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(Vanesha McGee scored USA's try.)
By Jackie Finlan
Lakeland, FL - When the USA vs Canada match ended 11-10 in the Eagles' favor, the sides' fans sighed - the Americans exhaled with relief, while the Canadians cringed with disappointment. With no time left on the clock, the game was for Canada's taking, but the easy conversion, just left of the posts, sailed wide.
The USA learned a valuable lesson after Tuesday's match, which Canada won in the second half 18-8, about maintaining energy levels despite momentum changes and the scoreboard. "It's something we've historically struggled with," flanker Beckett Royce said. "We'll get pumped up and play physically, but then get down on ourselves if momentum changes. In the forwards, we talked about digging in and committing to not being driven off the ball."
It made a difference in the set pieces, which looked far better than Tuesday. The scrum had some more senior personnel working together, as compared to the last test, which saw two Eagles earn their first cap (front row Naima Reddick and eight man Kate Daley). "Any time you bring someone new into such a tight-knit group, it's going to take some time to get the hang of one another," Royce said.
"It felt great today," hooker Lisa Butts said of the front row. "The communication, composure and calm you look for was there." Butts, who earned her sixth cap today, notched her first win with the USA today.
"The scrum had a whole different feel today," coach Kathy Flores said. "They were confident in themselves and that made all the difference."
But it was the breakdown that saw most improvement. The Eagles were incredibly tough and their retention rate heading into contact was better than Tuesday. Flores indicated that the staff emphasized physicality while preparing for this match, and she was pleased with her team's dedication to it.
"I was happy with the pressure," Flores said, "but then we wouldn't always make the best decisions after the breakdown. We'd try to get the ball wide too quickly, or commit a silly mistake to turn the ball over. Just something we have to work on."
The first half belonged to the Americans in terms of energy and momentum, but there was little success on offense, for either side. Wings Vanesha McGee and Vix Foylayan made a couple of nice breaks down the line, but they didn't materialize into points. And even though the USA kept Canada out of its try zone, later-phase defense proved to be a continuing problem for the USA.
"There wasn't a consistent shape to our defense," Flores continued, "and sometimes they weren't looking up and Canada took advantage." Their were some open-field miscommunications as well that led to some linebreaks, but no points.
The second half opened with a Stephanie Bruce penalty, which she slotted three minutes into the match, 3-0. Canada wasted no time in answering back. From a midfield ruck, Canada worked the ball down the line, took advantage of a defense that did not come up together and created an overload on the wing. Fullback Ashley Patzer was able to split the defenders and get down the line untouched in the corner, 5-3.
Bruce put the USA up 6-5 about seven minutes later with another penalty, while replacements Mel Kanuk (Bruce), Christy Ringgenberg (Folayan) and Mel Denham (Royce) made their way onto the field. Around the 25-minute mark, Canada eightman Jen Kish was sent off, and the advantage gave McGee the room she needed to make good on another linebreaking streak down the sideline. She shrugged off the diving Patzer and outrun one pursuer to dot down in the corner around minute 30, 11-6.
There the game stood for the next 15 minutes. Canada kept the ball in USA territory for the majority of the final quarter, but the Eagle defense remained strong enough. Finally, after a long fringe attack, the Canadians swung it wide where a 3-on-2 was waiting for them. Center Mandy Marchak raced in from 15 meters and dotted down just left of the posts, 11-10. The missed conversion ended the game, and the teams split the Atlantic Cup games.
Although the game's ending tainted the win to an extent, "We're happy with the win," Royce said. "Our defense at the end was commendable. On Tuesday, we played a great first half and then let up. Today, we put in a great 80 minutes."
But there's still some work to be done on offense. "The forwards did a good job of go-forward ball, led by flanker Kristin Zdanczewicz," Flores said, "but we've got to work on our center attack. We have some young centers, experience wise, but it's more about them finding the right lines of penetration. Sometimes, in an effort to get the ball wide to our fast wings, we were running sideways instead of passing wide."
Flores is looking foward to seeing Kelly Griffin, whose bad quad bruise before the Tuesday match sidelined her for the duration of the week, in action. "She's going to do great things and bring the running lines we're looking for."
The USA is nearly seven months out from the Rugby World Cup, and what did the past week show Flores and her staff? "In the short term, I saw some great improvement over Tuesday," Flores said. "We played some young players, but I'm not making any excuses. I needed Tuesday to see where we stood and we learned a lot from that game. But going forward, we can't use a game to find out where we're at. I need to know that in advance."
The team has a couple of months to train on their own before assembling for a red-and-white match - an inner-squad game that will pit the top 44 women against one another. Flores and her staff will be focusing on the top 38 players and won't name the final team until late May/June. The Eagles will likely face Canada in June before hopefully heading into residency (depending on funding).
USA: 11
Tries: McGee
Penalties: Bruce (2)
Roster: 1. Jamie Burke, 2. Lisa Butts, 3. Lara Vivolo, 4. Stacey Bridges, 5. Jill Potter (Sharon Blaney), 6. Kristin Zdanczewicz, 7. Beckett Royce (Mel Denham), 8. Blair Groefsema, 9. Claudia Braymer, 10. Stephanie Bruce (Mel Kanuk), 11. Victoria Folayan (Christy Ringgenberg), 12. Emilie Bydwell, 13. Lynelle Kugler, 14. Vanesha McGee, 15. Ashley English (c).
Canada: 10
Tries: Patzer, Marchak
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