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Eagles Score 7 Tries in Ireland Win

  • 05 Oct 2019
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The USA banked a comprehensive 45-7 win over Ireland in round two of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series stop in Glendale. The Eagles will face fellow undefeated France in the final round of pool play at 4:35 p.m. MT.

RELATED: USA Beat Brazil in Glendale Opener

The USA applied good defensive pressure and punished any slow support to the tackle, drawing penalties that transitioned to quick attacks. That urgency put the Eagles in good position when Ireland dropped a pass, and the non-stop support was on all game to really capitalize on those breaks.

“We don’t want to give them 1 v 1 opportunities. We want to set our defensive line based on one another and not worry about the attack as much,” Gustaitis explained defensive goals. “So as long as we’re together, we can push the attack to where we want them to go.

“Absolutely,” the captain confirmed improvement compared to game one against Brazil. “We never want to let them go through the middle of us and Ireland didn’t get any line-breaks through the middle. Their one try was on the outside, which they got to center. That’s what we’re focusing on and possibly leaving the breakdown if we don’t have the opportunity to compete so we can have six girls on their feet in the front line.”

Ilona Maher opened up the scoring with a thud, taking a sideline pass and winning the collision against Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe for the try. Alev Kelter added a stellar conversion from the touchline for the early 7-0 lead.

Naya Tapper accounted for the next two tries. The first opportunity came after Jordan Matyas drew a not-releasing penalty in the tackle and then went quickly with Kelter. The ball moved to the wing, who pushed through two defenders for the try, which Nicole Heavirland converted. Irealnd knocked on the restart and the USA scrum allowed Lauren Doyle to take an angle on defense and give Tapper more room. Again, Tapper won the duel with Murphy Crowe for the try, 19-0.

As the half wore down, Ireland had its best chance at points, using a penalty to kick deep into the USA’s end. The 22-meter lineout was perfect, but Lucy Mulhall floated the pass over Hannah Tyrrell’s head. Kelter caught it on the bounce and at full pace, and quickly hit Kirshe on the sideline for the pull-away try: 24-0 at the break.

The second half was more of the same. An Irish knock-on set up a sideline-to-sideline attack. Maher did a good job of committing the two outside defenders, as Cheta Emba cut back inside on the switch for the try, 31-0 with Heavirland’s conversion.

A Mulhall switch kickstarted an Irish attack, and nice footwork from Tyrrell kept it moving. A quick recycle moved wide to Katie Fitzhenry for the try, 31-7 with Mulhall’s conversion.

The USA responded right away, as Kasey McCravey reigned is a beauty of a restart, displaying great athleticism and poise pulling it out of the air. After a short break, McCravey hit Heavirland running on and the scrumhalf finished off the 50-meter try. Heavirland converted: 38-7.

The game ended with a dropped Irish pass and quick Kirshe pick-up and try, 45-7 with Heavirland’s extras.

“Sometimes the ball bounces your way and I think we had a few of those,” the co-captain said of those quick-return tries, “but no discredit to their girls’ effort out there.

“As you can see, the offloads were on,” Gustaitis said of the attack. “All 14 minutes of the game just supporting one another, and you can see the selflessness out there on the field. It’s awesome.”

Next up is France. Last year, the Eagles won on a game-ending try and conversion, and it had Infinity Park on its feet.

“That was a big one. We don’t really want it to be that close to be honest,” Gustaitis reflected. “France is a super aggressive team, they have a lot of great players. So we need to focus on our game and build on these first two wins.”

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