Photo: @worldrugby7s Facebook
The USA Women’s 7s team finished in 6th place, akin to its male counterparts, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Eagles started day three with a 5th place semifinal win against China, and then dropped a 17-7 contest to Australia to close out the tournament.
“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get that ball back. When we forced the errors, we were getting penalised ourselves, so that was hard,” USA 7s head coach Chris Brown said. “A few penalties in the second half, but the character, the fight — we made the Aussies work for every point. And that’s what I’m proud of. Earlier on in the tournament, I wasn’t happy because I felt that our character was questioned – the way we do things was in question – and the way we finished off today, I’m extremely proud of how we did that.”
Quite honestly, if you look at the quarter-final where we missed our opportunity, a lot of that came down to a poor tackle rate defensively; but also the wrong game plan from me in how to attack them in the first couple of minutes,” Brown added. “And, that guts me because we played nine quarter-finals over the last year and it’s the first one we lost. And as we saw today, they fight for each other. And I’ll take that any day.”
The USA went 4-2 overall, defeating China, Japan and Australia in Pool C, then dropped its Cup quarterfinal 21-12 to Great Britain to end day two. The Eagles responded well with a 33-14 win against China in the 5th place semifinals, then readied for the rematch against Australia. It’s tough to beat a team twice in a tournament like this, and the Aussies battled for the win.
Emba against host Japan / Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
“This was a big match for us,” said Kristi Kirshe. “Obviously we were really devastated about what happened yesterday so this one was all about heart, bouncing back and showing who we are as a team. I think we did that today.”
Having beat Australia in exciting fashion during pool play, the USA had the formula for victory going into their last match of these Olympics. Offense just wasn’t there this time around with Kristi Kirshe recording the only try and falling short in the 17-7 loss. There didn’t seem to be much scoring opportunities for either team as play was slow through both halves. There was a slew of scrums that kept pace in check, along with physical defense across the board. Looking back, the standout highlights from this match would be the big tackles laid down and tough rugby on display.
Head Coach Chris Brown after the last match, “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get that ball back. When we forced the errors, we were getting penalized ourselves, so that was hard. A few penalties in the second half; but the character, the fight — we made the Aussies work for every point and that’s what I’m proud of.
After the Kirshe try, the USA would find themselves only three points behind with a three minutes remaining, but Demi Hayes provided the dagger late and eventually out of reach for the United States. Australia win as the final whistle blows.
Brown continued, “Earlier on in the tournament, I wasn’t happy because I felt that our character was questioned — the way we do things was in question — but the way we finished off to today, I’m extremely proud of how we did that.”
As Saturday afternoon may mark the final international match for some of these Eagles looking to move on to the next stage in life, the overwhelming support felt from home by friends, family and fans alike has made the completion of this experience special. Looking ahead, the Women’s Eagles Sevens will travel home to Chula Vista and begin preparations for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. Having not competed since the Sydney stop in February of 2020, the United States will be hungry for a series return and gold medal chase once again.
Gayle Broughton in the Gold medal match / Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
New Zealand defeated France 26-12 for the Gold medal, and Fiji – who took this tournament and ran with it – finished with the Bronze after besting Great Britain 21-12.
Bronze medalist Fiji vs. Great Britain / Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby