Big Plays Secure 3rd in Cape Town for USA Women
Big Plays Secure 3rd in Cape Town for USA Women
It's 3rd place for the USA in the Women's tournament at the Cape Town 7s thanks to another excellent coalface effort from Ilona Maher and one key opportunistic play.
After a bit of an up-and-down Day Two, the Eagles capped off their Cape Town run with a 20-12 defeat of a very dangerous Ireland team. Ireland's normal danger woman, Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe was largely kept in check, and Naya Tapper produced a strong performance that was backed up nicely by her teammates.
Tapper set up the first score with an excellent cover tackle and jackal, which produced a holding-on penalty. It was a crucial play because with the number of players Ireland was sending in, just the tackle would not have been enough.
After calling for a scrum the Eagles got another penalty and this time tapped to go quickly. They ran a planned play designed to have Maher commit three defenders. It worked, sort of, as the recycle was a little messy, but quickly Kristi Kirshe broke through for a massive run. She was somehow dragged down just before the line, but Kirshe looked for and found an offload target in Sam Sullivan, who had worked hard to get into position. Sullivan scored.
From the restart the Eagles won possession and Maher drew in defenders and ran a switch with Tapper. As she has done much of this tournament, Tapper stayed strong and on her feel when grabbed, and was able to pop a pass back to Maher for the second USA try and a 10-0 lead.
Ireland came back in the second half with a kick ahead from Murphy Crowe and a gather and score from Beibhinn Parsons. Some poor USA tackling put them behind 12-10, but then the big play came.
Ireland won the restart, but the ball came out of the ruck with no one to take it. Sullivan swooped in, picked it up, and was gone 60 meters for the momentum-shifting try.
Samantha Sullivan has been on fire this weekend!
— World Rugby 7s (@WorldRugby7s) December 11, 2022
What an individual try for the @USARugby! #HSBC7s | #CapeTown7s pic.twitter.com/sUErGtydzb
The Eagles built on that with a superb knock-back on the restart from Alex Sedrick and Kirshe took it up. After a long sequence of phases, Alena Olsen perfectly waited for her chance and passed to Tapper for the game-sealing try.
That made it 20-12 and Ireland needed two scores to come back. They got none as the USA secured the restart and kicked it dead.
Semifinal
The Eagles played in the 3rd-4th match because they lost 33-12 to Australia in the semis. Despite causing Australia some problems, the Eagles were not as physically strong, overall, as the Aussies and as the game wore on they started to fall off tackles. It was 19-12 midway through the second half, but Australia scored two late tries to finish it off.
For just about every team in the World Series it's all about chasing New Zealand and Australia. These teams are fast, work together well, hit hard, and are supremely fit. While most teams have two or three or four players like that, Australia and New Zealand have 12 players like that, and it shows in the results.
Meanwhile, the battle for the top four continues. The Eagles did enough to get by Fiji in the quarterfinals 10-7, shutting down a very dynamic opponent. France, a team that has given the USA problems, has had trouble in the quarterfinals, which is one reason they are behind the USA in the standings:
Women's Sevens World Series Standings after Two Tournaments:
1. Australia 38pts
2. New Zealand 38
3. USA 32
4. France 26
5. Ireland 24
6. Fiji 20
Maher is the USA's best and most active player, but Tapper seems to have re-blossomed after taking the captain's role. Sullivan just gets through work and is explosive, and we are starting to see Kirshe make breaks.
