USA Women's 15s Head Coach Rob Cain has made only three changes to the Eagles' starting 15 to face Canada Sunday in New Zealand (Saturday night in the USA).
Carly Waters comes in at scrumhalf for Olivia Ortiz in what has been a bit of a rotation for the two of them. Tess Fuery moves from left wing to fullback, with Meya Bizer to the bench, and Lotte Clapp returns at left wing. Nick James starts at tighthead prop in lieu of Charli Jacoby.
The rest of the lineup that beat Japan 30-17 remains unchanged.
“Canada had a really great tournament," said USA captain Kate Zackary. "Canada or not Canada, it doesn’t really matter. A win is what we need and a win is what we’re going after, it doesn’t matter who gets in the way.”
Canada is 2-0 in the Rugby World Cup so far, having beaten Japan 41-5 and Italy 22-12. The USA, in contrast, lost to Italy 22-10 and beat Japan 30-17. Canada hooker Emily Tuttosi leads the tournament (tied with Portia Woodman of New Zealand) so far with five tries. No. 8 Sophie De Goede leads the tournament with the number of carries with 45. She is clearly a go-to attacking threat.
For the USA, winning will get them into the quarterfinals, but as we outlined earlier, they can still make the final eight with a loss.
Can the Eagle Women Make the Quarterfinals? Yes, and Here's Why
“USA against Canada is always a massive test match," said Cain. "At a World Cup, it’s an even bigger game for us both. Canada has shown what they can do really well so far and we are excited at the challenges that are ahead. We know what we need to do and we know how we are going to do it. Sunday is all about us acting on what we need for more minutes.
"We get that right, we get the result we want. Thank you for everyone's continued support and messages to the group. Please keep them coming in. They make all the difference to everyone.”
