little late on the updates…

Sorry all, just getting back to life after Philly and the Pumpkinfest tournament. I have come down with some bug…and am sick as a dog, but getting bored or sleeping…so decided to play on the internet for a bit.

FROM USARUGBY.org:

9-12-2006 – KARVOSKI, NESBERG LEAD EAGLES TO WIN IN AUSSIE REMATCH EDMONTON, Alberta – Paced by three spectacular second-half tries by Arkansas’ Ellie Karvoski, the USA Women’s National Rugby Team opened up their backline attack and defeated Australia 29-12, today, at the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The victory, which is the third in a row at the tournament for the Eagles, means they play Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium for 5th place in the World. The Eagles started off the very physical test with plenty of offensive pressure. Within minutes of the kickoff they took a lineout five meters from the Australia line. The throw didn’t hit the jumper, but was recovered by flanker Kristin Zdanczewicz (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and fed inside to No. 8 Tina Nesberg, of San Francisco, Calif., who burst through the Australian forwards to score.

Up 5-0 early on, the Eagles then spent much of the next 15 minutes on the back foot. Australia pressured off the restart and came close to scoring on several occasions, Ashley English (Oakland, Calif.) and Keenya Warner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) were among the backs who put in big tackles for the Eagles. Australia earned two kickable penalties during that time, but both were wide, allowing the Americans to stay on top.
Once they cleared their lines the Eagles began to show some more effective attacking ability, with Heather Hale (Atlanta, Ga.) setting free Pam Kosanke, of Chicago, Ill., Karvoski, and Laura Cabrera (Oakland, Calif.) on several attacks.

Good coverage on a probing kick from Hale forced Australian No. 8 Alex Hargreaves to kill the ball, and she was sin-binned for the infringement. This set up a huge American opportunity. They drove off a lineout but were stymied repeatedly by the Australian defense. After five minutes on the Aussie line the USA earned another penalty. Captain Jen Crouse called for a scrum and Nesberg picked up from the back, stiff-armed one tackle, and scored. Kosanke’s well-struck kick hit the post.
“If our scrumhalf [Claudia Braymer] had tapped the ball quickly I wouldn’t have been upset, but I thought our scrum was stronger this game and we could suck in their forwards and run a play,” said Crouse.
Up 10-0 at halftime the Eagles caught a break on the second-half kickoff as the Australian kick didn’t go ten meters. From that scrum the Eagles attacked with the backs to the right, and only desperate Australian tackling kept Cabrera from scoring.

Still with continued pressure and Zdanczewicz, California’s Jamie Burke, and New York’s Phaidra Knight stealing the ball in the rucks, the Eagles kept up the attack. Kosanke hit the post once again with a penalty kick, but the Australians could breathe more easily only for so long.
A simple USA backline move eight minutes into the second half gave Karvoski the ball with some room and she easily rounded the corner for her first World Cup try. “The tournament has been one of putting the pieces together, so not scoring hasn’t really been a frustration for me personally, but more of a team frustration,” Karvoski said. “I am just trying to do the job a good wing is supposed to do.”

In the 58th minute, the Eagle backline struck again, this time with sub center Hedwig Aerts (Brooklyn, N.Y.) fielded a pass a little behind her, turned and fed Kosanke, who popped the ball for Karvoski entering the right side of the backline from her left wing position. Karvoski zipped through the Australian defense with startling speed to score near the posts, and Kosanke’s conversion made it 22-0.

Three minutes later is was Karvoski again showcasing her speed for her third try. Kosanke’s kick made it 29-0. The Eagles appeared to be ready to score one more, as Karvoski, Kosanke, Knight and Cabrera combined on the most intriguing movement of the day, but Australia didn’t give up and made the tackles they needed to make. With the USA bench emptied and time winding down, Australia kept attacking. The Aussies scored twice with wing Tricia Brown touching down in the 67th minute and inspirational captain Selena Worsely scoring at the 73rd minute. But a stern talking-to from Crouse saw the Americans hold their defensive line thereafter and win 29-12.

“I told the players we had 15 minutes to go, so that’s what we’ve got; let’s show what we can do,” said Worsley. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for the Australians,” added USA head coach Kathy Flores. “We stepped back a little, which is I guess natural when you’re up 29-0. It was a mental thing more than anything else. But the Australians made us pay.” Despite the iffy ending, the Eagles were generally pleased to have showed their scoring punch and also shown marked improvements in their scrums, lineouts, and ball retention.

“We had the pieces of the puzzle but we hadn’t brought them all together at the right time,” said Crouse. “Things all came together for large portions of the game today.” Added double try-scorer Nesburg, “I felt everyone else was doing all the hard work. Jamie poached the ball, the scrums were solid. I was just behind it all taking advantage of everyone else’s hard work.”

