U.S. Women Defeat France, Fall to New Zealand in Cup Semifinals at RWC 7s

The U.S. Women’s Sevens Team beat France 19-0 in the Cup Quarterfinals, only to be stopped short in the semi’s by New Zealand, falling to the Black Ferns 14-12 in the inaugural women’s event at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

“I don’t know one player out there who didn’t give it everything they had,” U.S. Women’s Coach Julie McCoy said following the loss. “I know the fans will be disappointed, but I’m not. We all did our best in preparation for this moment and it just goes to show that with hard work, dedication and support, we can be competitive.”

Saying the USA Women’s side was competitive during these last two days may be a bit of an understatement. The Eagles rolled through the first day’s pool play with a loss to England, but definitive wins against Russia and Japan, outscoring those two opponents 50-0.

The squad earned its way into the Cup Quarterfinals today and faced a tough French side first, reiterating they were ready to take on the best the world had to offer. The Eagles held France scoreless, playing seamless defense and at half the score was tied at 0.

“We made a couple tweaks to our defense after that first match against England,” U.S. scoring leader Jessica Watkins said. “As we got more confident, we got more comfortable playing together and vice versa.”

The U.S. Team also made a few tweaks to its offensive game during halftime and came out prepared to win the kicking game that France was using to gain the advantage. The tweaks worked and within the first minute Christy Ringgenberg was able to break away and touch one down. Her conversion missed, but the U.S. had the opening it needed. Watkins outpaced the French opposition to score the next two tries for the Americans and the whistle blew with the U.S. ahead, 19-0.

“One good kick deserves another,” McCoy said after the game. “Ringgenberg did a good job leading our adjustment and backing them off. We like to think of the team as a steering wheel and as long as we have all hands on the wheel, we can get where we want to be – in the finals.”

The first stop for the U.S., however was the semifinals where it met New Zealand. The U.S. had scrimmaged New Zealand earlier in the week and in fact hosted the New Zealand Maori women’s side in San Diego prior to leaving for the Rugby World Cup, so they knew a fair amount about the New Zealand players. But, within the first two minutes, the U.S. found itself down early after a try by Huriana Manuel put New Zealand up by seven.

The U.S. responded three minutes later, as Ringgenberg saw some space and dished to forward Amy Daniels who was able to touch it down for the try. Ringgenberg missed the conversion, however and the teams broke for half with the scoreboard at 7-5, New Zealand.

New Zealand again was the first to score in the second half, with just a minute and a half off the clock. The U.S. fought hard to keep New Zealand at bay throughout the remainder of the match, and finally, in the last minute of play, scored their final try to come within two points with just 30 seconds remaining.

The U.S. would try as it might, but it was too late by the time they made their last push down the field. At about midfield the ball was knocked out of bounds and the game came to an anticlimactic end.

“I think it just goes to show that we are that kind of team that go all in, all the time,” the USA’s Ines Rodriguez said. “We played our hearts out till the end and we have to be proud of ourselves for that.”

New Zealand would go on to play Australia in an outstanding final that would come down to extra time sudden death on Saturday night. In the end, Australia’s Shirley Matcham scored the decisive try to clinch a dramatic victory over their Down Under neighbors and Australia would become the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens champions.

For more information on the Women’s U.S. Sevens Team, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/womens_sevens or contact Sara John at sjohn@usarugby.org. For more information on the RWC Sevens, please visit www.rwcsevens.com.

USA 19, France 0
Tries: Watkins (2), Ringgenberg
Conversions: Ringgenberg (2)

New Zealand 14, USA 12
NZ Tries: Porter, Manuel
Conversions: Winiata (2)

USA Tries: Ringgenberg, Daniels
Conversions: Ringgenberg

USA Team Lineup:
1. Amy Daniels, Boston, Mass. (Beantown)
2. Teena Mastrangelo, Chicago, Ill. (Chicago Northshore)
3. Ellie Karvoski, Little Rock, Ark., (Little Rock)
4. Ines Rodriguez, Philadelphia, Pa. (Keystone)
5. Christy Ringgenberg, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Valkyries)
6. Jen Starkey, Washington, DC (NOVA)
7. Jess Watkins, Palo Alto, CA (Stanford)
8. Pam Kosanke, Chicago, Ill (Chicago Northshore)
9. Jen Sinkler, Philadelphia, Pa. (Keystone)
10. Kelly White, Belmont, Calif. (Belmont Shore)
11. Alison Price, New York, NY (New York)
12. Lauren Hoeck, Washington, DC (NOVA)

Friday’s Fixtures
1. Australia 50, China 12
2. Netherlands 17, France 14
3. Canada 52 Thailand 7
4. Spain 19, Brazil 0
5. New Zealand 50, Uganda 0
6. South Africa 17, Italy 5
7. England 17, United States 0
8. Russia 31, Japan 10
9. France 14, Australia 10
10. China 31, Netherlands 12
11. Brazil 12, Thailand 10
12. Spain 12, Canada 0
13. New Zealand 45, Italy 0
14. South Africa 26, Uganda 0
15. England 29, Russia 0
16. United States 38, Japan 0
17. Australia 36, Netherlands 0
18. France 19, – China 5
19. Spain 19, Thailand 12
20. Canada 38, Brazil 0
21. Italy 12, Uganda 7
22. New Zealand 22, South Africa 0
23. United States 12, Russia 0
24. England 47, Japan 0

Saturday’s Fixtures
25. China 21, Japan 5 – Bowl Quarterfinals
26. Italy 17, Thailand 0 – Bowl Quarterfinals
27. Brazil 12, Uganda 7 – Bowl Quarterfinals
28 Russia 12, Netherlands 5 – Bowl Quarterfinals
29. United States 19, France 0 – Cup Quarterfinals
30. New Zealand 33, Canada 12 – Cup Quarterfinals
31. South Africa 15, Spain 7 – Cup Quarterfinals
32. Australia 17, England 10 – Cup Quarterfinals
33. China 18, Italy 0 – Bowl Semifinals
34. Brazil 17, Russia 12 – Bowl Semifinals
35. Canada 19, France 12 – Plate Semifinals
36. England 12, Spain 7 – Plate Semifinals
37. New Zealand 14, USA 12 – Cup Semifinals
38. Australia 19, South Africa 10 – Cup Semifinals
39. China 10, Brazil 7 – Bowl Finals
40. England 12, Canada 0 – Plate Finals
41. Australia 15, New Zealand 10 – Cup Finals