Eagles finish fourth in Guangzhou with loss to Canada

from USA Rugby:

GUANGZHOU, China – The Women’s Eagles Sevens completed their trip to China in the Third Place match Sunday with a 17-5 loss to Canada at the Guangzhou Women’s Sevens. The final round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, Amsterdam Sevens, will take place May 17-18.

Canada’s Mandy Marchak opened the scoring for the Eagles’ rivals in the opening minute but missed her own conversion for a 5-0 lead. The Eagles struggled to get much going in the opening half and kept Canada out of their try zone to keep the score 5-0 at the half.

Elissa Alarie and Marchak each added a try in the second half and Marchak kicked another conversion for a 17-0 lead after 12 minutes. With no time on the clock, Vanesha McGee put the Eagles on the board at 17-5 with a try in the corner.

Head Coach Ric Suggitt will take some positives from the weekend. A fourth place finish, after a day of rain-soaked play and some of the toughest competition on the circuit, puts the Eagles fourth in the Series standings.

“The players were gutsy against Australia and I thought the same against New Zealand,” Suggitt said. “We didn’t get the same bounces that we got against Australia, but that happens in sport. We have a good platform to build off for Amsterdam.

“I felt Lauren Doyle saved our bacon most of the weekend and Vix has become more explosive.”

Lauren Doyle led the Eagles in China with four tries, while Victoria Folayan added three to bring her Series total to nine. Nathalie Marchino’s try against Fiji in the tournament’s opening match was her 10th. She is the fifth-most try scorer overall this season.

Women’s Eagles Sevens | vs. Canada
1 Vanesha McGee
2 Kelly Griffin
3 Victoria Folayan
4 Katie Dowty
5 Sadie Anderson
6 Nathalie Marchino
7 Lauren Doyle
8 Deven Owsiany (s)
9 Irene Gardner (s)
10 Christy Ringgenberg (s)
11 Amelia Bizer (s)
12 Jillion Potter (s)

Women’s Eagles Sevens | vs. Canada
Tries: McGee