Out of respect for McCoy, Walker and the players we’ve kept quiet on the USA Rugby Women’s Eagles coaching change since our initial thoughts. Losing to Spain, narrowly beating Fiji and losing to New Zealand on day 1 of Canada 7s…has convinced us to break that silence.
You could argue that the Atlanta 7s squad was McCoy’s format with a bit of Walker sprinkled in. After all, he only had two weeks to prepare. This weekend though, is all Walker and in reality his first tournament as the USA Women’s Eagle head coach.
The first question mark is the drastic change in squad. We understand the injuries to Bizer and Doyle, but changing almost 50% of the squad? Sure, Australia sent a mostly developmental squad but they’re sitting on top of the standings. USA doesn’t have that luxury at this point.
The second question mark is the absence of Jillion Potter, Megan Bonny and Kate Zackary. We understand testing out new caps and combinations on the international playing field, but all at the same time? Where’s the continuity?
Talking about continuity, last week USA beat New Zealand, the second best team in the world and then faced Australia, the current best team in the world, with a totally different line-up? Kelter, Carlyle & Javalet, all on the bench? What were you thinking coach? USA shouldn’t be “vetting” players in Cup Quarters, but rather steamrolling ahead with the best team.
We know that USA Rugby wants to look forward and feels very strongly that Walker is the guy for the job as they’ve said over and over. Have you noticed that almost all of the headlines include Walker’s name? Subliminal messaging much?
We eagerly look forward to tomorrow as USA has squeaked through to the Cup Quarterfinals and will face England. Here’s to hoping that the best team is put on the pitch and Walker proves us wrong.
Or you give everyone an honest chance and decide who you are taking to the Olympics by giving them the opportunity to be seen.
All of the players have gotten time in the internationals except for Azevedo. All the others are known entities. We had four years to vett players, now there is only one tournament left for a potential olympic team to get reps.
Got to watch them in Atalnta, and they played better rugby the first day than I have seen them play in quite awhile. The defense was physical, shutting down its first three opponents. The tackles were sure and much improved over the previous rounds. The offense flowed well, and scored points with speed and power. Second day things went south with the early injury to Bizer, leaving them flat and allowing the Aussie’s to score two quick tries. They regrouped and finished fifth. I have no doubt Richie knows what he is doing, starting players or off the bench, and look forward to the future with excitement.
The issue is not the coaching. I did not see Jules drop a pass or Richie miss a tackle. The players need to take ownership for their flaws. Count the missed tackles from the last two tournaments and I do not think you will be surprised to see that Jules did not drop a ball or Walker miss a single tackle. The players need to own their sh!t