Tense Test Match Sees USA Women Hold On

09.26.2026Eagles

Erica Coulibaly was outstanding vs Wales Saturday.

Author: Alex Goff

The USA women have made it two wins out of two in the British Isles with a tense, sometimes fractious 26-24 victory over Wales in Cardiff.

This follows on to their comeback win over Ireland last week.

The Eagles, who seems to be on a bit of an upswing since the arrival of Head Coach Jack Hanratty, are now 4-3 on the year and have won three in a row.

The game started well for the Americans. Flyhalf Nina Mason, in her first start for the Eagles, popped a chip kick that the Welsh couldn't control. Unluckily for the hosts one player knocked it on and another picked the ball up from an offside position.

From that penalty the USA took the lineout. Wales defended the maul well (as they did all day), but from their short yardage work the Eagles saw flanker and captain Georgie Perris-Redding slip a flat pass to No. 8 Freda Tafuna, who was over. Perrid-Redding paid for it, though, as she was rocked by Welsh No. 8 Bryonie King.

Still, try good and Bella Vogel's conversion was right down the middle and it was 7-0 USA.

The Welsh looked dangerous with the ball in hand but the breakdowns would be up for debate all day. Referee Amber McLachlan wanted a fair contest for the ball and that meant you needed to be quick and brutal with your clearouts. Wales were too low, however, and called for sealing. Back came the USA then.

Tafuna made a big run as did Mae Sagapolu at prop. The Eagles worked it close and then the ball went wide to Tafuna, who had Perris-Redding and Emily Henrich driving here through for the two-time Sorensen Award winner to score her second try.

There was a long check as to whether Henrich (another Sorensen Award winner in her own right) had blocked tacklers on her dummy run. It was close, but Referee McLachlan eventually concluded the Welsh players had an opportunity to make the tackles ... they just couldn't.

Vogel's conversion was again perfect and the Eagles led 14-0.

@WXVRugby https://t.co/kBI0nQT6wV pic.twitter.com/N7To17rFUk
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) September 26, 2026

But Wales had hardly seen the ball, and when they did they broke through. Lisa Neumann sliced through and was caught by Tafuna, who then poached the ball, but the Welsh now had some territory and eventually, after a series of phases, scrumhalf Keira Bevan saw that Hallie Taufoou and Tafuna were not close enough to the A channel. She sniped through and was in for the first Wales try.

The Eagles responded well.

They ran through a very long period of attack, recycling effectively and lining up fairly flat to the line. This was to deal with the quick and aggressive Welsh line. The Eagles' ballhandling was solid and they ran tip passes and out the back without too many errors.

Finally the ball was sent from Mason to fullback Kayla Canett. So ... why was Kayla Canett brought from 7s to this team? She is super-fit, very smart, has developed into a very tough player despite a somewhat slight frame, and she can make open-field tackles.

But another reason is that Hanratty wants playmakers, and anyone who plays as a back for the USA 7s team can pass and see space. Canett know Erica Coulibaly had space on the wing and she sent a wide pass that hit the wing in stride.

That was critical. At full pace Coulibaly was able to fend off one tackle and wrong-foot another as she cut back to curve in under the posts.

Everyone had a hand in that, but if Canett's pass isn't perfect, Coulibaly could well have been stopped.

Conversion good and the USA is in command 21-7.

Live by the Sword ...

And you could feel the message that had to be sent—remember last week when USA was down 19 and came back? Wales is down 14 and there's plenty of time. They will come back.

They did.

Taufoou got in trouble for a high tackle and, frankly, was lucky not to get carded. However, Wales still pressed their advantag. They took the lineout, worked the maul, and hooker Kelsey Jones popped off the back and was over.

Simple as you like and it was a one-score game.

Wales had the ball off the restart and quickly got a penalty off the ruck. Halftime was approaching now but there was time. This time, off the lineout, Wales went wide.

Wing Amy Williams almost made it through but the USA was scrambling. They didn't organize well and prop Sisilia Tuipulotu thundered through.

The conversion attempt hit the post but not it was 21-19.

