USA 10 Italy 22 at RWC
USA 10 Italy 22 at RWC
Italy defeated the USA 22-10 in the opening game of the Women's Rugby World Cup, played in Whangarei, New Zealand.
The Eagles will rue the first 30 minutes of the game in which they dominated field position and ball possession and could only score one try.
Too Much and Not Enough
The game started with the USA on the front foot. They pressured off the kickoff, stole the ball and had Italy really concerned. But the Italians defended well and the USA attack, as has been the issue for the last 12 months or so, lacked variety. In the end wing Lotte Clapp turned the ball over and Italy got the ball back.
The Italians were dealt a blow then, with flanker Ilaria Arrighetti going down with a bad injury that could well mean the end of her World Cup after about two minutes.
Back came the USA and after a scrum penalty they tapped, bashed at the line, and finally lock Hallie Taufoou was over. She did well in traffic, keeping a low body position and making sure of her touchdown.
From there the USA continued to spend time in the Italian half. Their scrum strength was impressive and they earned some penalties out of that, but they started to encounter lineout trouble. The Italians got their front jump up quickly and disrupted or outright stole USA throws.
The Eagles had another good scoring chance with a break from wing Jennine Detiveaux. The Eagles couldn't quite follow on but defensive pressure by Jordan Matyas forced a penalty. The USA opted for a scrum (realizing the lineout wouldn't work) and from there No. 8 Kate Zachary almost made the line. The ball went wide and the connection in the backs failed, giving Italy a letoff once again.
More chances came; Italy stopped a maul inches from the line, and an excellent break from Detiveaux and Zackary just didn't get enough support.
Late in the first half, Italy finally got some time in the USA half. Fullback Alev Kelter's kick to touch on a penalty was shanked, Italy countered, and quick they worked a series of little passes out wide to Aura Mizzo to score in the corner. Fullback Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi hit the difficult conversion and it was 7-5 Italy.
Going into the sheds, then, the USA knew they had to fix their lineouts, and perhaps felt they could use their kicking game to win the territorial game. But they would also have to be worried about their tackling. Italy made meters in almost every contact, and found ways to cut through, forcing the Eagles to make cover tackles.
Second Half
The lineouts remained a problem but it was the USA's soft tackling that set up Italy's try early in the second half. The Italians took a lineout, launched an attack and the USA tacklers just allowed themselves to be driven back. That forced more players to come into the tackle area to help out. As a result, when the ball did go wide, the American wings were badly isolated and Italy scored easily. The kick was barely wide so it was a one-score game at 12-5, but the USA was in real trouble.
Finally the Eagles started to put together not only phases, but phases going forward. Kelter found a chance to run with Eti Haungatau and Matyas making some plays. The movement was working nicely and seemed set to create a try when Minuzzi knocked on deliberately. She was yellow-carded and the USA had a penalty, which they wisely tapped. A few phases later Matyas slipped a shot ball to lock Jenny Kronish and Kornish dove over. It was one of the pieces of variety in the USA game, instead of going one pass and charge ahead, Matyas saw she was being targeted and offloaded.
Somehow the kick was charged down so the USA missed a prime chance to tie it up and Italy led 12-10.
After the restart the Americans looked to keep deep, but their kicks, needing to be line drives or dying quails that are difficult to catch were instead majestic, soaring kicks that just gave the Azzurre time to get under them. Italy countered nicely, and the USA tackling was once again iffy. A stolen lineout and then some width allowed Muzzo to score her second. That made it 17-10 and the yellow card against Italy had ended up not costing them anything.
Time started to fritter away, and then off an attacking lineout Italy ran a set move that put wing Maria Magatti up the middle. The USA players were woefully slow to react and Magatti angled for the corner and raced in.
Final two words from Lotte Clapp sum it up. @USARugby @rugbyworldcup (Thanks Taylor) pic.twitter.com/RKoraXlhN0
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) October 9, 2022
Ultimately, this game might hve been Italy's true coming out party. They were excellent in the lineout, stealing only four of the USA's throws but disrupting many more. They were imaginative and moved the ball with flair. They were very fast, and played with confidence.
For the USA, 29 missed tackles and nine clean breaks against them tells much of the story. But not showing up in the stats was how slow they were to advance on defense, while the Italians blitzed the USA's first receivers and didn't allow anything to really develop. There were individual standouts for the Egles—Hope Rogers was a warrior and made some key turnovers, Matyas seemed at times to be the only one who wanted to break open the game, Kelter led all players in getting past the gain line, and Zackary was a rock. But the USA forwards' ability to slide across to cover gaps was not there. They let Italy take the game to them. And ... in the end, the inability to score tries, especially in the backline, remains a serious issue.
Is a place in the quarterfinals gone? No, not at all, but the Eagles need offense.
USA 10
Tries: Taufoou, Kronish
Starters
1. Hope Rogers; 2. Joanna Kitlinski; 3. Nick James; 4. Hallie Taufoou; 5. Jenny Kronish; 6. Jordan Matyas; 7. Rachel Johnson; 8. Kate Zackary (C); 9. Carly Waters; 10. Gabby Cantorna; 11. Lotte Clapp; 12. Katana Howard; 13. Eti Haungatau; 14. Jennine Detiveaux; 15. Alev Kelter
Reserves
16. Kathryn Treder; 17. Catie Benson; 18. Charli Jacoby; 19. Kristine Sommer; 20. Georgie Perris-Redding; 21. Olivia Ortiz; 22. Meya Bizer; 23. Tess Feury
Italy 22
Tries: Muzzo 2, Minuzzi, Magatti
Convs: Minuzzi
Starters
1. Silvia Turani; 2. Melissa Bettoni; 3. Lucia Gai; 4. Valeria Fedrighi; 5. Giordana Duca; 6. Ilaria Arrighetti; 7. GiadaFranco; 8. Elisa Giordano (captain); 9. Sofia Stefan; 10. Veronica Madia; 11. Maria Magatti; 12. Beatrice Rigoni; 13. Michela Sillari; 14. Aura Muzzo; 15. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi
Reserves
16. Vittoria Vecchini; 17. Gaia Mari; 18. Sara Seye; 19. Sara Tounesi; 20. Isabella Locatelli; 21. Francesca Sgorbini ; 22. Sara Barattin; 23. Alyssa D’Incà
USA captain @katezack28 looks for positives. But tries remain elusive. pic.twitter.com/cW9tlUPXNS
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) October 9, 2022
