By Jonathan Bowen
After the disappointment of losing to Italy last week, the USA defeated Japan 30-17 at the weekend in what was a must win game to keep the team’s hopes of qualifying for the quarter final alive.
The USA started the game slowly, conceding a try within the first four minutes. Japan’s possession style rugby mixed with some well worked territory kicks and the USA’s inability to hold onto to the ball for long periods of time played into Japan’s gameplan perfectly in the first half. The only highlight of that period for the USA was a converted penalty kick by Gabrielle Cantorna which meant the USA went into half time 5-3 down.
The first half reminded me of the second test between Ireland and Japan in Tokyo. Ireland dominated Japan in the first game however in the second, Japan’s possession game just frustrated the Irish team and they couldn’t break the team down and end up losing.
Thankfully this was not to be, whatever coach Ron Cain said at half time had the desired impact. The USA team came out and played with a lot more structure and possession. Tries to Joanna Kitlinski in the 45th minute, Alex Kelter in the 55th, Elizabeth Cairns in the 62nd and Jennine Detiveaux in the 70th minute saw the USA take a hard-fought bonus point victory. The team will have a lot of work to do before they meet next week’s opponent Canada.
Canada will be looking for a clean sweep of wins in their pool games after a tough tussle against the group’s surprise packet Italy. Canada won the match 22-12 and the game provided them the wake call they needed as Italy were up for the game. Within the first two minutes Italy took possession of the ball from the kick off, threw the ball wide to their winger Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi (who was inside her own half), she then ran through two defenders to score the first try of the match.
Canada didn’t allow this mistake to influence or change their style of play. The Canadians played their possession style game and even got some of their famous rolling mauls moving but handling errors were creeping into their game and they were not getting the early continuous possession they were hoping for.
Things changed for the Canadians in the 18th minute when, after some great possession by Canada, a slight gap opened in the Italian defense and with a quick pass to Paige Farries, who suddenly found herself in some space, made the Italians pay for their error by scoring a try.
Once Canada had scored, they then took ownership of the game and went on to score three more tries earning them the bonus point which sealed their place in the Quarterfinals.
Canada will be looking to secure a bonus point in their game next week against the USA thus avoiding playing France, England, or New Zealand in their Quarterfinal.
England will be grateful for their victory over France on Saturday, winning 13-7. However, the game came at a great cost to France who lost their superstar half back Laure Sansus to a ruptured ACL which will rule her out of the rest of the World Cup and also lost their influential No. 8 Romane Menger to what looks like another serious injury which could rule her out of the rest of the tournament.
This game was far from the classic English style of game we have become accustomed to seeing, they struggled to break France down even after France had lost these influential players.
The win keeps England’s unbeaten run going, the count is now at 27. They have also booked their place in the Quarterfinals, while France will still need to win their final game in the pool against Fiji to guarantee their spot.
The Blackferns demolished Wales 56-12 in a game that was all about the team making a statement saying we are here to win the tournament. After England’s narrow victory to France, the Blackferns victory certainly will have the other top three teams starting to ask themselves how do we stop them from winning?
The Blackferns organized play, passing, handling, and kicking game against Wales exposed the difference between the skill levels of the professional and the semi-professional teams. It will be interesting when the World Rugby bodies meet on the 11th of November to discuss the strategic plan to professionalize the women’s rugby game how they are going to close the gaps between the top four countries and the rest.
The upset of the weekend was Fiji defeating South Africa 21-17. After Fiji’s performance against England in their opening game, there was hope that Fiji just might be able to claim a famous win over the South Africans. This looked very unlikely until the miracle occurred when Karalaini Naisewa scored a try with two minutes of play to go which was then converted for Fiji to claim a famous first victory.
In other rugby news Munster claimed its first bonus point victory at home against the Bulls 31-17 in the URC competition. It was a much-needed victory for a team that has struggled to find any sort of momentum not to mention winning form. With a game in Dublin next week against Leinster, Munster’s change of form couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s see if the men in red can finally break their hoodoo in Dublin next week.
Ulster claimed a tight win against the Lions 39-37 in South Africa. It was a win that has raised a lot of eyebrows amongst Irish rugby supporters as it seems that Ulster just might be a threat to Leinster’s crown this year with some solid performances so far. Leinster kept its unbeaten start to the season intact with a 10-0 win at Connacht’s new 4G pitch.
In next week’s edition, look out for a review of the big World Cup game between Canada and the USA. It has the makings of being a classic.
If you want to keep up to date with all the latest rugby news you can find me on Instagram @jb052006 or and at twitter@Jonatha25906847.
Until next time…