Eagles Women

FINAL

9.26.26

Wales Women

Halftime was seconds away, and both teams looked to make a statement before the break. Hope Rogers and Sagapolu worked well together but the Welsh aggression in the breakdown forced a penalty. One might have been forgiven for thinking Wales would just run out the stretch from there, but they didn't.

Wales forced their way to midfield and then, under all sorts of pressure Bevan the scrumhalf launched a little kick that rolled into the corner. Lineout for the USA. They win it, but decide to run wide. Tafuna is isolated and Wales get a penalty.

This was a crucial mistake by the Eagles. They probably needed to be more conversative here—kick clear, or run closer to support, or ensure winning rucks was paramount.

Instead, Wales got the penalty tapped quickly, and exploited the Eagles' discombobulation for flanker Alex Callender to charge over.

So instead of getting into the locker rooms up 21-14, the USA had given up two tries they could easily have prevented and were down 24-21.

Territory States Don't Win Games Alone

The tale of the second half was the USA forcing Wales to defend, and Wales defending very well.

The Eagles had much more possession and territory, but were not clinical in their scoring.

A box kick from Abigail Paton was chased down by Henrich and then yet another Sorensen winner, Sagapolu, raced in to force a penalty. The Eagles pressed their advantage, and Wales kept committing penalties. No cards, though, and no points, as the USA passed up a very kickable chance to go for the lineout, and were turned over at the goalline.

It took another several minutes for that try to come. USA defense in the Wales half forced a dropped ball. Henrich toed it ahead and, with Welsh players all over her, rescued it and set a ruck. The ball was quickly moved through phases before, you guessed it, Tafuna picked up and dove over.

This was another team try finished by the USA's prime finisher, but it is difficult to overstate how good Henrich's play was to start it off.

For once, Vogel seemed human and her kick drifted wide. So the USA had the lead, but it was 26-24.

For the rest of the game, Wales had the ascendancy in the scrum, but couldn't force the penalties they wanted. The USA had the better of the lineouts, and kept contesting them, hoping to get a not-straight call from Referee McLachlan. They finally did at a couple of crucial moments, and eventually forced Wales to go for a short throw.

The Eagles were in prime scoring position several times and again passed up a kickable penalty, this time to take a scrum (!). Wales defended brilliantly. Their defense of the maul was excellent and they did not back down in tackles. Were they killing the ball in the breakdown? Not according to the referee and the ball was always made available, so it was a tense gray area that once or twice devolved into shoving.

When Wales did go for that short lineout, they almost scored with it, surging into the USA 22 before Tafuna forced a penalty on the jackle. Williams had a good chance out wide only to be tackled by Coulibaly, resulting in a knock-on.

And that, perhaps, was Wales's problem. They wanted to play wide, but when they had that last pass, the USA pressure was forcing a mistake—ball in touch, ball dropped, pass not to hand.

Late in the game it happened a couple of times. Defensive pressure forced a mistake, and then Wales were pinged for rucking beyond the ruck (the same penalty Perris-Redding had been nabbed for a week ago).

Finally, with about 90 seconds to go the Eagles forced another knock-on, and, in the middle of the field, just started to work the phases. They gave up ground, and worked off time, until finally scrumhalf Cassidy Bargell kicked it clear.

The Eagles had held on.

For the USA, Tafuna was the player of the match for the second game in a row and spoke emotionally about how she was ready to pull away from the Eagles until Hanratty arrived and brought joy back to the game. This was an overt indication of what has been evident on the field—the team played with more joy, the team plays a more open and interesting style, and the coach communicates well.

Also for the accolades would be Sagapolu, who had her best game as an Eagle, and Coulibaly, who made several excellent plays (including rescuing a ball behind everyone and beating three players to get back on the front foot) and was very good on defense, was also strong.

Henrich is probably best at 13 and she just reacts well to whatever happens. The Mason-Vogel-Henrich 10-12-13 combination has a ton of potential.

Now the USA returns to American soil and in three weeks will play Italy in Mansfield, Texas. If you are close to Dallas (and in Texas/Oklahoma that means within 400 miles), you should see this game, and this team.

USA 26
Tries: Tafuna 3, Coulibaly
Convs: Vogel 3

Wales 24
Tries: Bevan, Jones, Tuipulotu, Callender
Convs: Bell 2