2014 Women's National Teams Most Important Try
2014 Women's National Teams Most Important Try
Photo: Ian Muir
JILL POTTER vs AUSTRALIA
The USA Women’s win against Australia was undoubtedly the highlight of the Americans’ World Cup experience. But the come-from-behind victory did not begin from the opening kickoff. The USA entered halftime down 12-3, and coach Pete Steinberg later said that the squad visibly lacked energy.
Consequently, Steinberg did not burden the squad with a litany of technical adjustments at the break, and instead challenged the players to engineer their own turn-around.
Two minutes into the second half, none other than No. 8 Jill Potter made good on the challenge and dotted down the USA’s first try of the game. It was a team effort, but in a tournament where the Eagles struggled to convert on scoring opportunities (except in the 47-7 Kazakhstan win), the actual try-scorer can’t be overlooked. And Potter is a reliable, inspiring player who helped propel the Eagles to a thrilling 23-20 win over a very physical Australia. That victory kept the USA out of the 7th place game, which would have been the Eagles lowest finish to date.
