WXV 2 recap: Italy, Scotland, and Japan secure victories in the second round
WXV 2 treated fans to yet more exhilarating action as the teams moved from Stellenbosch to Cape Town for the second round of the inaugural competition.
First up at Athlone Sports Stadium was Scotland vs USA on Friday 20th October.
While Scotland’s forwards had most of the fun in their opening WXV match against South Africa, the backs were able to stretch their legs against the USA, scoring three out of the four tries in their 24-14 win.
Francesca McGhie opened the scoring 11 minutes into the match in Cape Town as she raced down the left wing from outside of the 22 to score without any threat from USA who were unable to match her pace.
Lisa Thomson set up Scotland’s next successful phase of attack as a sublime kick from just outside her own 22 was too much to gather for Carly Waters who fell into touch after chasing down the bouncing ball in the USA 22.
Lock Emma Wassell was the only Scottish forward to score, and she snuck over the line four minutes later from close range after the Eagles’ defence was thoroughly tested in multiple phases of relentless attack from Bryan Easson’s side.
Within minutes Scotland had their third, this time from wing Rhona Lloyd. Rachel McLachlan made the initial break from the halfway line to the ten-metre line before releasing Lloyd on the right wing who ran the remaining metres to finish the score with aplomb.
The Eagles’ first score was set up by a driving maul and after multiple phases, Charli Jacoby got the USA on the board as she shrugged off the attempted tackle from Christine Belisle to power herself over the line. Scotland went into halftime with a 17-7 lead.
Chloe Rollie secured the bonus point for Scotland ten minutes into the second half as she spotted space with numbers on the left and bounced her way out of tackles to score her team’s fourth.
USA had a chance two minutes later as Tahlia Brody ran to within inches of the line before being brought down by Rollie. Tess Feury gathered the ball from the ruck and looked set to score in the corner, however defiant defence from Christine Belisle denied Feury the try.
The Eagles soon got their second score when Paige Stathopoulos broke free from the driving maul catching the Scottish defence unaware in the 66th minute. Feury’s conversion was the final score of the match.
In the second match of the day Italy moved up to first place in the WXV 2 table with their 36-18 win over hosts South Africa.
Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi scored Italy’s first try inside the opening five minutes with a dazzling run from behind the Italian 22-metre line. She outran a determined Libbie Janse van Rensburg who was the last standing Springbok defender to cross the line successfully.
Italy weren’t ahead for long as South Africa captain Babalwa Latsha powered herself over the line in the ninth minute before Janse van Rensburg pulled the sides level with a conversion.
Aura Muzzo put Gli Azzurri ahead moments later, converted by Beatrice Capomaggi. Springbok centre Veroeshka Grain spent ten minutes in the sin bin after indirect head contact and Italy capitalised on their one-player advantage as they scored their third.
Alissa Ranuccini dotted down after Silvia Turani supplied her with the pass to reach the line from within five metres. After a penalty each for Janse van Rensburg and Capomaggi before half-time Italy led 22-10 at the break.
Less than ten minutes into the start of the second half South Africa lost a second player to foul play, this time for the remainder of the game. Aseza Hele was shown a red card in the 50th minute for a dangerous tackle on Veronica Madia and will miss South Africa’s next match against Samoa.
She will initially miss the next match her for club, Harlequins, against Trailfinders on 18th November. Her ban also included Harlequins v Sale Sharks on the 25th of November, however, the final match will be rescinded upon completion of the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.
Italy got off to a far more positive start and ignited the scoring in the second half as they had in the first. Vittoria Vecchini propelled herself across the line in the 51st minute to give Italy the bonus-point try.
Byrhandre Dolf scored South Africa’s second try after a sensational right-foot step from close range decimated the Italian defence. Alyssa D’Inca added Italy’s bonus-point try in the 74th minute. The wing sprinted from well inside her own half after intercepting the Springboks’ attack for a stunning solo score. Capomaggi’s conversion completed the scoring for the day in Cape Town.
On Saturday, Japan recorded their first WXV win in a 32-10 victory over Samoa.
Samoa Cassie Siataga got the first points on the board with a penalty in the ninth minute.
Despite Japan’s eventual score line, Samoa’s only try was also the first try of the match. Rereglory Aiono dragged multiple defenders with her for ten metres before she crashed over the line after a powerful run supported by Sinead Ryder. Siataga added the conversion to give them a 10-3 lead.
After a string of sideways phases, Japan gained forward momentum from captain Iroha Nagata who scored their first try after breaking the line and running away for a simple score. Ayasa Otsuka added the conversion to draw the two sides level after 28 minutes. They scored a second just after half-time as Sakurako Korai capitalised on the Japanese overlap on the left-hand side.
Samoa were dealt a double blow when they lost both Karla Wright-Akeli and Linda Fiafia to yellow cards within two minutes of each other. Wright-Akeli was sent off for a deliberate knock-on and Fiafia was shown a yellow after making head contact in a tackle.
Haruka Hirotsu scored Japan’s third as they made use of their two-player advantage which allowed her to touch down on the left wing largely uncontested before Otsuka converted the score.
Nao Ando added their bonus-point score as the clock ticked into the final ten minutes. Otsuka drew in the defenders before giving the offload to Ando who finished the score despite two defenders attempting to drag her down.
Italy currently top the WXV 2 standings on points difference as both they and Scotland currently have ten points. Gli Azzurri lead by +7 heading into the final round, where they will face the USA on the last day.
Scotland will open the final round with their match against Japan and will be looking to secure a further five points and boost their points difference in order to aid their hopes in the final standings.
After Japan’s win against Samoa, they sit third in the WXV 3 table on five points. Due to being nine points ahead on points difference, they sit just ahead of USA who also have five points.
The two bottom-of-the-table teams Samoa and South Africa will face each other in search of their first win of the competition on the penultimate day.
Make sure you catch all of the action on RugbyPass TV!
WXV 2 Matches
Friday 27th October: Scotland vs Japan, Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town. KO – 14:00 local time, 13:00 BST
Friday 27th October: South Africa vs Samoa, Athlone Sports Stadium. KO – 16:30 local time, 15:30 BST
Saturday 28th October: USA vs Italy, Athlone Sports Stadium. KO – 17:00 local time, 16:00 BST
Other WXV matches this week:
WXV 1
Friday 27th October: England vs Canada, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin. KO – 19:00 local time, 07:00 BST
Saturday 28th October: New Zealand vs Wales, Forsyth Barr Stadium. KO – 16:00 local time, 04:00 BST
Saturday 28th October: France vs Australia, Forsyth Barr Stadium. KO – 19:00 local time, 07:00 BST
WXV 3
Friday 27th October: Kazakhstan vs Fiji, The Sevens 2, Dubai. KO – 17:00 local time, 14:00 BST
Friday 27th October: Kenya vs Colombia, The Sevens 2. KO – 19:30 local time, 16:30 BST
Saturday 28th October: Ireland vs Spain, The Sevens 2. KO – 17:00 local time, 14:00 BST
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments