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Canada defeated the USA 24-7 at the Women’s u20 Tri-Nations Cup in Loughborough on Wednesday afternoon. It was the first match of the tournament for Canada, who will now play England on Sunday with the title on the line. The USA wrap up their involvement having lost to the Red Roses on Saturday.
The first two tries ties went to the Canadians. Brogan Mior raced in for an early try. A box kick from Berlyn Seselja put the All-Americans under pressure and after Kally King won a turnover, the ball went wide left to Angie Olukunmi who scored on the overlap. Shoshanah Seumanutafa added the conversion.
Points finally came for the USA via Allison Koenig. The fullback started the counter-attack from her own half and cut through the line, connecting with Morgan Freeman and then taking the return pass in under the posts. Darina Roe had no problem making it a full seven.
The second half saw Canada increasing the pressure. After several phases Alayna Scramstad made a half-break, hauled down just short of the line. Lizzie Gibson was on hand to pick and take it the last couple meters for the try. Seumanutafa split the uprights to give Canada a comfortable 19-7 lead.
An attacking scrum from the middle of the 22 meter line set the platform for the final try. Olukunmi, now on the right wing, sliced around the corner and nearly clean through. Quick service from Justine Blatt-Janmaat and simple hands found replacement flanker Noemie Tremblay in space for a simple run-in.
Coach Jack Hanratty was pleased with the win but is looking for improvement from his Canadian side.
“It was a tough first game. We’ve been in camp for eight days. What we were really looking forward to is getting a fresh start and getting the opportunity to play against another international team.
“USA have already had a game under their belt and they showed a huge improvement in aspects. We definitely showed a little bit of naivety in that first half. We created a lot weren’t able to finish, and that’s something that we’ll need to improve.
“Our next game is against one of the best sides in the world, the current champions. We know, having lost a couple tight battles to them last year that our effort and our performance has to improve a huge amount going into it.”
Most of the match is available to be viewed here.
SCORING
CANADA 24
Tries – B. Mior, A. Olokunmi, L. Gibson, N. Tremblay
Cons – S. Seumanutafa 2
USA 7
Tries – A. Koenig
Cons – D. Roe
TEAMS
CANADA u20
1 Idia Ihensekhien, 2 Claudia Fulton, 3 Hanna Nicholl, 4 Rayann D’Aguiar, 5 Keegan Brantner, 6 Lyric Atchison, 7 Lizzie Gibson, 8 Emma Feldinger, 9 Berlyn Seselja, 10 Alayna Scramstad, 11 Angie Olukunmi, 12 Shoshanah Seumanutafa, 13 Sarah-Maude Lachance, 14 Kally King, 15 Brogan Muir
Replacements: 16 Holly Phillips, 17 Maya Montiel, 18 Rori Wood, 19 Callie Harder, 20 Noemie Tremblay, 21 Justine Blatt-Janmaat, 22 Jasmine Baxter, 23 Maya Addai
USA u20
1 Tiara A’au, 2 Saher Hamdan, 3 Tori Jones, 4 Marin Pennell, 5 Erica Jarrell, 6 Sophia Haley, 7 Elizabeth Wilson, 8 Kapoina Bailey, 9 Mary-Jane Pasioles, 10 Darina Roe, 11 Clara Lemal-Brown, 12 Morgan Freeman, 13 Karissa Postula, 14 Megan Bird, 15 Allison Koenig
Replacements: 16 Tiana A’au, 17 Joannah Skucek, 18 Samantha Tancredi, 19 Natalie Gray, 20 Paige Fallon, 21 Glory Woolley, 22 Matalasi Morrissette, 23 Ubaida Ahmed
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Nikki O’Donnell (RFU)
