Photos: Michael Lee / KLC Fotos for World Rugby
The USA Women’s 7s team finished sixth at the Canada Sevens, the fifth of six stops on the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series. The 2016-17 season will end next month with the Clermont-Ferrand leg in France, and New Zealand, which has a 16-point lead in the standings, is favored for the series title.
RELATED: USA Rugby’s Game Reports • World Rugby Photos • The Rugby Channel Video Replay
Every team attempts to play with pressure and physicality, but the USA distinguished itself in this regard last weekend. When that defensive pressure was uniformly applied, it was very disruptive and effective. That aggression produced opportunity and just needs refinement – there were some penalties in the breakdown, a few knock-ons in the would-be turnovers. Australia prevailed best against this defense, remaining poised in the middle of the field, supporting its tackles quickly and testing the USA discipline while working the width.
The team is working on consistency, and in that regard, the pool play game against New Zealand was an apt demonstration of such. The first half was even and produced no points. Kristen Thomas chased down a Ruby Tui breakaway, and the Eagles forced back-to-back penalties to build a good attack. Cheta Emba picked up one of New Zealand’s overthrown lineouts and moved it to Alev Kelter for a break through the middle. If it wasn’t for a fantastic diving pursuit tackle from Niall Williams, the captain would have scored beneath the posts. Instead a not-releasing penalty handed the ball to the Kiwis.
Still, the USA defense was oppressive and it nearly forced New Zealand to dot down the ball in its own try zone if it wasn’t for a high tackle. The half ended as Kelter ripped the ball out of a ballcarrier’s hands but a slight knock-on closed the 0-0 half.
The second half began with a USA penalty on the restart, and that turnover allowed New Zealand to put a few phases together and get the ball into reserve Sharkira Baker’s hands. She cut back across the defense for the centered try, 7-0. The USA had its chances, but the game essentially ended with an errant lineout that hit the receiver in the back.
Highlights included two wins against England and seven players scoring against Netherlands in pool play. The tournament did end on a disappointing note, though. During the Plate final against Russia, the USA built a 14-point first-half lead before Alena Mikhaltsova scored (the first of two tries) just before half. Russia added two more tries (21-14), and with little time on the clock, Emba scored out wide. Kelter made the clutch conversion to force sudden death.
After turning each other’s breakdowns over, Russia used a penalty to build in the USA’s end. The Americans had opportunities to relieve pressure but a knock-on and pass that forced a push into touch kept the USA on defense. Finally, a Russian lineout worked wide, two defenders collapsed on Mikhaltsova, and sudden-death sub Elena Zdrokova looped around for the pass and try, 26-21.
A tough way to end a tournament, but those experiences are valuable for a team. And individually, there were plenty of standouts:
Jessica Javelet took the pitch for the first time since the Olympics, and it was a welcomed return. She’s obviously got speed but she also does really well scrambling with ball in hand and creating opportunity for her teammates. She’s not the only one, of course. Thomas had a knockout weekend on the scoreboard and finished the tournament second overall with seven tries. But those scores weren’t just a matter of rounding the corner and finishing down the sideline. The jumper stole lineouts (one that resulted in a try for herself, another for Emba), intercepted a pass for five points, and barreled through England’s Heather Fisher for a dive-over. She started and served as an impactful sub.
Emba was also an influential player on the weekend. She is all power, has good finishing speed, and is deceptively elusive. One try in particular comes to mind: At a standstill, two English defenders were squared up on Emba and the prop slipped through them from close range, pushed off a third defender and sprinted past a fourth for the try.
Scrumhalf Heavirland had a good weekend and was particularly impressive with several sideline conversions. Fa’avesi at flyhalf did well to set the tone for physicality in the middle of the field, and on offense was quick to her feet after the tackle to keep the ball moving forward in tight. Tapper again was good about making the sideline tackle, getting to her feet quickly and pushing support off the ball.
We have a good idea of what the aforementioned players can do, and the pool continues to grow. Twenty-five players have filled out the five tournament rosters thus far, and nearly half have been selected for one event. Fa’avesi, Heavirland, Kelter and Tapper have competed in all five tournaments, while Kelly Griffin, Thomas and Zackary have competed in four. College-aged players like Lilly Durbin (high school senior heading to Dartmouth), Kayla Canett (Penn State) and Mata Hingano (Life West) have received field time while 15s Eagles like Hope Rogers, Jordan Gray and Sam Pankey have been tested in the abbreviated form.
This is the time to do it – more than a year out from the 2018 World Cup Sevens, which will be held eight hours north of the Eagles’ home base. There were shortcomings from Langford, but there is certainly a sense of momentum. Like all things, it’s just a matter of sustaining that energy and fine-tuning it.
USAWomen7s #Canada7s