The USA ended Sydney 7s pool play with a 21-7 loss to Canada, finishing third in Pool B. The Eagles will now advance to the 7th place and final match at 10:52 p.m. ET.
Given the USA’s loss to Fiji on day one, the Eagles needed to beat Canada by 21 points to advance to the Cup semifinals. Neither team was particularly crisp in the first half, as lots of dropped balls put possession up for grabs. Some positive tackles, notably from Alev Kelter, forced errors, but generally Canada was better over the ball and was able to steal possession in the breakdowns.
With fewer than two minutes remaining in the first half, the USA was called for offsides as Canada worked its lineout. From there, Brittany Benn and Kayla Moleschi did well to tie up the outside defense and then released Bianca Farella on the sideline. The wing had the gas to beat Lauren Doyle and then the lack of pursuit allowed the try-scorer to delay the grounding and let the clock wind down. Ghislaine Landry added the extras for the 7-0 lead.
Abby Gustaitis kept the restart and the ball moved through Kristen Thomas and Ilona Maher, but a solid clearout from Julia Greenshields produced a turnover. The ball moved to one sideline, where Kristi Kirshe tied up Karen Paquin, and then a high tackle penalty on Kaili Lukan allowed Canada to reset. The ball moved quickly to Greenshields, who took a fast, angled line toward Doyle and Maher, and then got the pass off the top to Landry switching back inside for the try. Landry kicked the conversion for the 14-0 at the half.
During the break, USA Women 7s head coach Chris Brown asked his team, every player, for a response. Co-captain Gustaitis, too, encouraged everyone not to check out and to play for each other.
Kelter sent a deeper kickoff and tied up Canada’s ball with a disruptive counter-ruck near Canada’s 22. As the ruck spun around and broke down, the ball magically appeared in Landry’s hands and the flyhalf moved it away. There was an overlap and Charity Williams had the space to beat Kirshe for the long-range try. Landry converted for the 21-0 lead.
After a couple exchanges of possession, the USA reset with a scrum, and Kelter made a nice break to Canada’s 22 meter. The Eagles had the advantage as Canada was pinged for coming around the ruck, but the subsequent phase saw Canada up its pressure in the ruck and draw a hands on the ground penalty.
That opportunity was lost, but Canada returned possession with a pass into touch. Nicole Heavirland sent the short lineout to Joanne Fa’avesi, who sent the pass right back to the halfback for a break up the sideline. The ball moved toward the center of the pitch and eventually ended in Kelter’s hands, who stepped inside of the defense and then dragged Sara Kaljuvee into the try zone. Kelter added the conversion for the 21-7 scoreline that held until the final whistle.
The Eagles will play for its fewest standings points this series in the 7th place game.
USA Starters: Abby Gustaitis, Ilona Maher, Eti Haungatau, Nicole Heavirland, Lauren Doyle, Alev Kelter, Steph Rovetti
USA 7
Tries: Kelter
Cons: Kelter
Canada 21
Tries: Farella, Landry, Williams
Cons: Landry 3