Coming off the USA's 20-10 loss to Ireland, the Eagles were bitterly disappointed.

It took the team two days to shake the feeling. They knew they should have won.

"I think for us the feeling was one of frustration," said scrumhalf Olivia Ortiz, who came off the bench in the game against Ireland. "It hurt. We know we're capable of so much more. We know we can do more."

Yes it's been two years since the USA Women's 15s team has played any test matches, and once they got back on the field again they lost 15-9 and 26-13 to Canada and 20-10 to Ireland. Tries have been hard to come by, and, perhaps, luck has been scarce, too. But dwelling on all of that doesn't help.

"But we know when it's time to put our business hat on," said Ortiz. "We've been back at working piecing together some of those last pieces. The devil's in the details and we've been finding our shape and we continue to have space out wide; just getting our catch-pass down at the end is letting us down. We've been shooting ourselves in the foot and we know we can play better."

Basically, the scoring chances have been there, but the final pass, the final catch, the final read, or the final pickup just falls away. When it comes together—witness Elizabeth Cairns's try against the Irish—it can be pretty special to watch. The tries, however, are too rare. Against England Sunday in Worcester, they won't find an accommodating defense.

As the Eagles prepare for this massive test the USA team is getting down to business, but they also need to keep morale up; it can't all be serious. Outside of training and meetings, they have a Culture Crew who works on activities to keep the team bonded and keep things light.

On one recent activity they shared photos and memories and talked about what was important to them. It was a way for the players to get to know their teammates in a different way. Other times it's been traditional English Afternoon Tea.

"The thing is we were in the Daily Training Environment but in there you might train with your group and another group, but you lived and socialized only with your group," said Ortiz. "So this mixing has been really valuable."

On the field, there are players who are especially good at keeping the morale high. Ortiz notes McKenzie Hawkins is always like that, giving positive feedback, insisting on high fives because they are only gonig upward, and urging teammates to encourage and support each other. 

Remember, it's the little things.