Photo: Rugby Europe
The Girls’ High School All-Americans (GHSAAs), Powered by Atavus, finished pool play 2-1 at the European U18 7s Championship in Vichy, France. The USA defeated Russia and Wales and lost to England, finishing second in Pool B, and advances to Sunday’s Cup quarterfinal against Pool C runner-up Portugal. Kickoff time TBA.
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Russia took the first lead after a missed tackle allowed a try, but the GHSAAs responded quickly by opening up room for Kiarah Mosley on the sideline. The long-striding wing scored the first of her two tries after two minutes, and scrumhalf Kat Stowers kicked the first of five conversions, 7-5.
Russia restored its lead immediately with a break from midfield and converted try (12-7). The Americans then settled into a series of textbook 7s, sending long passes, securing its own ball and recycling quickly. That execution eventually put Mosley through a gap for the converted try, 14-12 into the break.
Julia Riekena did an excellent job to secure the second-half restart and offloaded to an on-rushing Emily Henrich, who busted her way through for the try. Stowers’ conversions made it 21-12. The USA was ready to score again, as Bri Vasquez darted to the corner, but a turnover in the tackle allowed Russia to regain the ball inside its 10 meter. The USA kept pressuring as Russia attempted to run the ball out of danger, but then a Henrich hit on the try line knocked the ball loose and Alex DiMarco rushed on to dot the ball down in the try zone, 28-12.
Russia was far from subdued, and with two minutes left in the match, used some nice interplay to keep the defense scrambling. Heads-up play saw Russia take advantage of the unguarded side of the ruck for the uncontested try, 28-17.
As time ticked away, good pressure defense from Russia forced a USA handling error, but fortunately for the Americans, one opponent was offsides. From the penalty near Russia’s 22 meter, Lolo Makaafi, on her first touch of the tournament, went through the middle for the converted try, 35-17.
USA 26-24 WALES
In Round 2, Wales took a 7-0 lead a few phases after kickoff. A not-releasing penalty against the USA in its own end allowed Wales to attack quickly and score. In that return, Wales showed great speed – both in pace and in passing ability.
Wales was back on the attack before a knock-on slowed the game down. Still, the scrum was inside the USA 22 meter, and Wales was looking for a turnover. Bargell handled herself well at scrumhalf, but then a knock-on in the subsequent crash gave Wales the outcome it was looking for. A quick recovery and ball movement wide saw Wales up 12-0.
The USA got good results when it sent its power north-south, looked for the offload, and then either finished the try there or moved the ball wide once the defense swarmed. That’s how Bargell’s try evolved: a series of offloads between Riekena and Makaafi ended in the finisher’s hands and she just outran her pursuit for the score, 12-7 Wales.
As the half wore down, Delaney Rakuita went on a nice run to set up Bri Vasquez on the sideline, but as the sprinter pulled away, play was halted for a penalty at midfield. Wales did well with the possession, getting a break on the sideline, and a high tackle from Bargell put the captain in the sin bin for two minutes. The tap worked wide for a converted try, 19-7 Wales into the break.
Things looked dire as Wales opened up the second half with its fourth try, dummying from midfield for the 24-7 lead. The GHSAAs showed great poise, however, as they went to work looking to close the gap.
Captain Bargell finished off a couple of pounding runs from teammates, the final assist coming from Henrich. Stowers’ conversion made it 24-14. Wales knocked on the restart, awarding the USA an attacking scrum in good position. The ball moved to flyhalf Charity Tenney, who hit Henrich at full speed. She burst through two tacklers before centering the try, which Stowers converted, 24-21.
There were fewer than two minutes on the clock, and the USA was hustling. The teams traded possession – an errant restart, return restart into touch, two knock-ons. As the USA readied for a scrum in its own end with 30 seconds on the clock, it shaped up as the game’s last play. Despite a couple of close calls, the GHSAAs worked the ball and finally drew a short-arm penalty. Henrich busted through the defense, found Falelua Stowers for more go-forward, and the high school sophomore connected with Mosley for the final pass and pull-away try, 26-24 at the buzzer.
ENGLAND 32-7 USA
Riekena did well to hold onto the 10-meter kickoff, and after a couple of phases, Bargell slipped through for a long break into English territory. The ball recycled to Henrich, who dove across the line with a defender on her back. Stowers converted for the 7-0 lead after a minute and a half.
Riekena nearly stole the 10-meter restart, but when England came away with the ball, there was no sweeper in defense of an uncontested try, 7-5. England got its second try after Mosley was pushed into touch and a quick lineout followed. Bargell put in a good diving tackle to prevent the try down the sideline, and the Americans earned the ball back shortly afterward. But a not-releasing penalty allowed England to have another go and a try resulted, 10-7.
The USA was lucky to not have another score-against, as England sent the restart to a team still reorganizing to receive. Fortunately, a knock-on ended the half.
The second-half kickoff went straight into touch and so England restarted the ball at the 50. An overlap formed out wide and a corner try followed, 15-7. A nice side-stepping run from Henrich put the USA into good attacking position, but a knock-on ceded possession. From the scrum, England sent the ball wide and deployed its speed around the corner for the long-range try, which was converted, 22-7. A few missed tackles allowed another England try in the corner, and on the last play of the game, a speed mismatch produced an around-the-corner try for the 32-7 final.
The GHSAAs finished as Pool B runner-up and will face Pool C runner-up Portugal in Sunday’s Cup quarterfinal. Kickoff time has not yet been released. Click here for live-stream.
GHSAA POINT-SCORERS
Tries: Mosley 3, Henrich 3, Bargell 2, DiMarco, Makaafi
Cons: K Stowers 9
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