USA Opens WXV 1 With Loss to England

USA RUGBY — Despite a 21-61 loss against the Red Roses, the Eagles made a statement in their first WXV 1 appearance. With some work ons heading into next week, more time together will help define the team’s WXV 1 tour. [all photos: Rich Lam – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images]

Right out the gate, the Eagles showed up on defense and put on the pressure, forcing errors on England and even controlling the game at times. Two impactful tries by Alev Kelter and a charge over the try line by captain Kate Zackary showed the team’s strengths when they had the front foot.

Appearing in their 30th tournament with the Eagles, both Charli Jacoby and Rachel Johnson had some impactful moments in the game, and the sevens quickness from Kris Thomas, Cheta Emba, and Alev Kelter were highlights. With five days before their next match, the Eagles have time to clean up their gameplay and prepare to meet France.

USA v France kicks off Saturday, Oct. 5, at 12:30 p.m. PT, live on RugbyPass TV.

 

Comments from Head Coach Sione Fukofuka:
“We’ve been together for two weeks, which is great. We’ve been able to get a fair bit of work done, but the reality is we’ve still got a bit of work to do to compete with the best team in the world. We did some really positive things through that game, but we also let ourselves down at times, not competing and completing what we wanted to. By and large a lot of positives, lots of learnings to take away to build into next week when we get that extra time together.

“A couple things we want to focus on in the back of that game is just completing our attack opportunities. There were a couple mauls we didn’t quite capitalize on, our game management at times put us under pressure, so we’ll do a bit of work around transitioning out of our half into theirs.”

Comments from Captain Kate Zackary:
“It was a really good match. It was a fast paced, physical match which is exactly what we wanted. We wanted to come out there and show our physicality and intelligence around the rugby pitch. But there were also a few frustrating moments where we just didn’t play our best rugby, but a lot of that was beating up on ourselves and letting in a few easy options for England. More than anything, it did feel good. It felt like a fast game that we had the chance to be in charge of at times.

“We’ve got a lot of potential. Today was a chance for some of our potential to become a reality. Two weeks, I think a lot of growth took place. Give us another five days together, and I’ll be interested to see how we come together on attack, defense, set piece. I think there will be some major improvements.”

 

Match Recap
The Eagles began their game against England on attack, but the Red Roses quickly took possession, with star player Ellie Kildunne showing off her quick feet early on. But the Eagles displayed unwavering defense at the start, putting on the pressure and winning the ball back at key times.

The first 10 minutes was a lot of exchange of possession while both sides saw some handling errors. But as they shook off the nerves, England slowly pushed their attack deeper into USA territory. A penalty for England gave them a line out to a maul opportunity, but the Eagles kept up good defense as the Red Roses tried to get the ball out on the edge. But another line out shot by England helped them earn the first try of the match.

At the restart, Kildunne broke away and scored immediately. But at the next restart, the USA kicked and kept possession while England tried to wrestle the ball away. Another penalty gave the USA a line out to maul, and the ball went into Alev Kelter’s hands, who kicked over Red Roses defenders. Catching her own kick, Alev sidestepped around defenders and scored the first try for the USA. From there, a momentum shift saw both sides picking up energy, as the USA worked to match England’s physicality.

With England on the ball, a penalty gave them another line out and maul at the five meter line, but the USA won the set piece to take back possession. But a spill forward let the English pounce and score to increase their lead. The USA had some more shining moments in the first half, with Alev Kelter and Hope Rogers showing off notable breakthroughs, but England would have the last score of the first half, heading to halftime 7-28.

 

At the restart, the Eagles defense stood firm, showing they would not back down from the 2023 WXV 1 champions. A free kick off a scrum gave Rachel Johnson a good charge through, and Kelter and Rogers gained their own ground as the Eagles worked through phases to get within five meters of the score line. Despite England’s excellent defense on the line, it was no match for Alev Kelter, who got the ball under the posts for another USA try.

Cheta Emba and Nana Fa’avesi showed off their sevens skills on the wing, with Emba tackling down to get the ball to touch and Fa’avesi pushing away defenders on the opposite edge to get the ball downfield. But England put on the pressure and took back possession to earn another try.

The Eagles refused to back down from the challenge, and pushed through phases whenever possible. On attack, McKenzie Hawkins kicked over defenders to Emba waiting in the try zone, but the Red Roses got there first. A penalty gave the USA a line out, and a short maul put the ball in captain Kate Zackary’s hands for a USA try. Hawkins’ third conversion attempt was her third successful one, bringing up the USA tally and closing the score gap to 21-33.

USA tried to keep up the pressure, but as the clock ticked down so did the energy. Unwavering England found the gaps in the Eagles’ defense to put up four more tries in the last 12 minutes, ending the game 21-61.

After an intense game with major positives, the USA will head into the next week looking at how they can clean up their gameplay on both sides of the ball, while finding the right mindset to play a full 80 minutes at high energy. Their goal for improvements will be all-important as they prep to meet France in their next WXV 1 match.