Canada Scores in Waning Moments, Defeats USA 14-8

from USA Rugby:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE, B.C. – The USA Women’s National Rugby Team were defeated in the final moments of the match, yesterday, after Canada’s Olympic gold medalist Heather Moyse scored the game winning try in injury time to put the Canadians up 14 – 8 over the Eagles in Shawnigan Lake, BC.

Only a point separated these two sides in their last meeting, with the Americans having the eventual edge, and today’s test was exactly as it was predicted to be: close.

Playing their classic style, the Americans chose to keep the ball in tight, using their forwards as much as possible. The Canadians countered, but the game lacked any open field running until the second half and even then, it was fairly conservative by both sides.

“We’re dropping balls that we should be catching,” U.S. Women’s Coach Kathy Flores said. “We’re not calling the balls in the air and we’re running into each other. Not to take anything away from Canada, I thought they played well, but I think the match would have been much different had we been on.

“We couldn’t put the ball over the line and could not put points on the board,” Flores added. “A lot of it was unforced errors, because we just got in our heads a bit.”

Standout U.S. flanker, Phaidra Knight had to agree, saying, “One of our biggest issues at this point is building our confidence. That’s what led to a lot of the handling errors, which I think were accountable in our loss.

“We have a young team and we have to turn that switch. It’s just one of those things that just happens, but we’re running out of time so we need to make that adjustment relatively soon and just execute,” Knight said.

Neither team looked comfortable in the opening 40 minutes. The first half was packed with dropped balls and knock-ons. The Americans came close to scoring, getting within meters of Canada’s try line multiple times, but a combination of unforced errors and Canada’s defense kept a ‘0’ showing on the board.

Canada finally broke the silence when backrow Kelly Russell crossed the line with her first try for Canada. A successful conversion for flyhalf Anna Schnell gave the Canadians a 7 – 0 lead at halftime.

The second half was Groundhog Day as the USA worked their way downfield and found themselves on Canada’s five meter line, except this time the Women Eagles left a five-point dent in the score when Knight dotted down near the posts. Replacement flyhalf Stephanie Bruce missed the conversion, but gained redemption when she hit a 35 meter penalty to give the Americans the lead, 8-7.

Near the end of the second half, Canadian winger Maria Gallo nearly scored a try but was bundled into touch at the flag. On the subsequent play, the ball made its way wide through several sets of hands before landing in Moyse’s, who had been subbed in just after half. The leading scorer of the 2006 World Cup looked to go wide, where she often has success, but stepped back inside and caught both the U.S. winger and fullback off guard.

Canada were cautious in their celebrations, keeping in mind the pattern of tight scorelines in the North American rivalry, but referee Nicky Inwood blew full time just minutes later.

The 26th test between Canada and the USA marked Moyse’s return to international rugby. The last time Moyse wore a Canadian rugby jersey she broke her shoulder in 2008. The injury sparked a two-year sabbatical that culminated atop the Olympic podium in Vancouver as a bobsled brakeman for driver Kaillie Humphries.

“It doesn’t really matter who you lose to when you do, it’s just disappointing,” Knight said. “Every loss is a springboard to success and we just have to learn from the mistakes we made today and correct them.”

“The U.S. has a very fit, very talented and very skillful group of players, but at the end of the day we need to execute better on the basics and that’s what we’ll take to the field tomorrow. And not just tomorrow until Friday, that’s until we set sail for England,as well.”

The teams will face again in three days at Bear Mountain Stadium in Langford, BC. Kickoff will be 5 p.m. PT on June 18, and the game will again be streamed live on U-Stream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-rugby.

Scoring:

Canada: 14 (7)
Tries: Kelly Russell, Heather Moyse
Conversions: Anna Schnell, Ashley Patzer

USA: 8 (0)
Tries: Phaidra Knight
Penalties: Stephanie Bruce

1. Jamie Burke (Beantown)
2. Kitt Wagner (Beantown)
3. Rachel Reddick (Berkeley All-Blues)
4. Stacey Bridges (Texas A&M)
5. Jillion Potter (Minnesota Valkyries) *Captain
6. Beckett Royce (ORSU)
7. Phaidra Knight (New York Rugby Club)
8. Kate Daley (Keystone)
9. Kimberly Magrini (Keystone)
10. Hannah Stolba (Minnesota Valkyries)
11. Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues)
12. Melissa Kanuk (Minnesota Valkyries)
13. Amy Daniels (Beantown)
14. Vanesha Mcgee (New York Rugby Club)
15. Christy Ringgenberg (Minnesota Valkyries)
16. Farrah Douglas (Keystone)
17. Maurin Wallace (Beantown)
18. Sharon Blaney (Beantown)
19. Kristin Zdanczewicz (Minnesota Valkyries)
20. Stephanie Bruce (Berkeley All-Bles)
21. Lynelle Kugler (Twin Cities Amazons)
22. Ashley Kmiecik (ORSU)

For more information on the Women’s National Team, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/women_eagles or contact Swright@usarugby.org.