Maria Gallo scored two tries as Canada’s Women beat their USA rivals 25-17 at the Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado, on Saturday to continue coach John Long’s unbeaten record.
The victory made it two wins in the space of a week with the Canadians having edged the match between the A teams of both countries 10-7 at the same venue last Wednesday.
Canada had started slowly and it was the Americans who scored first in the fifth minute when they won a lineout and worked the ball to flanker Beckett Royce to touch down for the opening try.
The two sides would go in level at half time though after another lineout created an opportunity for Mandy Marchak, the centre breaking through the defence to score the try.
The score remained locked at 5-5 until the 50th minute mark when Canada fly half Anna Schnell kicked a penalty to give the visitors the lead for the first time.
Canada had increased that advantage by the hour mark when wing Gallo crossed for her first try, Schnell’s conversion taking the score out to 15-5. A great run by Ashley Patzer gave Gallo her second try with 10 minutes remaining.
Stepping stone
Vanesha McGee did pull one score back for USA to cut the deficit to eight points, but as they sought another try a kick found Patzer and the full back made good ground before being tackled into touch.
From the resulting lineout prop Leslie Cripps touched down to put Canada out of sight, although USA did have the final say with Victoria Folayan touching down with the last play of the match.
“The girls have worked extremely hard all week to put our methods into practice and I think everyone tried too hard at the start, once we relaxed we got into the groove,” said Long, who was appointed national coach three months ago.
“Half time brought a change of tactic with the forwards working hard to created faster ball. This created opportunities for our backs who broke through the US defence to score a good try.”
His USA counterpart Kathy Flores added: “We obviously would have liked to win this game, but this is a stepping stone for us. It is all about getting to where we need to be at the World Cup in 2010 and this definitely gave us something to learn from.”
Caribbean success for T&T
Meanwhile Trinidad & Tobago have retained their title after beating Cayman Islands 48-0 in the final of the Women's Caribbean Championship, which drew to a close in Barbados on Saturday.
Kwaneize John opened the scoring for Trinidad & Tobago in the 15th minute with Tramaine Andrews and Kaleisha Delpeche also touching down to make it 19-0 at half time. Ebony Young, Latoya Young, Delpeche, Dalia Jordon Brown and Abigail Roberts then crossed for tries in the second half.
The other match on the final day proved a significant one for the hosts with Barbados recording their first ever women's international victory in 15-a-side rugby in style by beating St Vincent & The Grenadines 49-0.
Karen Holmes starred for Barbados with four tries, while Danielle Phillips, Cherice Hart, Dara Watts and Sophie Bannister (2) also scored against an injury-depleted St Vincent & The Grenadines outfit.
