London (AFP) – The United States and Australia played out the best game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup with a dramatic 31-31 draw in York on Saturday. In a tournament littered with lopsided scorelines, including hosts and favourites England’s 92-3 rout of Samoa earlier Saturday, the United States twice overturned nine-point deficits before ending a thrilling clash all square. The draw meant England qualified for the last eight.
To reach the next round, Australia will have to at least keep the score close when they play world number one England in Brighton next weekend. The Wallaroos are five points clear of the United States in Pool A and have a huge points difference advantage. Australia are on +73 to the Eagles’ -62. A single bonus point would see Australia advance. Even if the Wallaroos do not get one, the Eagles would require a huge win over Samoa to have a chance of reaching the knockout phase.
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Australia full-back Caitlyn Halse scored two tries and set up two more for wing Desiree Miller. The Eagles hit back. Flanker Freda Tafuna scored two tries. Lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy burst clear after 69 minutes to give the Americans a 31-26 lead. Australia replacement Eva Karpani’s try five minutes from time levelled the scores. Sam Wood was narrowly wide with a conversion that could have won the game for Australia and taken them into the quarter-finals.
– ‘Hit back harder’ –
Australia coach Joanne Yapp, a former England captain, said: “We let them into the game in that second half and our penalty count allowed them access to our half, and when they’re in there, they’re hard to stop.” Eagles skipper Kate Zackary praised her side’s resilience: “The thing I am most proud about is every time we got hit, we hit back a little bit harder. We’ve earned ourselves another chance for the quarter-finals.”
Earlier, Jess Breach scored a hat-trick as a fully professional England side, who have not lost since the 2022 final against New Zealand, duly inflicted the forecast hammering upon an amateur Samoa team. England surpassed their previous highest score in the World Cup: an 84-19 win over Fiji three years ago. Such is the Red Roses’ depth, their victory at a rainswept Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton was achieved despite England coach John Mitchell making 13 changes to the starting 15 following an opening 69-7 thrashing of the USA.
“We played some good rugby,” England fly-half Helena Rowland, who scored 27 points, told the BBC. “With a squad that had so many changes, it felt really cohesive.” Samoa, beaten 73-0 by Australia in their opening Pool game, at least avoided being ‘nilled’ two weeks in a row thanks to Harmony Vatau’s 44th-minute penalty. “We talked about getting some points which we did and we avoided that zero,” said Samoa coach Ramsey Tomokino. “We need more rugby in Samoa, we need to be part of a professional competition, that would help us. Our players are spread out around the world.”
In Pool B, Canada hammered Wales 42-0, scoring six tries in Salford to follow their opening 65-7 walloping of Fiji. “It was amazing to watch our girls dominate the scrums and the line-out was still strong for us,” said Canada captain Alex Tessier. Wales coach Sean Lynn found some encouragement: “The big thing for me was that in the last 15, 20 minutes there was a glimpse of what I want to see, being brave, moving the ball and getting individuals with the ball in hand.”
Scotland’s 29-15 win over Fiji, that built on their 38-8 victory over Wales, took them into the quarter-finals and condemned the Welsh to an early exit. “I don’t think we’ve been in a World Cup quarter-final for 24 years, so it’s nice to create a bit of history,” said Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm.
© 2024 AFP
