January 29, 2006

England A 8 USA 21

England women’s A team were unable to prevent the USA maintaining their winning tour record on Sunday, with the Eagles claiming a hard-fought 21-8 win at Imber Court.

Amanda Bennett’s side were expecting a tough clash against a side ranked sixth for this summer’s Rugby World Cup in Canada and that is exactly what they got at a freezing, but dry Imber Court.

The USA, who have also defeated Ireland and Scotland this month, won the clash with three tries and two penalties, although England A made the tourists work hard for the victory with a thrilling battle upfront.

The Eagles took the first scalp with an early penalty, but young Worcester fly-half Alice Richardson soon matched their efforts.

The USA replied with a second penalty and then a try just before the break from a well-worked line-out catch and drive manoeuvre.

But England’s moral didn’t dip after the restart, even when the visitors went 21-3 up with two consecutive tries before 60 minutes. Instead they threw everything they had at the Eagles’ defence and eventually their hard efforts paid off in injury time.

Thirsk fullback Katy McLean took the points with a try in the final play of the game. The score came from sustained pressure with the ball carried through a number of phrases. McLean then snatched the ball from the back of a ruck to dive over the line and score an unconverted try.

Head coach Bennett said: “This was a very good game and even though we didn’t come away with a victory I am very pleased with the effort the players put in especially given the fact that the squad had only been together for 48 hours prior to the match.

“The players never gave up and continuously wanted to perform and the last try was a testament to that attitude.

“The USA are a very physical, well drilled and extremely fit team who tackled our players into the ground. When we made mistakes they took advantage and we paid the price for that but I am delighted that our pack played so well against a world class forward outfit. It was also a useful exercise to be able to get all 22 of our players on to the pitch ahead of a busy couple of months.

“We will come away from this game with some valuable lessons learned and with two training days coming up next weekend I believe we can build on what we have achieved today and go into the rest of our fixtures on a very firm footing.”

England A : 1 Hannah Dawson (Thirsk), 2 Ann O’Flynn (Lichfield/Army), 3 Katy Storie (Clifton), 4 Rebecca Essex (Worcester), 5 Jennifer Lyne (Richmond), 6 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 7 Lois Moulding (Worcester), 8 Karen Jones (Wasps) (C), 9 Louisa Seymour (Saracens), 10 Alice Richardson (Worcester), 11 Emily Cooke (Clifton), 12 Shauna Vetch (Thirsk), 13 Rachael Burford (Henley), 14 Amber Penrith (Worcester), 15 Katie McLean (Thirsk), Replacements: 16 Emma Leyland (Richmond), 17 Sophie Hemming (Clifton), 18 Emma Dresser (Lichfield), 19 Heather Fisher (Clifton), 20 Sonia Green (Saracens), 21 Claire Allen (Worcester), 22 Sarah Marsh (Wasps)

Tries: McLean
Conversions:
Penalty: Richardson

Half-time score: England 3 USA 21

Match Referee: Ed Turnill

England A fixtures:

England A v Italy February 12th, Imber Court, kick-off 2.30pm
England A v Nomads, February 25th, Henley RFC, kick-off 3.00pm
England A v France, March 11th, Bondoufle, Paris, kick-off 3pm
England A v Nomads, March 18th, Old Albanians RFC, kick-off1pm

Ends…