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eagles.rugby – The USA Women’s Eagles opened their two-test South African tour with a 34-21 loss to the Springbok hosts. Ashley Cowdrey and Elizabeth Cook scored tries on their USA 15s debut. [lead photo: Deon van Der Merwe]
USA fans will soon, be able to watch the match on replay on RugbyPassTV.
“It was a difficult day,” USA Women’s 15s head coach Jack Hanratty said. “We wanted to meet their ferocity and their collisions, and we didn’t, and we’ve got to take ownership of that. The second half, although we were chasing the game, the debutants and some of the younger players with a serious lack of test-match experience did an incredible job. With the training week and review ahead, we can be accountable on how we move forward and continue to strive for one of our core values of excellence.”
South Africa set the tone early, holding position with unrelenting physical pressure throughout the first half to lead 29-0 at the halftime break.
On the restart, the USA Women settled into their systems and found some momentum with Freda Tafuna crashing over the line to put USA points on the board.
The USA applied good defensive pressure, forcing loose ball that reserve Tessa Hann collected and turned into a breakaway downfield. She found USA 7s teammate Ashley Cowdrey for the offload and try.
Also making their USA debut and making her mark in the USA jersey, Elizabeth Cook scored the Eagles’ third try from a pick-and-go. Flyhalf Bella Vogel was perfect off the tee, going 3-3 on conversions. While the Eagles did win the second half, South Africa held the day, 34-21 the final.
“Both debutants were excellent today,” Hanratty said. “To play your first cap, and to get a try in Ellis Park, you probably couldn’t have written it better. But what I appreciated, was afterwards, I know they were very much appreciative of getting their first cap, but they also were disappointed that we didn’t achieve our team goal to win the test match.
“[W]e want to be better and we don’t just want to be in these occasions,” he added. “We want to win big moments on big occasions and get big results. And today, frankly, we weren’t good enough.”
Hanratty did acknowledge moments to celebrate – the debuts, Reece Woods’ and Telesi Uhatafe’s first starts, as well as Kate Zackary’s 50th cap.
The USA remain in South Africa for a further week of training before a chance to rematch taking on the South Africans again next week in Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld.