England defeated the USA 52-14 in the final warmup match for the Eagles in advance of the Women's Rugby World Cup.
It was a performance rife with issues for the Americans, but also peppered with some positive moments. Clearly the Eagles were the second-best side in the first half, going into the locker room down 33-0. But a much better second half both defensively and on attack saw the scoreline at 17-12 in England's favor.
This was a good second 40 showing for the USA, especially when you consider that right now England is far and away the world's top-ranked side and their scores over the last 12 months are sobering: 43-12 and 56-15 against New Zealand, 51-12 over Canada and 89-0 over the USA, 57-5 over Scotland, 74-0 over Italy, 58-5 over Wales, 69-0 over Ireland, and 24-12 over France.
So scoring two tries again this lot is something to hang your hat on ... at least for a while.
the game was played at Sandy Park in Exeter, where several USA players pitch-up for the Exeter Chiefs. It was wet and rainy, as is not uncommon in the summer in that part of the world (where you don't tan so much as rust).
England Opens Up Early
England dominated field position in the first half.
The territorial pressure forced errors by the Eagles, and within a few minutes scrumhalf Natasha Hunt stepped her way over from a scrum move five meters out.
Soon England was over the line again, this time intercepting a pass from Gabby Cantorna—Jess Breach camping out and waiting for a pass Cantorna certainly has to feel she should have never sent.
The England maul was firing well and Amy Cokayne capped off the shove for England’s third try. They went wide for the next one as Zoe Harrison and Ellie Kildunne combined nicely to set up Claudia MacDonald. Breach scored her second thanks to a steal from No. 8 Poppy Cleal and it was 33-0.
Late in the first half the Eagles did get into England’s 22, but the ball was achingly slow out of the ruck and as a result England was winning the tackles. But England also benefited from some really negative play—killing the ball in the rucks, interfering with scrumhalf Olivia Ortiz, and doing that thing that they are coached to do—run from an offside position to an onside position on a course that takes you between scrumhalf and ruck.
Referee Aurélie Groizeleau eventually started to clamp down on this but her warning was too late and too weak. Cantorna lined up a penalty right on the stroke of halftime but pushed it wide.
Second Half Rebound
It was a different USA team that returned to the field for the second half. They started to find ways to involve their backs a bit more—Alev Kelter specifically—and everyone seemed to run with a bit more authority. But still, close to the tryline, it was a plodding scene. Rucks taking four or five seconds to produce a pass just played into England’s hands. The Eagles got right to the line only to lose the ball—the Americans were also too high in contact—and England actually worked their way down the field. A break from Emily Scarratt set them up and then out it went to MacDonald. USA wing Jennine Detiveaux had a two-on-one to cover and chose to cover prop Hannah Botterman, leaving wing MacDonald free to race in.
England seemed to have another try soon thereafter off a lineout and maul, but video review showed that both England lifters and blocked the US defenders, reversing the try and giving the Eagles a penalty. (This seemed fair as the penalty that led to this lineout was a bit harsh.)
