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Sophie de Goede leads from the front in big win for Canada
Sophie de Goede showed why she is rated as one of the leading players in the world with a brilliant display as Canada opened their World Rugby Pacific Four Series campaign with a 50-7 win against hosts USA.
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The all-action flanker scored twice in a powerful second-half performance from Canada and finished with 18 points in the match after also converting four of Canada’s eight tries.
Canada were understandably rusty at first having not played for the best part of six months, but 33 unanswered points after the break underlined their superiority and De Goede admitted they had much to reflect on before their next Test against Australia in Sydney on May 11.
“It was a really physical game, especially in the first half, which we always knew it would be against the US,” she said.
“We really had to weather that first half and then pick up the tempo in the second half and I am really proud of the way we did that.
“We just needed to make sure we were moving the ball faster and being more proactive.
“Ball placement was okay in the first half but we weren’t proactive enough in our positioning to put pressure on with our carries, and they were doing a really good job on getting up on our first receivers.”
Looking ahead to the crunch Allianz Park encounter against the Wallaroos, she added: “We probably need to keep building the way we left off, and we need to start games the way that we finish them, so we’ll be keen on doing that in training over the next week and a half.”
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Playing in front of their fans for the first time since they were last at the Dignity Health Sports Park in 2021, USA started brightly enough. But Canada were 10 points to the good (no pun intended) in as many minutes after their powerful driving lineout had the opposition back-pedalling.
First Claire Gallagher and then Tyson Beukeboom crossed before USA hit back when Georgie Perris-Redding, who was every bit as industrious as her opposite number de Goede, wriggled over from close range.
Sophie de Goede at the double for Canada! 🤯#PAC4 | #PacificFour2024 pic.twitter.com/WaPBGFmEIh
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) April 28, 2024
With Gabby Cantorna adding the conversion, USA had closed to within three points of Canada but that was their final scoring act of the match.
Beukeboom’s second-row partner, Laetitia Royer, raced home from 25 metres to extend Canada’s lead again, to 17-7, and that was the way the scoreline stayed for the remainder of the half as the second quarter passed by scoreless.
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Canada came out firing on all cylinders and Madison Grant’s try on 42 minutes was followed by a quickfire double from de Goede.
After replacement prop McKinley Hunt was held up over the line, Canada had to wait until the 70th minute before crossing the whitewash again, Gallagher finishing off an extended phase-play move when she collected a pop-up pass from impact sub Fancy Bermudez.
With Bulou Mataitoga sent to the sin-bin for a shirt pull in the build-up to that try, it promised to be a difficult final 10 minutes for the USA.
However, they never let their heads drop and parity in terms of playing numbers was restored five minutes from time when Gallagher blotted her otherwise exemplary copybook when she was yellow-carded after an accumulation of high tackles.
A lack of composure prevented the USA from converting a couple of promising moments inside the Canada 22 into points and it was the team ranked fourth in the world who rounded things off, Julia Omokhuale’s converted try taking them to 50 points against the USA for the second match in a row.
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Comments on RugbyPass
So what were saying is if you make it through to the play offs in Europe you’re likely to suffer at the tail end of the prem. No extra cash for playing in Europe, more chance of injury, fatiguing the team…while others not through rest up. whats the point??
1 Go to commentsClaims that Finau is a risky proposition are hyperbole. His tackles have been mostly perfectly timed and executed except for the Lynach one and that was a split-second out, certainly not 2 seconds. Social media criticism shows opposition fans are nervous about Finau’s impact. I see Jacobson and Blackadder as no.7s, they don’t have the power, size or dynamism to be 6 or 8 at Test level. Akira has shown he lacks the intuition and technique to play Tests. If he learnt to bend his back more and hit breakdowns and tackles low and hard, it would do wonders for his game. Finau is the standout option for 6 with Grace or Shields as his backup. I’d like to see Finau, Sotutu and Jacobson as an experimental back-row combo; lineout nous, dynamic ball carrying, hard defence, etc.
39 Go to commentsI find these articles so very interesting, giving a much more in depth series of insights than one can ever gain from “desktop” research. It is very significant that it is this English man that Joe Schmidt has turned to build the basement stability and reliability from the WB forwards that was so shredded during the Jones debacle. With his long period in Ireland, with both Leinster and Ireland, Schmidt will know Geoff Parling’s qualities as a player well, and he will have gone over, with a fine tooth comb, the mans time in Australia. This, one feels, will prove to be a shrewd decision. I’m particularly interested in Parling’s comments about the lineout, especially the differences in approach between the hemispheres. He talks about the impact of weather conditions on the type of lineout tactics employed. He is the right man to have preparing for a wet and windy game at Eden Park, the “Cake Tin”, or in Christchuch, or for that matter in Capetown. I must confess to being surprised by this comment though re Will Skelton: “ Is he a lineout jumper? No. But the lineout starts on the ground – contact work, lifting, utilising that massive body at the maul.” Geoff is spot on about the work Will does on the ground. But I would contest the view that he is not a lineout jumper. I think I have commented before on this one, so won’t go further than referring to the end of the last Cup Final in Dublin, LAR using Will on maybe 3 occasions at No 2 in the lineout. And I have seen him used by LAR in Top 14, and never seen him beaten to the catch…but in reality that would only be a total of 10 times max.
