Ireland get the result they needed to remain in contention for a
Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 semi final, while England round
off day three by taking on Asian champions Kazakhstan.
ENGLAND 82-0 KAZAKHSTAN
By Duncan Wood
It was a case of job well done for Gary Street's
England as they had far too much in the locker for a spirited
Kazakhstan side, scoring 12 tries on their way to a 82-0 win to
bring the curtain down on day two of Women's Rugby World Cup
2010.
The England backs enjoyed an evening to remember with Fiona
Pocock and Charlotte Barras scoring hat-tricks, but the forward
pack put in the hard yards up front with flanker Heather Fisher
producing a rampaging display and number 8 Sarah Beale enjoying her
outing.
Kazakhstan battled gamely and frequently got a nudge on in
the tight exchanges, but the England backs were given such quality
ball to work with that their defence was frequently outflanked.
England now prepare for their final pool outing against the
USA with a maximum 10 points under their belts and will be eyeing
the semi finals, whereas Kazakhstan are still to score a point in
this year's tournament.
Following their 27-0 victory over Ireland on Friday, England
made a dozen changes to their starting line-up but took no time at
all to settle into their stride.
Kazakhstan matched up physically with their more illustrious
opponents and, indeed, seemed to relish the contact situations.
However, once England got the ball into the wide channels,
they had too much pace and power and the backs were able to start
exploiting the space they were given.
Pocock, starting at full back, was the first to benefit as
swift ball put her clear before Barras showed far too much strength
and speed as she ran in two tries from distance.
The England pack were also keen to show that they had a few
tricks in their locker as a well executed front peel at the lineout
allowed Beale to power down the five-metre channel to score.
Replacement Katherine Merchant was the next to burst clear
and touch down, before Rachael Burford completed the first half
scoring after pouncing on a kick through that Kazakhstan allowed to
bounce.
With fly half Katy McLean in fine kicking form, landing six
conversions from six attempts, England were 42-0 up at half time
and virtually home and hosed.
Despite the best efforts of the Asian champions, the England
tries continued to flow in the second half.
La Toya Mason spotted no-one at home in the five-metre
channel and went in untouched while Pocock finished off a break by
Amy Turner and then completed her hat-trick as she burst through
midfield before rounding her opposite number on her way to the
line.
Roz Crowley smashed over from close range to chalk one up for
the front row union, Amber Penrith showed great pace to finish off
a slick backs move before Barras rounded things off as she finished
in style.
POST MATCH REACTION
England coach Gary Street: "They're a
really proud side and they send numbers to the breakdown to make
things difficult for any side. I told their coach that he should be
proud of his side because they stuck at it for the full 80
minutes."
"It's a cliché but we're looking for a game out
of the USA game and hopefully a bonus point if we can. But the USA
will be scrapping for everything as they need a good win and
they'll come out all guns blazing. They've got some really
good athletic players and Saturday's going to be another tough
game for us."
England captain Katy McLean: "The wind seemed
to drop massively which made life a bit easier, especially for me
goal kicking because I was a bit concerned about it before we went
out."
"Our forwards worked very, very hard today as they were
committing lots of numbers to the breakdown. We got plenty of quick
ball and managed to move it away and get some width to stretch
them."
Kazakhstan's Anastassiya Khamova said: "It was tough that goes without saying, but it was a major experience for the players, major experience for the coach and that is what we need to focus on.
"Overall the major thing we have to take of this game is the speed, because the game was very dynamic, very fast. The tacklers were doing well; if you take tacklers from both teams they were they were equally good, but speed wise they were losing out to the England team big time.
"Taking the quality of the teams here, everyone knows that it was going to be tough. But they did not come here to lose, they came to learn. They will do everything they can and give it 100 per cent because it will be the last game and there's is no way to retreat, this is it."
USA 12 -22 IRELAND
By Daniel Welling
Ireland produced a fine second half display to defeat the USA
in a keenly contested Pool B match at Surrey Sports Park to keep
alive their hopes of reaching the Women's Rugby World Cup 2010
semi finals.
