Photos: Jackie Finlan / The Rugby Breakdown
The USA Women’s National Team fell 39-5 to Canada yesterday during the opening match of the Can-Am Series (read USA Rugby’s recap for the play-by-play). With a 10-5 lead at halftime, the Canadians made better adjustments for the second half and retook the field with fervor. Five tries followed, and the experience gave Eagle coach Pete Steinberg plenty of notes in advance of Saturday’s rematch.
“We were really happy with the first 40 in general,” Steinberg said. “It was the first time the squad was together and we played a very good team and played them close.”
The first half also showcased a backline with some real attacking appeal. It started with scrumhalf Joanne Fa’avesi, who used to make her living as a flanker. She brought great physicality to the #9 spot and is a threat around the fringes. Flyhalf Megan Foster has the pass and the boot, while inside center Sylvia Braaten is the experience in the front three. She worked well with Alev Kelter, who in her second 15s tour (remember: her first-ever 15s game was an international test against France) reiterated how naturally savvy she is with ball in hand. Fullback Jess Wooden is a solid veteran, and wings Naya Tapper and 15s debutant Kristen Thomas are just exciting players, on both sides of the ball.
“Look at who we have here – the pack has been around for the past couple of years. It’s in the backs that have the new players, and a lot of those players have been playing with the 7s,” Steinberg said. “Thomas, Naya, Alev, Nicole Heavirland – they all played well at NASC, and those are the best players in the country because they’re on the 7s team. So for us, [the fact that they played well is] not unexpected.”
The Americans met the Canadians physically during the first half, and they were tested from the opening kickoff when a knock-on kept play deep in the USA’s end for five minutes. Repelling that scoring opportunity – coming up fast off the line and stopping ballcarriers before the gainline – empowered the squad. Players like Alycia Washington, Jordan Gray and Stacey Bridges kept that tempo going. On the scoreboard, the Canadians’ two tries were broken up by Kelter’s try, and the visitors led 10-5 into the break.
“The difference in the second half was experience,” Steinberg said. “The Canadians, they stepped it up and we didn’t, and that’s something we have to learn.”
Canada came out hard and fast, and a series of penalties eventually saw Christiane Pheil sent off for 10 minutes. Canada scored two tries (20-5) with the one-player advantage, and then really started to pick up momentum.
“The snowball effect is just in the contact and the physicality of the contact,” Steinberg said. “Once the Canadians started winning that and we started going backward, they were getting fast ball. We just lost the contact point, and when we lost the contact point, we couldn’t retain possession.”
The USA did not have much ball during the first 30 minutes of the second half, but handling errors, penalties and turnovers further hurt the squad.
“We have some work to do, especially in our set pieces,” Steinberg said. “When we had our opportunities to get ourselves on the front foot, we were unable to do that in the second half; in the first half, we did. Again I think that’s their ability to adjust and our inability to adjust.”
Canada had the USA scrum back-peddling. It’s missing the incomparable Hope Rogers, who is rehabbing her knee, and lost both hookers (Katy Augustyn and Sam Pankey) this week. Both teams lost their share of lineouts, but with that said, Pheil was pretty stellar in the air.
“Christiane Pheil is continuing to develop into a really fine international flanker for us,” Steinberg said. “She leads our lineouts, but she wins so much ball in the turnover. She’s one that’s done really well.”
Steinberg praised those newcomers who sampled the international 15s scene for the first time – AK Pedraza, Kayla Canett, Thomas – as well as reserve Sara Parsons, who raised the level of aggression with her entry onto the pitch.
Development never ends, so it’s important to work younger, newer players onto the pitch – especially where depth in a certain position is wanting – but the Eagles are looking for performance right now. The World Cup is four months away, and the U.S. has one more international test before then.
“Our learning curve should be steeper than the Canadians. We should take more from this match than they do,” Steinberg said. “We knew coming into this game and this schedule that this is a test to find out where we are. We’re investing our money in bringing our team together as opposed to playing games. At the end of these two games, we want to be able to [answer the questions]: Where are we? What do we need to work on? And then we’ll have [four] months to do it.”
The USA and Canada will meet on Saturday at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center and will be preceded by other women’s games, including Fallbrook vs. South Bay, and San Diego vs. Belmont Shore.