54 Go to commentsDaltons a great guy and can lead at any level with that humility
1 Go to commentsWell if Parling is an Australian citizen then I suppose that’s OK. It’s more than can be said for The Hobbit in Absentia. I’m guessing Jordan Useless won’t be getting a call up to the Wallabies then because the Melbourne Rebels lineout coached by Parling has been a complete disaster. Parling had better prove himself or it’s out. He’ll be flattered by having one of the best lineout operators in world rugby in Rodda hopefully. If Parling can teach the Wallabies one thing it would be to also teach Australian players to make a serious effort on charge downs. Only Frost and Rodda make an effort. The rest are half hearted and lazy, bar Harry Wilson’s effort last week. There are lots of big missed opportunities.
54 Go to commentsGreat read thanks and glad he’s committed to Aus rugby! The comment from the no 8 saying he’s never done lineouts before doesn’t surprise me. There often isn’t the same upbringing with rugby here as there is in nz and parts of Europe. Seems like he’s doing a great job at the Rebels
54 Go to commentsScott Barrett. End of story.
2 Go to commentsDu Plessis Kirifi will not be selected by the All Blacks. He is nowhere near 6’0” tall. He looks good in Super Rugby in wide open , fast pace rugby. That is not Test rugby. He would be rag dolled by South Africa, Ireland, France, and England.
7 Go to commentsIt’s Razor so Blackadder and Grace for starters. Although on second thoughts K Read looked in great shape on TV the other day.
39 Go to commentsGreat piece Nick, plenty to chew on. Loved this ‘biases’ line from Geoff, shows he is a thinker - “If you asked me for a shortlist of coaches who appealed to my biases, he would be on it.” I think Schmidt is towing a similar line to Rennie in regards to OS players, he is publicly saying he prefers local talent, but almost certainly will be fighting to have the likes of skelton in the team. Interesting to hear the backroom on the rebels and what a cockup that is, just when you think RA admin has hit rock bottom it digs deeper. Other bit that caught my eye was his skills focus on things like passing from 7s at the base of the lineout, great little details. but also scary that a SR level 8 didn’t know how to operate within a lineout - telling!
54 Go to commentsThoroughly enjoyed this thanks Nick. ‘The lineout starts on the ground…’ wish I’d thought of that line when discussing Will’s place in the Wallabies.
54 Go to commentsShannon Frizell’s second year is optional is how I heard it. Given nothing has been confirmed yet it gets more and more likely he signs to return next year. Cant wait to see Finau doing more work on Internal players.
39 Go to commentsBlindside flankers should be hard hitting defenders, good lineout jumper with height, and a hard worker who hits and cleans rucks. If he can be a destructive ball carrier it’s a bonus but not a necessity. Samipeni Fineau and Cullen Grace are excellent at those core skills and my choice at blindside. Brad Shields is dismissed because he is 33 but not sure why that should be a consideration for this season. Shields too does these core roles well. Just don’t pick an 8 and shift him to 6 like the wingers on The Breakdown suggest, as if 6 and 8 are interchangeable. They are not. An 8 is first and foremost a dynamic ball carrier, not necessarily a destructive defender as a 6 should be. Devon Flanders and Akira Ioane are #8 s forced to play blindside because their teams have better options at 8 than them. Do not pick them at blindside
39 Go to commentsSaints obviously didn’t get the memo, or needed an ego boost?
1 Go to commentsReturning to the Chiefs would be another good change that could only put him into a better position to succeed in black
7 Go to commentsSimply outrageous and demonstrably false to say Finau’s tackle on Lynagh was “2 seconds late” In reality it was probably 0.5 seconds after he passed the ball. If you carry the ball at speed to within 5m of the defensive line you can expect to get tackled. Finau could have pulled out of it and not absolutely flattened him for sure, but there was going to be contact either way. He seems like a high risk selection at the moment, but there is no one else like him in NZ at the moment. His big tackles make the highlight reels but he is also a great athlete, very fast for such a big man, spent most of his days at lock so also very strong in the line out.
39 Go to commentsYes, Finau looks like the best option. Blackadder is not big enough for an international 6 - he should join the queue at 7. Frizzell had the power and heft and line-out height to play lock, so maybe that is where the ABs should be looking, not at a 7 who’s not big enough for 6, but at a lock who might have the agility to play 6, like Scott Barrett, or… Natai Ah Kuoi, who absolutely fits that bill, but seldom gets to play 6 because the Chiefs have so many loosies.
39 Go to commentsPaul Quinn was a National MP.
7 Go to commentsNo need to worry about losers’ mentality hysteria from Australia. Finau has all the attributes, I don't recall a high or no arms tackle from him, and his timing has been controlled very well since the round 3 Lynagh tackle. It's an easy decision for Razor, the only question is who should back him up from the bench. He can't be overworked like Squire was in his first full season.
39 Go to comments“Reds coach Les Kiss saying later: “I think every player has the right to feel safe.” Maybe Rugby is the wrong sport for people who want to feel safe..?
39 Go to comments