USA kicked off their Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 campaign
with a 51-0 defeat of Kazakhstan, but fly half Christy Ringgenberg
insists there is still plenty they need to work on before facing
Ireland in their second Pool B match on Tuesday.
Ringgenberg scored two tries in a personal haul of 26 points
against the Asian champions, but despite the seven-try performance
and collection of what could be a vital try-scoring bonus point in
the race for the semi finals, the fly half knows there is always
room for improvement.
"We did some things we haven't done in the past, we
put some numbers on the board and that was a confidence builder for
us," explained Ringgenberg, the leading point scorer in the
tournament after matchday one.
"Looking back at the tape I think there are some things
we have to clean up and we did that at practice today.
"There was some worry [at half time against Kazakhstan].
We needed to attack a lot more than we were doing and we came out
pretty flat. The penalty count kind of got up on our heels a little
bit so in the second half we were able to get the momentum again
and really pull forward.
Ireland a step up
"I realise there is still a lot of hard work to do in
the next couple of games. It's going to be very different for
me and I'm going to have to switch my thinking into setting up
my teammates a little bit more."
The 27-year-old knows that Ireland will be a different
prospect to Kazakhstan, particularly after the disappointment of
losing 27-0 to hosts England despite playing some good rugby and
defending resolutely at Surrey Sports Park.
"Ireland played a very physical game against England and
I think they will come out against us again with that same strength
and so we've really got to step it up a level to compete with
them in the next game," admitted Ringgenberg.
"I think we have to be a lot more physical. Our tackling
was a little bit suspect in the Kazakhstan game so I think we need
to be a little bit more physically courageous against Ireland.
"They are very good at the breakdown and they handle the
breakdown very, very well and I think we have got to be prepared to
defensively handle them around the breakdown.
Stars and stripes
"I think if we are going to succeed against them we are
going to have to tackle a little bit more through the centres as
well as opening up our wings a little bit more, giving them more
space."
Ringgenberg, who plays for the Minnesota Valkyries back home,
is also hoping to see the Stars and Stripes out in force in the
crowd again to counter the green army of Ireland, although perhaps
wrapped up a little warmer than the bikinis they donned on day one.
"I was surprised at how many fans came over to support
us this time around. I hope some of the fans put warmer clothing on
but they looked like they had a lot of fun! Whatever it takes to
have fun. American sports fans are hardcore and I'm glad they
are hardcore for our team right now.
"It's a huge boost just to know that our country is
behind us and that a whole entire club team came over to see us
play, that is the commitment that we have, that the rugby community
in the States has, so it's really inspiring to see that they
came out here."
