through the phases well enough and while Scotland is a fairly negative team—they creep offside and kill the ball fairly well—the USA had opportunities to break through. It was just that last pass that wouldn’t connect. Often is was just the gravity of the moment, as if the players involved were thinking “this is it!” and then over-cooked the pass or fumbled the catch.
Scotland, meanwhile, defended patiently and well, and when they got a free kick from a scrum at midfield, they struck.
The Scots went wide quickly and the issue for the USA there was probably communication on defense. Mata Hingano probably had her opposite covered but it didn’t seem like wing Tess Feury knew that. Feury didn’t bump out, the two collided and both fell, and all Francesca McGhie had to do was step past Bulou Mataitoga and go in for a highlight reel try.
Right after the restart Scotland were again on the front foot. A superb kick from deep in her own end by Lisa Thomson put the ball inside the USA 22 and scrumhalf Carly Waters was unable to gather it, seeing it roll into touch for a Scotland lineout. The Scots maul was an area of concern for the Eagles and while the USA controlled it most of the time, they didn’t here. Scotland mauled it right to the tryline and finally lock Emma Wassell crashed over for a 12-0 lead.
Once again the USA had options out wide but a Hingano to Tahlia Brody connection misfired. Instead it was Scotland that scored again. A ruck on Scotland’s left had a clear mismatch. Too many USA defenders on one side and the defenders in the open were mostly tight five forwards. No contest as Scotland moved the ball nicely, outpaced prop Catie Benson, who really needed some speedier help, and Rhona Lloyd raced in for a 17-0 Scotland lead at 21 minutes.
Notably, all three tries had started from far out.
After that it was almost 24-0 as another break put Scotland in close before scrumhalf Mairi McDonald went over only to be held up by Waters, her opposite number. In that sequence Eagle hooker Kathryn Treder took a knock to the head (it appeared to be a teammate’s knee) and left for a HIA and did not return.
Having dodged a bullet the USA regained some of the momentum and while they forced Scotland into penalties, they again couldn’t finish it off. Finally, as the half came to a close, a lineout and maul led to prop Charli Jacoby powering over from short range. It was just reward for Jacoby who was probably the shining light in the tight five on the day.
Still, down 17-7 after having about 60% of possession wasn’t good news. What was positive was that in the second half the USA would have the wind, and could perhaps use the boot to good effect as Scotland had in the first 40 minutes.
