Last weekend was a big challenge for the US in the pool as they faced two of the top four in the world. After a disappointing first day with blowout losses to Canada and Australia they were more competitive with Canada on Sunday morning before winning their final two games over England and Spain to grab the plate.
Now in Brazil the US can look at more favorable group draw and hope to have a winning record this weekend. The US will start things off with England (tied with the US and Spain for fifth in the season standings). It’ll be the third tournament in a row that the two have met with England winning 12-10 in Dubai and the US winning 19-5 last weekend. Next up for the US will be a really difficult matchup with current standings leader New Zealand. They met back in pool play in Dubai with the US losing 31-0. New Zealand dominated Canada in the final last weekend 36-0. The final pool match will be against Ireland (tied for 12th in the standings). Ireland was the first opponent in pool play for the US in Dubai and the Irish tied the Americans 12-12.
It certainly looks like a pool where 2-1 is doable if the US plays as well as they did on Sunday in Atlanta. You may or may not be able to find live video on wsws.irb.com. If you can’t it’s because the rights in the US are held by Universal Sports and you can’t stream it without having access to that TV channel.
The US Squad
[table]Player, Shirt
Deven Owsiany, 1
Kelly Griffin, 2
Jillion Potter, 3
Rebekah Siebach, 4
Christy Ringgenberg, 5
Lauren Doyle, 6
Victoria Folayan, 7
Amelia Villines, 8
Lorrie Clifford, 9
Dana Meschisi, 10
Megan Lee Bonny, 11
Jessica Javelet, 12[/table]
Only one change this week with Lorrie Clifford coming back into the squad in place of Irene Gardner. This will be the second weekend for Jessica Javelet and after being second in the tournament in Atlanta with seven tries everyone is excited to see what she can do for her second showing.
The Schedule
All Times ET
- Friday February 21st
- 12:52 PM – Pool A – USA vs. England
- 3:14 PM – Pool A – USA vs. New Zealand
- 5:58 PM – Pool A – USA vs. Ireland
The knockout rounds will be held on Saturday starting at 12:30 PM ET.
Brazil! pic.twitter.com/vt7b9qzFeW
— Lauren Doyle (@Ldoyle2009) February 19, 2014
Time to hit the gym. #BetterFasterStronger #wrugby #Brazil7s @USARugby pic.twitter.com/Pco9XmMzVy
— USAWomens7s (@USAWomens7s) February 19, 2014
We have made it safely to Sau Paulo, Brazil! One practice down, and now off to bed to recover and get back at it tomorrow. #beachampion
— Victoria Folayan (@vixfly) February 19, 2014
Practice #2 in Brazil done. Eagles looking good and preparing for the games. 🙂
— Victoria Folayan (@vixfly) February 19, 2014
