Women's Rugby World Cup 2010

England Women v USA

England Women put on an excellent performance against the USA at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford on Saturday evening. The game was played at a hectic pace by both sides, some very physical tackling and some excellent ball skills.  

England Women got their bonus point and secured the Semi Final spot as top seeds and will meet Australia in the next round.  They did however allow their unblemished record to fall allowing the USA over the try line twice.  The first team to do this against England in the Tournament.

Reaction from the players below....

Pictures by Empics

England Vice-Captain and Darlington Mowden Park Sharks flyhalf Katy McLean said: “
I feel like I’ve been hit by an American bus to be honest! Physically I feel tired but it was a really good win for us. The Americans made it really tough for us but we pulled through and there were some good tries, especially by Danielle Waterman who scored two great individual tries which really made a difference.

“It was a very fast game. The first half seemed to go on forever. I couldn’t believe when it got to half time – I thought there’s no way this is only halfway! USA made it really hard for us but we got what we needed. We got our bonus point and we got ourselves in the best position going forward to the semis.”

“Finishing top seed is absolutely fantastic for us. We’re really pleased with the result. To be honest we went into the game with one goal and that was to win so to get the bonus point and be seeded first is fantastic for us.

“I’d obviously love to start in the semi-final but I’ll just have to wait and see what selection is. They coaches have been doing a lot of rotation to make sure players are rested and fresh. One of the great things about England is we have 26 of the best players so any team we put out will be a strong team.

“The tournament has been brilliant so far. There’s been great morale amongst the team. The facilities here are fantastic and being on home soil is brilliant. Being a Surrey girl it does give me an extra boost playing not just on English soil but on Surrey soil. It’s every player’s dream to play in a world cup and I’m just really lucky to be here.”

 “We’re in a really good position after three tough pool games. To be top seed and going into a semi-final is really exciting. USA were tough but that was expected. They were really physical around the break-down but we dealt with that. It was such a good game to get into. The crowd got behind us and we stepped up and played really well so it’s deserving for us to be in the semi-finals and in the position that we’re in.

“We knew exactly what we needed to do when we got on the pitch but credit where credit is due to the USA girls. From the off they wanted the game and they wanted to win it so they definitely tested us early on and kept testing us throughout the match. So to pull out a result like we did is really pleasing.

“The likes of Danielle Waterman and Maggie Alphonsi playing so well was great for us as was the way our forwards fronted up to their physical units.”

Picture by RFU
England and Lichfield No 8 Sarah Beale said:

“I’m really very excited. We just went in to win the game. That was all we wanted to do. We knew they were going to be tough opponents. They were really challenging and physical and they really pushed us but that’s what we want from a world cup so we enjoyed that challenge. It was a fantastic result.

“I don’t have any real thoughts about Australia now! I’m just going to take the night off and enjoy it and then start thinking about the semi-finals on Sunday.”

England and Worcester winger Amber Penrith said: “I feel really, really pleased with the result. I think the whole team is on cloud nine at the moment. We’re just trying to enjoy the success of the win before focusing on the next stage.

“It was a really fast game. II was really pleased for the girls that played the whole match. They just worked so hard and really dogged it out until the end.

“Scoring a try was great. It was lovely to get some ball in some space from the girls. They worked hard to get the ball out to me and it was nice to be able to run it in.

“The USA wingers were really strong. They ran hard so they were hard to get down. If you didn’t tackle them low you could get shrugged off quite easily so you had to keep your concentration the whole time.” 

Picture by RFU

England and Bristol prop Sophie Hemming said:

“First of all I’m utterly exhausted after today’s game! We knew USA were going to be really physical and they certainly didn’t disappoint. However I’m really proud of the girls. We really fronted up. We matched their physicality and knocked them back.

“They were the first team to score against us and we need to look at a few areas before we go to the semi final on Wednesday but obviously we’re over the moon, not only to get to the semis but also to go through as the first seed. There are a few tired bodies so we all need a good night’s sleep and to nurse some bumps and bruises but otherwise we’re really happy.

England 15 Danielle Waterman (Worcester), 14 Charlotte Barras (Saracens), 13 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), 12 Rachael Burford ( Richmond), 11 Katherine Merchant (Worcester), 10 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) (Vice-Captain), 9 La Toya Mason (Wasps), 1 Rochelle Clark (Team Northumbria), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Sophie Hemming (Bristol), 4 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps), 6 Sarah Hunter(Lichfield), 7 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens), 8 Catherine Spencer (Bristol) (Captain), Replacements: 16 Emma Croker (Richmond), 17 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield), 18 Becky Essex (Richmond), 19 Sarah Beale (Lichfield), 20 Amy Turner (Richmond), 21 Amber Penrith (Worcester), 22 Fiona Pocock (Richmond).
Substitutions: Turner for Mason (51), Beale for Spencer, Croker for Garnett (57), Crowley for Clark, Essex for McGilchrist, Penrith for Merchant (all 63), Pocock for Scarratt (68)

Tries: Waterman (2), Merchant, Scarratt, Penrith, Alphonsi
Conversions: McLean (2)
Penalties: McLean
Drop Goals

USA
15 Ashley English (C), 14 Vanesha McGee, 13 Amy Daniels, 12 Lynelle Kugler, 11 Nathalie Marchino, 10 Christy Ringgenberg, 9 Kim Magrini, 1 Farrah Douglas, 2 Lisa Butts, 3 Jamie Burke, 4 Blair Groefsema, 5 Sharon Blaney, 6 Phaidra Knight, 7 Kristin Zdanczewicz, 8 Mel Denham. Replacements: 16 Maurin Wallace, 17 Lara Vivolo, 18 Kitt Wagner, 19 Stacey Bridges, 20 Claudia Knudsen-Braymer, 21 Mel Kanuk, 22 Victoria Folayan

Tries: Marchino, Magrini

Conversions:
Penalties:
Drop Goals

Referee: Nicky Inwood
Assistant Referees: Joyce Henry & Gabriel Lee
Half time score:England 20 USA 5

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• England Women's reaction to 82 win over Kazakhstan
• Bonus Points to be awarded