USA Women Fall 39-13 to England
USA Women Fall 39-13 to England
The Super Series kicked off today in Canada, and the USA Women and England initiated the three-round series. After ending the first half with a Jess Wooden try to close in 22-10, England pulled away in the final 40 for the 39-13 win.
For a team that is not settled and boasted several new caps, the USA produced some encouraging periods of play. But they were also tentative against a very aggressive England team. England was lucky not to get a couple of yellow cards for repeated sealing-off in the rucks, but their commitment to the breakdown paid off, and forced the USA to commit more players to the ruck, leading to several mismatches our wide.
The USA retained a respectable halftime score, 22-10, but the Eagles scored their points in the beginning and end of the 40-minute period. In between the American scores, England worked the defense, switching fields and producing overloads to exploit unguarded territory for long breakaways and four tries.
The game started auspiciously for the USA, which spent the first three minutes deep in England territory. Three consecutive penalties allowed the Eagles to threaten England’s try line, and the third error saw USA flyhalf Kimber Rozier slot the first of two penalties, 3-0.
England snapped to action from the restart, aggressively chasing down the ball while the Eagles let it bounce out of bounds. The USA looked to relieve some pressure as an England infringement set up a USA scrum, but the Roses stole the set piece, quickly sent the ball sideline to sideline, and put 22-year-old flyhalf Emily Scott through the fast-sliding defense, 5-3.
Rozier had the opportunity to retake the lead with a centered penalty kick, but it sailed well wide of the posts. Instead, England ran in another try before the first-quarter water break. The USA was tied up in contact and earned a not-releasing penalty. The Roses kicked to the USA’s 22 meter for a driving lineout, which was eventually halted when the Eagles pulled down the maul. That driving lineout would bring more troubles throughout the game. England mounted another driving maul to the line, and this time doubled up on young wing Cheta Emba for the easy two-on-one try in the corner, 10-3, from Kay Wilson.
The USA made some adjustments in the second quarter and that saw some successful linebreaks from Jane Paar, Hope Rogers, and Kelsi Stockert; however, the Eagles’ finishing passes weren’t there, and everyone was guilty. England wasn’t perfect either and saw several passes go to ground, but the eventual victors did a much better job of keeping the ball alive while always moving forward, and creating and attacking space either against the defense or out wide.
England lock Rowena Burnfield capped off another devastating driving maul that moved wide at the right moment, and Amber Reed made a good conversion for the 17-3 lead. The Roses earned their bonus point after flyhalf Scott took an inside line, outpaced two chasers, then offloaded to the quick-supporting Sarah McKenna for the fourth try of the game, 22-3.
The half ended with the USA’s only try of the game. A bobbled lineout saw flanker Elizabeth Cairns clean it up and make good yardage around the back. Kimber Rozier then cleaned up the errant offload, charging forward to reset play. Replacement center Nicole Heavirland crashed into the defense, and then the ball moved wide to Rogers, who required three England players to slow her down. Fullback Jess Wooden – who made a number of try-saving tackles across the field – was on the prop’s hip for the hand-off, and she pushed off of three defenders for the Rozier-converted score, 22-10 into the break.
When the USA retook the field, it was clear that quick ball movement was stressed during the break. Emba got two good runs in, but the latter was slowly supported and turned over. England attacked quickly and broke lots of tackles, and a final breakaway saw another Roses try, 27-10.
A penalty off a kick-and-chase allowed England to set up another lineout and driving maul into the try zone (34-10), but the USA had the opportunity to answer with a similar score. A long penalty kick allowed the USA to push a lineout maul to England’s 10 meter, and then another penalty off a scrum saw Rozier grab the ball and attack quickly. But then sloppy handling ended in a knock-on, and that was that. Toward the end of the game, the USA had another attacking scrum in good position, but a forced pass from Deven Owsiany saw the ball kicked into space and play returned the USA’s end.
Rozier did add a 20-meter penalty at minute 61 (34-13) and held onto a good amount of possession, but the good moments were broken up by unforced errors and penalties.
England capped off the day with try from Rachel Lund try, and the Roses won 39-13.
Next up for the USA is host Canada on July 1.
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