The USA will now play the winner of Ireland and Scotland, both teams the Eagles have beaten this year, to finish 5th. “We’re not really looking at it as finishing 5th,” said Flores. “We’re looking at it as we want to finish this tournament 4-1, and we’ll have only lost to England, and that’s not too shabby.”

USA 29Tries: Karvoski 3, Nesberg 2Conv: Kosanke 2

USA Lineup (Hedwig Aerts replaced Patty Jervey on the bench due to illness) 1. Annie Collier (Meredith Ottens @ 57); 2. Mari Wallace (Danielle Miller @ 67); 3. Jamie Burke; 4. Erin Carter (Kate Pope @ 62); 5. Jen Crouse (c); 6. Phaidra Knight; 7. Kristin Zdanczewicz; 8. Tina Nesberg (Kate Cox @ 64); 9. Claudia Braymer (Lee Knight @ 65); 10. Heather Hale; 11. Ellie Karvoski; 12. Pam Kosanke; 13. Keenya Warner (Hedwigh Aerts @ 56); 14. Laura Cabrera (Kristin Baja @ 67); 15. Ashley English.

Australia 12Tries: Brown, WorsleyConv: McGann

Australia 1. Lindsay Morgan, 2. Louise Burrows, 3. Vanessa Bradley, 4. Alicia Frost, 5. Chris Ross, 6. Kim Wilson, 7. Selena Worsley (c), 8. Alexandra Hargreaves, 9. Cheryl Soon, 10. Tobie McGann, 11. Tricia Brown, 12. Rebecca Anderson, 13. Lisa Fiaola, 14. Ruan Sims, 15. Kelli Donnelly Reserves 16. Annette Finch, 17. Rebecca Trethowan, 18. Kate Porter, 19. Tasiletta Bethell, 20. Alana Thomas, 21. Lito Fata, 22. Iliseva Batibasaga

9-11-2006 – DREAM RUN FOR KOSANKE SPRINGBOARD FOR FUTURE PERFORMANCES EDMONTON, Alberta – For many rugby players the situation Pam Kosanke (Chicago, Ill.) found herself in was the stuff dreams are made of.

The inside center for the USA Women’s National Team found herself with the ball in her hands, some space to move, and the game on the line. What she did then was magical, selling a dummy to teammate Laura Cabrera (Oakland, Calif.) on the wing, taking a gap, and running 60 meters for a try that turned a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 victory.

“It was like a dream,” said Kosanke. “To have that opportunity and to score a try that important in a World Cup was incredible. I was really surprised they gave us that much space on the weak side, but when I got the ball I saw a 7s field in front of me. Laura looked like she was going to be covered, and because of that I had no intention of passing. I love open field running and thought I had a good chance.”

Kosanke’s run tired her out enough that teammate Heather Hale took the conversion, but it is Kosanke who has been taking the majority of the kicks in the two World Cup games she has played in, and she is painfully aware that she has missed them all.

“Both were really windy days and I tried to a
djust for the wind, but it just didn’t work out,” Kosanke said. “In the game against Australia we had a strong gust coming across so I aimed the kick to catch the wind and drift in, but it went perfectly straight. So I guess I feel OK because I am striking the ball well and have missed by a little, but goal kicking is a huge part of playing at this level and whether it’s me or anyone else taking the kicks, we’ve got to make them.”

The Eagles spent Monday morning in meetings (and doing some laundry) and then bussed out to the training fields for an afternoon session on the grass. Key among the backs will be their work on execution.

“We are doing the hard stuff,” said Kosanke. “We have put in some great goal-line stands and overall we’re tackling well. But it’s the basic stuff – passing the ball and catching the ball – that haven’t really shown what we can do as an attacking unit.”

The USA is currently eighth out of 12 teams with 34 points scored in three games, but they are 2-1 in large part because they have the third-best defense.

Look for the USA Women’s National Team to be ready for their second meeting with Australia on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 2:30 p.m.

9-8-2006 – USA WOMEN EDGE AUSTRALIA IN PHYSICAL BATTLE EDMONTON, Alberta – With a huge defensive effort and up against a big, physical Australia team, the USA Women’s National Team held on to defeat the Aussies 10-6 in Round 3 of pool play at the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The victory puts the USA at 2-1 in the World Cup standings, but because they failed to earn a bonus point by scoring four tries, they did not secure a spot in the semifinals. The game was played in a brisk wind that favored Australia in the opening half. The USA, which had used the kick regularly in the earlier matches, was forced to keep the ball in hand more. Early breaks by Keenya Warner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) and Ellie Karvoski (Little Rock, Ark.) put Australia under pressure, and the Wallabies were forced to commit penalties to slow the ball down. From one of these penalties flyhalf Heather Hale (Atlanta, Ga.) kicked to the corner, and the USA lineout and maul saw captain Jen Crouse (Oakland, Calif.) touch down for the opening try.

