Lessons from Last Game Need to be Learned for USA v Australia
Lessons from Last Game Need to be Learned for USA v Australia
Early Saturday morning, at 2:55AM ET, the USA women will take on Australia in a crucial Pacific Four game.
The Eagles have already lost to Canada (and were a shade unlucky) and Australia has already lost to New Zealand (and were a shade unlucky), and it's likely that this game will decide which of these two teams will advance to the WXV 1 later in the year.
Coming into the game the USA can look back at their game with Canada and recognize that they were tied 70 minutes into the game, but, after tackling and tackling and tackling, finally saw two tries go in to win it for the Canadians. Buoyed by a record-breaking US WNT crowd, the USA did well, but know this is just a step toward what they want to do.
"We made some massive defensive ships against really strong Canadian side," said USA captain Kate Zackary. "It was kind of a unique opportunity to get back to my roots a little bit with a different sport and showcase that in the Midwest and the crowd was fantastic every opportunity we had. It was amazing to see the ruby growth in America."
Zackary even scored in front of her old high school and college friends, as the Kansas City test match was essentially in her home town. "It was super special; it's special for me but you kind of forget it can be special for the fans, too."
But, she added, "I think like the best thing to look at is even in that first 10 minutes, we sat on our tryline for I think just about that whole 10 minutes. But if you're looking for mindset intent of the team, look at tat first 10 minutes," she told GRR. "Look at how many times we created a turnover just inches away from that white line where most teams give away penalties. What you saw was a team who was confident to not give away those like kind of little penalties that are easy to give in that area, they were confident, making their low tackles, going in together, defending that line till the final end."
"What was really nice is the work that [assistant coach] Sarah Chobot's done with the group is really paying off," added Head Coach Sione Fukofuka. "So if you even go back to the Japan game. We were under a lot of pressure there as well, and they defended really, really well. Our challenge is that transition into the attacking half. We had 3 entries into the 22 and scored two tries, so we're confident in what we do at either end. What we've worked on over the last 10 days is that transition through the middle of the field and transferring pressure back onto the opposition."
The problem? Maintaining continuity past the third phase and handling the physicality of a good defensive team.
And looking ahead to Australia, Fukofuka said the Wallaroos are more physical this year than last.
"We thought this time their set piece was improved. I think their lineout percentage was up around the 85% and New Zealand's dropped," said the coach. "They put a lot of pressure on the New Zealand set piece. So I'm imagining they're going to be pretty confident in those areas. But there are also areas that we're very confident in. So it'll be a good test."