Tries from full back Niamh Briggs, scrum half Tania Rosser
and a brace from Joy Neville on the occasion of her 50th cap for
Ireland gave Philip Doyle's side a vital bonus-point victory in
their quest for World Cup glory.
VIEW THE MATCH DETAILS >>
Ireland started the brighter with breaks from Briggs and Jo
O'Sullivan allowing them to control the opening five minutes,
and the pressure eventually paid off when number 8 Neville scored
from a long line out to see Ireland open the scoring.
The Women's Eagles, who had beaten Kazakhstan 51-0 in
their opening match, fought back though, charging down a kick by
Briggs and Kitt Wagner was nearly in for a swift quick reply.
But after being camped on their own try-line for five
minutes, Ireland just couldn't hold out any longer and prop
Jamie Burke crashed over under the posts. Mel Kanuk converted, via
the post, to give the USA the lead.
It was end-to-end action as both sides tried to gain a
definitive advantage, with their respective followings in the
sell-out crowd cheering them on. Crucially, the USA's Farrah
Douglas was sin-binned on 32 minutes and Ireland took full
advantage of their numerical advantage five minutes later.
As the ball broke loose, Briggs seized on the moment to weave
her way over in the right hand corner from 40 metres out and snatch
the lead back for Ireland. It was a lead they would hold until half
time, with the score at 10-7.
Ireland started the second half on fire and immediately
consolidated their advantage with a well worked try from a lineout,
Neville scrambling over the line to score her side's third try
to increase the lead to 15-7.
The Irish, who had lost 27-0 to hosts England on day one,
were taking control of the game and following more pressure
Rosser's quick tap caught the Women's Eagles off guard and
she slid over to secure what could prove an invaluable bonus point.
Briggs kicked her first conversion of the afternoon in windy
conditions to take Ireland out to 22-7.
World Cup winners in 1991, the USA tried to hit back but
Ireland's defence was resolute, with full back Briggs always on
hand to relieve the pressure with a booming clearance.
However, in the 75th minute replacement Nathalie Marchino
finally broke through, before the ball was worked out to the right
wing where Vanesha McGee used her pace to score and give the
Women's Eagles a faint glimmer of hope. Kanuk couldn't add
the conversion, however, to leave the USA still 10 points adrift.
Kathy Flores' side tried desperately to make further
inroads into that deficit, but Ireland saw out the remaining
minutes to take the points and crucially deny their opponents a
losing bonus point.
The final round of pool action brings must-win matches for
both sides with Ireland needing a big win against Kazakhstan and
USA taking on hosts England with only a bonus point victory likely
to be enough if they are to be in the mix for semi final places.
POST MATCH REACTION
Ireland coach Philip Doyle: "Ireland today
were outstanding from the kick off really. Literately in the first
two minutes we were on America's line and we just stuck with
it. We stuck to our tactics in the first half and then using the
wind in the second half, absolutely outstanding, couldn't have
asked for anything better from one to 22."
"Well we did a lot of talking, we did a lot of soul
searching you know. We knew we put in a performance against
England, we knew we could go toe to toe with the best in the world
and we just had to back ourselves with that performance and to be
honest it told you know and we knew we could play rugby against
America and we certainly did."
Ireland try scorer Joy Neville: "No,
absolutely not [there is no better way to mark my 50th test),
I'm very happy with that but overall I'm so happy with the
performance the team put in. It wasn't about my 50
th cap today it was putting in the effort, today was
going to be the hardest game of the tournament and just happy to
say we came through. We are in a good position now, we've a lot
to work on still and just looking forward to improving upon a lot
of the set pieces and attacking options."
USA coach Kathy Flores: "I'm not happy of
course. I thought Ireland played a splendid game and I think we
gave them too many opportunities to take us to the goal and it
turned out in their favour."
"I think we have to do a little bit of soul searching
and of course we know it's going to be tough against England
and on any given day I guess anyone can win. We need to clean up a
lot of our ball retention which has been a problem for us the whole
time."
USA captain Ashley English: "I'm really
disappointed. Unfortunately we didn't play as well as we could
have played and Ireland came out and they played great and we just
made too many mistakes and committed too many penalties, gave out
possession of the ball a lot."
