On Wednesday, the USA faced Colombia in the second game of this tournament. Brazil and Colombia will face off in a few days to decide who moves on to the WXV3 competition. Head Coach Katie Dowty went with the same lineup save for one change in the front row and Sagapolu once again captained the side.
The older Colombian side looked to exert some physical dominance and controlled much of the possession in the first five minutes or so. But the USA started to play a little faster and with the likes of Tafuna making big runs they were also pretty powerful in contact themselves. Still, Colombia scored first. They stole a USA lineout, worked quickly to halfway, and exploited an overlap on the left side to eventually score after some excellent offloads—the pick of them was scrumhalf Yamileth Ramírez racing in in support and popping the pass to wing Leidy García for the score. It was a brilliant start for the Tucans and a bit of a wakeup call for the young Americans.
In the end the captain took it upon herself to get her side going, bowling over four players to score after some superb work from Adegoke.
Bitter converted to give he side a 7-5 lead. But penalties were not helping the USA U23s and they repeatedly gave Colombia a chance to get into US territory. Only their forwards' ability to challenge at set piece, disrupting lineouts and forcing infractions in the scrum, helped the Junior Eagles stay out of big trouble ... for a while.
At 25 minutes the Tucans countered on a kick—Ramírez getting it started—and once again burned the USA on the Colombian left side. The USA defense covered, but the scrumhalf Ramírez sold a dummy and was over. Valentina Tapias converted and Colombia led 12-7.
The USA restart went out on the full and the Americans certainly looked a bit rattled. But they got out of that and forced a scrum in Colombian territory. From there, after a few hard runs, some nice interplay on the right side set up a half-=break from Emily Henrich, who then offloaded to lock Mona Tupou, who galloped in under the posts. Bitter converted and the USA was ahead 14-12.
That's how it was at halftime, too, and the USA U23s were left pondering how to contain Ramírez and cut down on momentum-killing penalties.
Second Half Quick Start
The second half could hardly have started better for the Americans as Bitter kicked deep, forcing Colombia to kick clear. The Tucans were too slow to get the kick away and USA wing Sereana Vulaono charged down the kick and was over with barely 10 seconds gone. Bitter converted and it was 21-12.
Now the Junior Eagles were on the front foot. Bitter added a penalty but then Colombia marched down to the USA line. Only some tenacious defense held them up—Allen and scrumhalf Taina Tukuafu getting under it to save the day. Eventually, though, the Tucans did get over, with wing Yuriza Martinez scooping up a poor pass and somehow getting by Vulaono to touch down.
Up by only a converted try now at 24-17, the USA needed to put this one away. Bittter tried to do just that with her fifth successful kick for points. They needed it was Colombia did not back down and went to their power game to force the USA backwards. Finally reserve forward Laura Gutierrez picked up and was over. Tapias drop-kicked the conversion to save time and give the Tucans a chance to win the game.
The USA, however, did pretty well to pin Colombia in their own 22 for the remaining few minutes. It wasn't pretty, but they did close it out.
Overall, then, this was a hugely educational trip for the USA team. They found out a couple of things about playing international rugby—a country may be a rugby minnow, but those players will defend their land until they drop. They also found out that size and strength are nice, but in women's rugby certainly, age and maturity bring with it a mental and physical toughness that bely stats. Colombia were brave and tenacious, and didn't back down. That's what international rugby is all about.
USA U23s 27
Tries: Sagapulo, Tupou, Vulaono
Convs: Bitter 3
Pens: Bitter 2
USA U23s: 15 Alexandra Wantlin, 14 Sereana Vulaono, 13 Emily Henrich, 12 Tiahna Padilla, 11 Susan Adegoke, 10 Kristin Bitter, 9 Taina Tukuafu, 8 Kapoina Bailey, 7 Tessa Hann, 6 Freda Tafuna, 5 Emerson Allen, 4 Mona Lisa Tupou, 3 Keia Mae Sagapolu (c), 2 Queenette Toomalatai, 1 Alivia Leatherman;
Reserves: 16 Lauren Ferridge, 17 Reece Woods, 18 Olivia Woods, 19 Samantha Brackett, 20 Anna Van Dyk, 21 Sadie Schier, 22 Alyssa Cunningham, 23 Autumn LoCicero;
Colombia 24
Tries: García, Ramírez , Martinez, Gutierrez
Convs: Tapias 2
Colombia: 15 Valentina Tapias 14 Leidy García, 13 Leidy Soto, 12 Luisa Fernanda Zurique, 11 Yuriza Martínez, 10 Laura Mejía, 9 Yamileth Ramírez, 8 Maribel Mestra, 7 Laura Valentina Álvarez, 6 Valeria Muñoz, 5 Paola Valentina Delgado, 4 Annagith Vargas, 3 Camila Cardona, 2 Natalia Barajas, 1 Gina Tatiana Delgado;
Reserves: 16 Silvia Juliana Olave, 17 Maria Antonia Cortés, 18 Carolina Naranjo, 19 Laura Gutierrez, 20 Stefanía Sarmiento, 22 Sofía Granados, 23 Juliana Soto;
