The USA women lost 38-18 to Wales in a warmup for the WXV Tier 2 competition in October in South Africa.
On a rainy day, Wales controlled the scoreboard for most of the game in a match where new Interim Head Coach Milton Haig ran out a side that was a mixture of experienced players and those looking to stake their claim.
“The weather was pretty wet, and the ball was reasonably slippery," said Haig, using the New Zealand term (reasonably) that actually means "very." "When we got the ball in our hands and we made gain line we looked good. When we made ruck speed, we looked really good. We’ve got some things to work on, Wales obviously scored a couple more tries and set piece scrum tries. That’s something we need to work on and can fix quite easily as we haven’t really done a lot of work on that."
The USA players will have to learn how to handle wet weather, and it's an interesting side-effect of American rugby preparation that the Eagles usually train in warm, dry weather, and seem a little undone by rain. But rain happens, as does hot, humid weather, and the USA ballhandling cannot be so easily undone by the weather.
There were some positives. Haig praised his team's defense on the edge and the work rate and heart of the forwards.
The Eagles scored only once in the first half, off a penalty goal from flyhalf Gabby Cantorna, and the teams entered the break with Wales leading 19-3.
It was much closer in the second half as both teams scored three tries. Wales converted theirs, while the USA tries from wing Sarah Levy, flanker Freda Tafuna, and reserve hooker Paige Stathopolous all went unconverted.
