Canada and England will meet in the final of the Nations Cup later this week as both sides kept their winning run intact with victories over the USA and South Africa. Canada beat their major rivals 35-17 in an exciting game of attacking rugby while England beat South Africa 46-8. There is one more group game to go in the tournament before the final.
Canada 35 USA 17
Canada earned revenge for their World Cup defeat to the US last year in a fine victory for the home side who will play England twice in the next week - once in a group game and once in the tournament final.
The US went into the game on the back of a superb defensive effort against England and their work rate in this area held firm in what was a tight first half. However the Canadians slick backs were too good in the second half as the home side ran in three tries in a one-sided 40 minutes.
Having employed an effective kicking game against England two days before, the Americans started the game by trying to pin Canada back in their own end with deep corner kicks. CThe game saw many fine counter attacks by both sides; however, it was Canada who would end the first-half with a narrow 14 - 10 lead.
Canada's points in the first forty minutes came from a pair of Jenn Kish tries, who has also starred for Canada on the Sevens circuit.
Winger Andrea Burk slotted both the conversions, as she would with all of Canada's tries on the day.
The USA made the most of a their scoring opportunities too in the first 40, with tries for Shaina Turley and Katie Dowty with Pam Kosanke adding the extras with the boot.
In the second half however Canada's attacking prowess was hugely impressive with tries coming from Mandy Marchak, Burk and Ghislaine Landry.
Head coach John Tait was delighted with the result as his side now prepare to face England: "I think this match showed the quality work that has been done individually by our athletes, and at our regional training centres around the country. The USA play a simple game of rugby, but they play it well. They put us under pressure today at the breakdown, and that is an area we will have to address for our game versus England in a few days time. For now, I will simply say that I am extremely proud of these elite athletes."
American Head Coach Peter Stienberg was disapointed with his team's loss, but admitted the tournament's structure is a challenging one, especially for new players.
"Our players came here to win and we didn't, so we are very disappointed with that. In truth, it was very hard to recover from our intense game against England two days ago. Unfortunately, we just don't have the fitness levels to deal with that right now. But we will improve. All credit to Canada, they are deserving winners."
England 46 South Africa 8
England had no problems overcoming South Africa running out comfortable winners in the second round clash between the two sides.
Winger Kat Merchant ran in an four tries with Claire Allan, Sophie Hemming and Rowena Burnfield also touching down. Lichfield scrum half Natasha Hunt also kicked three penalties and a conversion in just her second game for England.
England scored early when Merchant took a nice pass from Hunt to score. Hunt then added a couple of penalties and England pushed further ahead when Burnfield crashed over. Wilson was
Zandile Nojoko missed her first effort for South Africa but she made amends shortly after with a well taken try following a blocked down kick. England led 21-5 at the break.
South Africa clawed their way back to a 21-8 deficit after the restart with a successful Nojoko penalty as they enjoyed a spell of possession but that was to be their last score as England ran in a number of tries before the whistle with Merchant's speed a real danger.
From a good scrum and some good work by the backrow, No. 8 Sarah Hunter got the ball out to Hunt and then Merchant who again showed her impressive turn of speed, running in from just outside the 22 to score her second try. A pick of the tries saw Katy McLean make a fantastic break through the centre with Allan in support the Richmond centre took on the ball and ran the length of the pitch to score with relative ease.
Wasps prop Claire Purdy, who captained England for this game, added: “We knew South Africa would challenge our defence and breakdown skills so it was important our communication was effective and we remained focussed on our game plan. We’ve come away with a number of positives but as always we know there is more work to be done. For me it was an honour to lead the squad and an experience I’ll never forget.”