Leading 5-0 the USA immediately went on the back foot, giving up penalties and seeing the huge Australian center Ruan Sims blast through the line. A penalty in front of the posts gave fullback Tobie McGann an opportunity for goal and she made no mistake. The score was 5-3 USA after 14 minutes.

The Eagles spent much of the next eight minutes on defense, with several last-ditch tackles halting Australian breaks. A superb tackle from Karvoski and a USA turnover gave them some relief, but the Eagles were called for holding onto the ball on the ground, and McGann kicked her second penalty to give Australia the lead after 22 minutes, 6-5.
Led by outstanding tackling from Hale at flyhalf and Erin Carter (San Francisco, Calif.) at lock, the Eagles held the line from then on. But Australia was patient when the U.S. had the ball and forced a turn-over and kicked back downfield.

“They did a really good job of slowing our ball down,” said USA head coach Kathy Flores. “We knew they were going to be physical and we knew they wanted to slow down our ball to make it harder for us to attack. They did a good job of that.” Late in the first half came the turning point for both teams. The Eagles also forced several turnovers deep in their territory, and on one scrumhalf Claudia Braymer (Clifton Park, N.Y.) sent the ball weak to Pam Kosanke (Chicago, Ill.). The inside center took off and outfoxed the Aussie defense by selling a dummy pass to wing Laura Cabrera (Oakland, Calif.). The defense took the bait, and Kosanke went 60 meters for the try. She missed the conversion, but the USA led 10-6.

As time wound down Australia seemed to have the measure of the Americans and attacked down the wing. But Cabrera shoved wing Tricia Brown into touch to end the half. The second half was dominated by penalties, most committed by the USA as both teams ramped up their physical play.

“We were getting a little tired, especially as we were going backward, and that made us commit penalties,” said Carter. With their scrum under significant pressure and problems in the lineout, especially with American-born Aussie lock Chris Ross stealing plenty of ball, the USA did not get regular possession.

“The plan was to kick to the corners and pressure, but we couldn’t get good enough possession to do that on a regular basis,” said Flores.
When they did kick, Cabrera, Karvoski, and especially California’s Ashley English were very dangerous following up. English was also a handful on the counter.

“Every time we kicked to her on the full she did something,” said Australia coach Steve Hamson. “We really wanted to keep the ball away from the USA deep three.” Australia looked close to scoring on several occasions, taking a tap penalty five meters from the USA line and driving over the line off a lineout, but being held up. Meanwhile the Eagles spent the final eight minutes in the Australian 22, and several movements looked close to bringing a score. But neither team could put the game away and the second half ended as it started, 10-6.

“We knew this was a big game, and we talked about getting the four tries and things like that,” said Crouse. “But in the game we were just taking it one moment at a time, one tackle at a time.” The USA moves to 6th in the pool standings at the World Cup. They can finish no higher than 5th, and will then move into the Plate bracket playing for 5th along with Australia, Ireland, and either France or England.

USA 10Tries: Crouse, Kosanke

Australia 6Penalties: McGann 2

USA 1. Jamie Burke; 2. Danielle Miller; 3. Meredith Ottens; 4. Erin Carter; 5. Jen Crouse (C); 6. Phaidra Knight; 7. Kristin Zdanczewicz; 8. Tina Nesburg; 9. Claudia Braymer; 10. Heather Hale; 11. Ellie Karvoski; 12. Pam Kosanke; 13. Keenya Warner; 14. Laura Cabrera; 15. Ashley English; 16. Carrie Dubray; 17. Mari Wallace; 18. Kelly McMahon; 19. Kate Cox; 20. Lee Knight; 21. Kristin Baja; 22. Patty Jervey.
Australia1. Lindsay Morgan; 2. Silei Poluleuligaga; 3. Vanessa Bradley; 4. Alicia Frost; 5. Chris Ross; 6. Kate Porter; 7. Selena Worsley (C); 8. Tasileta Bethell; 9. Cheryl Soon; 10. Rachelle Pirie; 11. Tricia Brown; 12. Ruan Sims; 13. Lisa Fiaola; 14. Lito Fata; 15. Tobie McGann; 16. Louise Burrows; 17. Alexandra Hargreaves; 18. Paige Butcher; 19. Kim Wilson; 20. Kelli Donnelly; 21. Rebecca Anderson; 22. Niseva Batibasaga.