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England secure first win of the San Diego Super Series
The Red Roses secured a bonus-point 38-5 win over USA Women in their Women’s Rugby Super Series opener in San Diego.
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In glorious sunny conditions at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in California, it was England who opened the scoring when Amber Reed, on her 50th cap, launched a crossfield kick that bounced kindly for Poppy Cleall to feed Kelly Smith to stroll in – Emily Scarratt converting.
The hosts were level five minutes later when a couple of powerful forward drives saw Hope Rogers cross from close range, but Claudia Macdonald’s sniping run off the back of a ruck saw her dart in from 10 metres out for her first England try.
Scarratt then read a USA attacking move to intercept the ball and canter in under the posts, and then converted her own score, before some powerful work from the pack was rewarded when hooker Heather Kerr drove over for the bonus-point, and a 26-5 half-time lead.
Two minutes after the break, Poppy Cleall was shown a yellow card but this did not stop England’s momentum as Kerr grabbed her second off the back of a driving maul from a lineout.
Natasha Hunt then pounced on a loose kick by the Eagles to gather and sprint in from just outside their 22, Scarratt getting her fourth conversion, and although England continued to press they could not add to their six tries.
The victory was England’s 18th straight victory over USA in all competitions since the very first meeting in the 1991 Women’s Rugby World Cup final, which the Eagles won.
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This was the first of a four-game round robin tournament that England will play in California. They next face Canada in eight days before matches against France and New Zealand.
England head coach Simon Middleton siad: “It was a tough game, a very physical game which we expected. We couldn’t quite get our attacking game going but our set piece was really good at times.
“I thought the USA were outstanding for the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game in particular, they were very physical and came at us. However, what we did do was defend outstandingly well. So attacking wise plenty to work on, but we really put in a great defensive shift.
“It is a bonus-point win and it gets us up and running. Everyone has got some game time under the belt now and there is a bit more conditioning with the heat so we’re really pleased with the overall outcome of the game.”
Teams
USA
15. Bulou Mataitoga, 14. Bui Baravilala, 13. Alev Kelter, 12. Fane Haungatau, 11. Jennine Duncan, 10. Gabriella Cantorna, 9. Ashlee Byrge; 1. Catie Benson, 2. Joanna Kitlinski, 3. Hope Rogers, 4. Kristine Sommer, 5. Stacey Bridges, 6. Kate Zackary (capt), 7. Joycelynn Taufa, 8. Asinate Serevi.
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Replacements
16. Nick James, 17. Charli Jacoby, 18. Alycia Washington, 19. Elizabeth Cairns, 20. Olivia Ortiz, 21. Emily Henrich, 22. Kris Thomas, 23. Katana Howard.
England
15. Sarah McKenna, 14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Emily Scarratt, 12. Amber Reed, 11. Kelly Smith, 10. Zoe Harrison, 9. Claudia Macdonald; 1. Ellena Perry, 2. Heather Kerr, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Zoe Aldcroft, 5. Abbie Scott (capt), 6. Jo Brown, 7. Marlie Packer, 8. Poppy Cleall.
Replacements
16. Clara Nielson, 17. Hannah Botterman, 18. Chloe Edwards, 19. Catherine O’Donnell, 20. Sarah Beckett, 21. Natasha Hunt, 22. Millie Wood, 23. Emily Scott.
– England Rugby
Check out the RugbyPass documentary on the Saracens Women’s Rugby team:
Comments on RugbyPass
Proctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
4 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to comments