Eagle WNT Picked to Face Canada
Eagle WNT Picked to Face Canada
USA WNT 15s Head Coach Pete Steinberg has made seven changes to the team that lost to France July 1 in the Super Series opener.
Catherine Benson (Penn State, Life West) comes in at prop, while Molly Kinsella (Stanford, Richmond RFC UK) comes in at prop. Penn State's Bitsy Kairns, and Life's Nicole Strasko join BYU's Jordan Gray in the back row - all three were Sorensen Award nominees this year.
Jennifer Lui replaces another Penn State alum, Deven Owsiany, at scrumhalf, while there's a new center pairing in Jenn Sever (Cal, Life West), and another Sorensen nominee, Nate Serevi at outside center.
Steinberg told USARugby.org that his team has to execute on the basics, especially against a Canadian team that put up 52 on England.
"A big theme we've had over practice is the 'small things,' and really having the players bring the intensity they'd bring to a game and executing the 'small things,'" Steinberg said. "We've been pretty hard on the players around body position, ball presentation, execution of the catch-pass, and really put some pressure on them to execute in practice in hopes it transfers over to the game."
USA WNT Lineup to Face Canada
1. Catherine Benson
2. Kathryn Augustyn
3. Hope Rogers
4. Stacey Bridges (C)
5. Molly Kinsella
6. Elizabeth Cairns
7. Nicole Strasko
8. Jordan Gray
9. Jennifer Lui
10. Kimberly Rozier
11. Cheta Emba
12. Jenn Sever
13. Nate Serevi
14. Saskia Morgan
15. Jessica Wooden
Reserves
16. Joanna Kitlinski
17. Tiffany Faaee
18. Jamila Reinhardt
19. Alycia Washington
20. Christiane Pheil
21. Deven Owsiany
22. Megan Foster
23. Naya Tapper
Canada Lineup
1. Carolyn McEwen
2. Jane Kirby
3. Deleaka Menin
4. Laura Russell (C)
5. Kayla Mack
6. Barbara Mervin
7. Latoya Blackwood
8. Jacey Murphy
9. Chelsea Guthrie
10. Emily Belchos
11. Katie McNally
12. Andrea Burk
13. Alex Tessier
14. Brittany Waters
15. Julianne Zussman
Reserves
16. Julia Folk
17. Demie Stamatakis
18. Olivia Demerchant
19. Tyson Beukeboom
20. Fabiola Forteza
21. Brianna Miller
22. Anais Holly
23. Frederique Rajotte
This game kicks off Tuesday at 5pm Mountain Time on The Rugby Channel, behind the pay wall.