Top Seeds Move to Semis in Women's Rugby World Cup
Top Seeds Move to Semis in Women's Rugby World Cup
The top-rated teams all made it to the Women's Rugby World Cup semifinals, and, as expected, France-vs-Ireland was easily the closest match of the weekend.
Here's what happened in the quarterfinals:
Canada Downs Australia
Canada were hugely impressive in beating Australia 46-5 at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
Canada's Asia Hogan-Rochester and Australia's Desiree Miller traded tries in the first ten minutes, but from then on Canada put on a show for those in attendance as Alysha Corrigan scored two while Sophie de Goede and McKinley Hunt also crossed the line. The Wallaroos were able to stem the tide somewhat in the second half, but Fabiola Forteza and Karen Paquin both added tries and Alex Tessier slotted a penalty to put the finishing touches on a statement performance in Bristol.
Sophie de Goede was awarded the Mastercard Player of the Match after scoring a try and adding eight further points with her boot.
"You could have given this Player of the Match to so many players out there and to the impact subs that came on and finished the game incredibly," she said. "I think that's what makes us a great team and hopefully you can continue to see that throughout the tournament.
"We were excited to be in the semis last time and I feel like we are just rolling and we've checked off every job we have wanted to do so far. Real credit to Australia, it was a tough game. I'm just really happy we were able to come through that one and we look forward to the semis."
In addition to her scoring, de Goede got the grunt work done. Her 78 metres made with ball in hand was the most out of any player.
"I am very happy," said Canada Head Coach Kevin Rouet. "Our first half was a very good rugby game for us. We pushed the game away from Australia and after that we managed the second half, so I'm very happy with the performance."
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp was gracious in defeat, saying her side were second best on the day.
"We were beaten by a better team," she said. "Canada came out and we knew that if we allowed them to get quick ball, we know exactly what they're capable of, and that's exactly what we saw in that first half, so credit to them. We came out the second half and threw at it what we could. We had a put more ball and tried to stop that line speed but the game was already lost."
Canada will face New Zealand, who beat South Africa 46-17.
Black Ferns Roll
Kaipo Olsen-Baker was named Mastercard Player of the Match, playing in her first game since the opener because she was hampered by injury.
"It's definitely not the World Cup I hoped for, but I'm super grateful for the med team, the girls, and all my family back home," Olsen-Baker said. "Without their support I wouldn't have been able to come back. I wouldn't have been able to score those two tries today without the girls. We're such a tight-knit group and knows how everyone plays."
South Africa has emerged as the most improved program this World Cup and they were dynamic. They also unleashed a 15-player lineout, which turned some heads.
“I knew South Africa were going to bring out something different, but I didn’t think they were going to bring out that, which was insane," said Olsen-Baker.
"We got a bit of a ruck-up in the sheds, particularly us backs," said captain Ruahei Demant. "Our accuracy wasn't good enough and it wasn't the standards that this jersey demands. We knew that we were going into the wind [in the second half] allowed us to play a high-possession game, which a lot of us love, was the message that was given to us from our coaches and I'm really proud that we took that message and enforced it in the second half."
Canada will be a tough out, and this is certainly a pick 'em game.
"They're a really good side," said Demant. "They're [ranked] number two for a reason. We played them this year at home in Christchurch and the game ended in a draw, so we know that we will have not a lot of room for ever. We won't have a lot of room for error; our performance will need to be bang-on."
French Comeback in the Rain
France came back from a 13-0 deficit to beat Ireland 18-13 at a rainy Sandy Park in Exeter Sunday.
Ireland used the high winds behind them to their advantage and build a 13-0 lead thanks to tries from Linda Djougang and Stacey Flood; Dannah O'Brien added penalty.
France worked through a lengthy period of defense on their own tryline in the final possession of the half, and once they turned over the ball after more than 30 phases, they perhaps felt they had turned the momentum.
They didn't have the same wind behind them as the Irish did in the first half, but France were able to muscle their way into the game and they were rewarded through tries from Charlotte Escudero, who scored of a switch, and a length-of-the-field effort from Joanna Grisez.
Morgane Bourgeois converted one of them to go with her 48th-minute penalty, and when she stepped up and converted another penalty in the 75th minute, she set up a grandstand finish. Ireland were once again camped deep in the French half with time up, and once again the French stood firm to resist multiple phases of attack before an attacking lineout from a penalty saw Manae Feleu leap up and disrupt the throw to win a tense quarterfinal in Southwest England.
Roses On To Semifinal
France will take on England, of course as they beat Scotland 40-8 in Bristol.
Scotland came into the game with the promise that they would give everything against the number-one ranked team in the world, and they delivered with a fast start—Helen Nelson's penalty making it 3-0.
However, England stormed back with a pair of tries from Kelsey Clifford and one each from Morwenna Talling and Abby Dow to lead 26-3.
Scotland were stubborn in defense in the second half, but could not hold out completely as Amy Cokayne and Holly Aitchison both crossed for further England tries.
Morwenna Talling scored and set the tone up front for the forwards, earning the Mastercard Player of the Match honors.
"It was really good," she said. "Obviously the weather wasn't great but we put our best foot forward and the pack did a great job getting us go-forward. It is always massive to play your best rugby. That's what the tournament is about. The competition only drives each of us to get better and in training it helps us every day and then to put it out in the match is great."
England head coach John Mitchell heaped praise on his side for the way they navigated the opposition as well as the conditions - but was disappointed that they allowed Scotland to have the final say.
"I thought it was a terrific performance in very difficult conditions," he said. "We kept them in their own half and we built pressure frequently through our set-piece on them. That's where we thought we could break them. The pressure by the team was superb. The only little glitch was conceding the line-break late in the game, which is something I don't really enjoy."
