USA Women’s National Team Wins it ALL at Hong Kong 7s

The U.S. Women’s Sevens National team went undefeated thorough 5 matches to win the Cable and Wireless Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens tournament. The US defeated Canada 21-7 in a thrilling final played before 30,000+ fans at the Hong Kong Stadium. The US also defeated a strong team from France in the semi-final 5-0. Canada got to the final by defeated Kazakstan 17-0.

The USA Women’s Sevens Team went unbeaten in Hong Kong, defeating Canada 21-7 in the final before a crowd of 40,000 to win the Women’s Hong Kong Sevens Tournament on March 28.

In a rematch of the San Diego International Women’s 7s Final, the USA Women again met Canada in the championship, with the game beginning in similar fashion. The USA gave up an early try to its cross-border rivals, but quickly turned up the intensity defensively to put down the Canada attack and control the field from then on.

The Women’s Eagles came thundering back to score three unanswered tries and bring the final tally to 21-7, with Teena Mastrangelo (Chicago North Shore), Alison Price (New York) and Amy Daniels (Beantown) each contributing one and Pam Kosanke (Chicago Northshore) successfully booting all three conversions.

“I am ecstatic for myself and my teammates. It is the first time that any team other than New Zealand has won the Cup, but it means so much to us along the road to Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai next year,” said the USA’s Tyshawn Henry, following the victory. “It is an amazing experience being here in Hong Kong and to play in a packed stadium. Hopefully this will be the first of many opportunities to play in the world’s biggest rugby stadiums.

“Anything can happen on any given day and we are very much taking it one tournament at a time. However, with the San Diego and Hong Kong titles under our belt this year we can keep on building and possibly lift World Cup next year.”

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Women faced a stern test against France in the semifinals. After a hard fought battle between the contrasting sides, the first half ended in a 0-0 deadlock. However, in the second half, the USA was able to muscle out a 5-0 victory, with Ellie Karvoski (Little Rock RFC) darting in for a try with a minute left.

In other Hong Kong Sevens news, the U.S. Men’s Team held out against its first pool A opponent, Tunisia, on Friday evening. In extremely wet conditions, the U.S. was able to recover from a bit of sloppy play and hold on during a late Tunisia onslaught to slide by with a 26-21 win on day one of the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.

In fact, all of the top men’s sides won their opening games and although many teams were intent on scoring as many points as possible to secure a favorable quarter final draw at the end of day two, Sri Lanka, Japan and Korea all proved tough contenders in front of an impressive crowd of over 29,000.

Check out this broadcast-quality interview from earlier in the week with the U.S. Men’s Coach Al Caravelli and the U.S. Women’s Tyshawn Henry by clicking here http://www.irb.com/irbsevens/edition=5/mediacenter.html or visit www.irbsevens.com or www.hksevens.com for further match details. For more information on the Men’s and Women’s Sevens National Teams, visit www.usarugby.org/goto/national_teams.