France too strong for Women’s Eagles in Langley

France bounced back from their opening round WXV loss to Canada with a 22-14 win over the Women’s Eagles in Langley on Saturday. Discipline and a technical mistake resulting in a disallowed try contributed to the loss with two second half USA scores restoring some respectability to the final outcome.

Les Bleues dominated early territory and possession, with Lina Queyroi’s penalty goal opening the scoring. A line break by Pauline Bourdon pinned the Eagles deep in their end and just shy of the half-hour mark simple hands to Marine Ménager created the first try.

The Eagles forwards nearly had a response just before halftime. Kathryn Treder broke from the back of a driving maul and the try was initially awarded. After a TMO review, however, the officials found that there had been obstruction in the setup and waved the score off.

Not long into the second half Romane Ménager joined her sister on the score sheet. The hard-running loose forward picked a line between two defenders to power in under the posts. Just a couple minutes later Ménager and Bourdon made inroads before Teani Feleu picked and fended her way to the line, the conversion from Queyroi making it 22-nil to Les Bleues.

Rachel Johnson got the Eagles on the board officially ahead of the hour mark, crashing over from a quick tap penalty. The final say would go to the USA with Hallie Taufo’ou sneaking in on the edge of a ruck with the clock already in the red.

It’s another short turnaround for the Eagles as they wrap up their tournament against Ireland on Friday night at BC Place in Vancouver. France will play New Zealand at the same venue on Saturday.

 

SCORING

USA 14
Tries (2) – R. Johnson (55′), H. Taufo’ou (80’+1′)
Cons (2) – M. Hawkins 2/2 (56′, 80’+2′)
YC (1) – H. Taufo’ou (52′)

FRANCE 22
Tries (3) – M. Ménager (23′), R. Ménager (45′), T. Feleu (48′)
Cons (2) – L. Queyroi 2/3 (46′, 49′)
Pens (1) – L. Queyroi 1/1 (9′)

TEAMS

USA
1 Hope Rogers (17 Maya Learned 72′), 2 Kathryn Treder (16 Paige Stathopoulos 64′), 3 Charli Jacoby (18 Mae Sagapolu 51′), 4 Erica Jarrell (19 Rachel Ehrecke 65′), 5 Hallie Taufo’ou, 6 Tahlia Brody (20 Tessa Hann 72′), 7 Kate Zackary (capt.), 8 Rachel Johnson, 9 Taina Tukuafu (21 Cassidy Bargell 56′), 10 McKenzie Hawkins, 11 Lotte Clapp (23 Tess Feury 64′), 12 Gabby Cantorna, 13 Alev Kelter, 14 Cheta Emba (22 Joanne Fa’avesi 51′), 15 Bulou Mataitoga

FRANCE
1 Yllana Brosseau (17 Ambre Mwayembe 51′), 2 Agathe Sochat (16 Elisa Riffonneau 65′), 3 Assia Khalfaoui (18 Rose Bernadou 51′), 4 Manaé Feleu (co-capt.) (19 Axelle Berthoumieu 55′), 5 Madoussou Fall, 6 Romane Ménager, 7 Émiline Gros, 8 Teani Feleu (20 Séraphine Okemba 62′), 9 Pauline Bourdon (21 Océane Bordes 67′), 10 Lina Queyroi (22 Lina Tuy 66′), 11 Marine Ménager (co-capt.), 12 Gabrielle Vernier, 13 Nassira Konde, 14 Cyrielle Banet (23 Émilie Boulard 62′), 15 Chloé Jacquet

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, October 5
Venue: Langley Events Centre, Langley
Kickoff: 12:30 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 55°F (13°C), wind NE 4-6mph (6-10km/h)

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Julianne Zussman (Canada)
Assistants: Sara Cox (England) & Emma Gallagher (Canada)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

HIGHLIGHTS