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USA confident ahead of facing Australia in Pacific Four Series
Following an impressive performance in their first Pacific Four Series game of 2025, despite a loss to Canada, the USA are looking to back up last year’s win against Australia this weekend.
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The score against their North American rivals was tied at 14-14 until the 70th minute, but with two Canadian tries following a USA yellow card, the game ended with a scoreline of 14-26.
The Eagles competed strongly against the world number two side for the majority of the game, which they set the tone for with a defiant opening 10 minutes, much of which was spent defending their try line.
Reflecting on the game in her hometown of Kansas City, USA captain Kate Zackary said in a press conference: “If you’re looking for the mindset and intent of the team, you look at that first 10 minutes and how well we defended our goal line and how many times we created a turnover inches away from that white line.
“For most teams, that’s where you struggle. It’s where you give away penalties for offside or everyone gets too excited going into breakdowns. What you saw was a team that was confident to not give away those penalties that are easy to give away in that area, confident in making those low tackles and going in together, defending that line.
“In attack, it’s just continuing to look after multi-phase, and exiting or playing in the right zones. You saw glimpses of that, but then it’s about looking after the ball after multiple phases, which we continue to work towards.”
Head coach Sione Fukofuka echoed Zackary’s praise of their defence, and underlined the impact of the work of USA assistant coach Sarah Chabot, but also stressed their need to strengthen their transition to attack.
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“In the Japan game, we were also under a lot of pressure there and defended really well. Our challenge is the transition into that attacking half.
“We were pretty confident in what we do at either end, [against Canada] we had three entries into the 22 and we scored two tries. What we’ve worked on is that transition through the middle of the field and transferring pressure back onto the opposition.
“We didn’t get past third phase as many times as we’d planned on, and Canada are a good defensive team, but a lot of that was on us, making sure we’re tidier at the attack breakdown, and also making better decisions when we do kick.”
Against this weekend’s opponents, Australia, the victory for the USA in last year’s Pacific Four Series proved to be a key moment, securing them qualification for the top level of WXV in 2024, and their place at Rugby World Cup 2025.
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In addition to being Pacific Four competitors, the two sides will also meet in the same pool at RWC 2025, facing off in York on 30 August.
Former Wallaroos assistant coach Fukofuka said ahead of the upcoming match: “Australia will throw everything at us. We understand that they’re at home, it’s a big fixture after coming off a loss for them, so we know that they’ll come out all guns blazing.
“We’re pretty comfortable that the pressure’s on them to be honest. We’ve gone about our business pretty quietly, prepared confidently, and are pretty excited to play on Saturday.
“I think they were more physical [against New Zealand], which was a big part to it. The Kiwis are traditionally a very physical and skilful team, and they were that, but Australia matched up that physicality a lot better.
“Their set-piece has improved, and so they put a lot of pressure on the Black Ferns [in that area]. I’m imagining they’re going to be pretty confident in those areas, but they’re also areas that we’re very confident in, so it’ll be a good test.”
At last year’s WXV 1 competition, the USA were in search of a comprehensive 80-minute performance, but this seemed to still be an area to work on going into 2025. The final 10 minutes of the most recent game aside, they seem to have made huge leaps toward that goal.
“Unfortunately, that 70-minute mark also corresponded with a yellow card, so a little bit of that pressure was amplified with one player fewer on the field. In terms of competing and staying in the game, and really chasing that 80 minutes, we were on track against Canada, so pretty happy with where we’re trending,” their head coach added.
“The players are pretty confident in our systems and how they want to go and play, now we’re just looking to close that out and get a result at the back of it.”
Fukofuka has made one change to the starting XV, naming Tess Feury at fullback to face Australia – a key change that they hope will benefit their attacking transition.
The change has meant Bulou Mataitoga has shifted to the wing after starting the opening two games of the year at fullback.
Feury had a strong game against Japan, but narrowly missed out on selection for the Canada game, and returns to a starting jersey for the first time in half a year.
“We gave her some pretty clear work-ons, one of which is her kicking game, to really push that point of difference and she’s been amazing,” Fukofuka said.
“She came in with a really clear understanding of what she needed to do, and did it. We wanted to reward that. She’s come in confident, she’s kicking really well, and she’s probably attacking the best I’ve seen her attack in the last 12 months.
“Moving Bulou to the wing, we felt really confident to play a number of different positions, but now it allows us to have that kick threat out the back, which is going to be really important this week around that transition zone.”
The USA’s game against Australia is a double header with the Brumbies men’s team’s fixture against Queensland Reds at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
Eagles prop Keia Mae Sagapolu’s time at the Brumbies in their recent Super Rugby W season provided key learnings that were noted by Fukofuka, who has selected her to start in every Test of 2025 so far.
“One thing Mae’s done in the last 12 months is improve her set piece,” he added. “That was the biggest point of difference of the last year, is working to be a dominant front rower first and foremost. We know what she can do around the field so we get that now for 50+ minutes on the field.
“Her time here in the Brumbies was great, she learned a different style of rugby to what she was playing at Leicester Tigers, and you can really see that mobility and confidence to get the hands on the ball and carry are coming through.”
Watch Australia vs the USA live and for FREE on RugbyPass TV.
USA team to play Australia, Saturday 17 May
15. Tess Feury (Leicester Tigers/New York Exiles, 32)
14. Emily Henrich (Leicester Tigers/Boston Banshees, 22)
13. Ilona Maher (USA Sevens/Bristol Bears, 3)
12. Alev Kelter (Loughborough Lightning/Bay Area Breakers, 28)
11. Bulou Mataitoga (Loughborough Lightning/Bay Area Breakers, 23)
10. McKenzie Hawkins (Denver Onyx, 22)
9. Olivia Ortiz (Sale Sharks, 23)
1. Hope Rogers (Exeter Chiefs, 52 caps)
2. Kathryn Treder (Loughborough Lightning/Bay Area Breakers, 27)
3. Keia Mae Sagapolu (ACT Brumbies)
4. Hallie Taufoou (Loughborough Lightning/Denver Onyx, 24)
5. Erica Jarrell (Sale Sharks, 15)
6. Tahlia Brody (Leicester Tigers/Denver Onyx, 12)
7. Kate Zackary (Trailfinders, 42)
8. Rachel Johnson (Exeter Chiefs/Denver Onyx, 34)
Replacements:
16. Paige Stathopoulos (Trailfinders/Boston Banshees, 15)
17. Maya Learned (Denver Onyx, 17)
18. Charli Jacoby (Exeter Chiefs/Queensland Reds, 34)
19. Rachel Ehrecke (Denver Onyx, 20)
20. Freda Tafuna (Lindenwood Lions, 11)
21. Cass Bargell (Boston Banshees, 5)
22. Sariah Ibarra (USA Sevens, 2)
23. Cheta Emba (Boston Banshees, 13)
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