Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

Welcome to our newest YSC Intern! Angelique will be reporting on the upcoming ORSU games for the Women's Premiership League. Check out the article below for a pre-season look at ORSU as they played the Mudhens on August 29, 2009.

By: Angelique "JACK" Jackson, Seattle, Emerald City Mudhens

The efficiency of the Oregon Sports Union is something to be admired. It is no mystery why ORSU is part of the USA Women's Premier League (W.P.L.); comprised of the top 8 women's rugby teams in the nation. Included in the Red Conference along with them are the Berkeley All-Blues, Minnesota Valkyries, and the Twin City Amazons. Despite their elite ranking they annually extend an offer to host a "friendly" match with the Seattle based Emerald City Mudhens.

In an effort to create a learning environment for new players on both sides, ORSU, on a muggy Saturday, exchanged players to fill in gaps in the Mudhen lineup and broke the standard forty minute halves into twenty minute sets. Throughout the match, coaches, referees, and veteran players worked with those that are less experienced for the sake learning what rugby is all about --- honor through hard work. Erica Horne of the Emerald City Mudhens was heard explaining to her team the importance of working beyond your aerobic complex to further your capabilities.

Emerald City scored in the first twenty; one to OR.S.U.'s three tries. The Oregon Sports Union, despite the ball being controlled by the Hens for more than sixty percent of the game, continually divided the Hens defense. Each time, ORSU's players made an clean break through the Mudhen's forwards for a try only to then further their prowess with each conversion kick. Once, in the ultimate show of superiority, San Juanita ran, untouched, down the try-zone to touch the ball down between the posts. In a word: ouch.

Though the Emerald City Mudhens are not part of the W.P.L. they have been doing much to earn their stripes in the women's rugby community, recently earning 5th place at the inaugural USA Women's Sevens Tournament in San Fransisco. The dedication committed to that title reared its' beautiful face in the final twenty when the Hen's Kammi Lopez tore through ORSU's defense for a final try.

This match seemed to be a great beginning to 15s. Rookies were "bitten by the rugby-bug" as Becky Garland of the Mudhens said, boots were put back in their bags, congratulations were exchanged, and once again two rugby teams walked off of the pitch looking forward to a social, despite anything that may have happened on the pitch--- here is to the rest of the season!

from IRB.com:

The weekend was full of great quality rugby and it was almost all available on the new Ustream USA Rugby site (they had generator problems all weekend so some games were missed or partially available...this includes the Women's final, we only saw about 8 minutes of it).

Northeast Women, West Men Take Home Titles at All-Star Sevens

I just wanted to wish you a very Happy Birthday and thank you for all the great work you have done over the past 3 years.

Update 8/31/2009: Full results including the Tournament Writeup and Archived Videos are available here.

Welcome to New York!
On behalf of Metropolitan New York Rugby Union’s Host Committee, I am happy to welcome USA Rugby and its All Star Sevens Tournament to New York. This website will be the central resource for information before, during and after the tournament.

The competition will be held on new high-quality artificial turf fields on Randall’s Island. We worked with New York City government to ensure these and other fields fit regulation rugby dimensions, markings and goal posts. Both the match field and a warm-up field are dedicated to the tournament all day on Saturday August 29 and Sunday 30th, and one field is available for practice from 1-6pm both Thursday August 27 and Friday August 28th. There will also be a charity rugby match between the New York City Fire Department and the New York City Police Department on Saturday on an adjacent field. Information about the facilities is posted here.

There will be bleachers, tents, portajohns, food service, a videotaping service and medical professionals on call at the tournament site
Travel Arrangements
We have reserved blocks of hotel rooms at the Marriott East Side, located at Lexington Avenue at 51st Street in Manhattan, and at the Fitzpatrick Hotels at East 44th Street and East 57th Street. Details and discount codes are located here.

We plan to update this website with results from the tournament, to use Facebook and Twitter to keep participants who subscribe up to date on the results and on social events. We will be issuing all the usual publicity to media outlets in the area.

Welcome to New York, we hope you enjoy your visit and look forward to hosting USA Rugby and its All Stars in future.

Congratulations to the eleven people (yes, we said ten...but now eleven have won!) below as you have won an item from the August Rugby Grab Bag Raffle! Next month we will be having another raffle so stay tuned!

Please email me your preferred size of tshirt (mens/womens) and please also send me your postal address.

Kristin Padukiewicz - Washington, D.C.
Nancy Scuri - Long Island, NY
Randall Stuart - Corpus Christi, TX
Christiane Pheil - Denver, CO
Kayla Hammond - Las Cruces, NM
Elysia Saundry - Vancouver, BC
Tom Gillon - West Yorkshire, UK

from my inbox:

Hi There!

The 2009 Nations Cup Rugby Tournament concluded this weekend and due to technical difficulties and weather...matches were not available live. Through several spectators present at the tournament, Julie McCoy, Alex Williams, CoachingRugby and a few others we were able to keep everyone updated with scores on Facebook and Twitter. But now you can view the archived videos below!

USA vs France

England vs Canada



For full rosters and schedule of Nations Cup 2009, go here.
8/10: USA vs England Match Report
8/10: France vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: Canada vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: England vs France Match Report
8/16: Canada vs France Match Report
8/16: USA vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: England vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: Canada vs USA Match Report
8/22: USA vs France Match Report
8/22: England vs Canada Match Report

**Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
8/19/2009: Nations Cup Rugby - England vs South Africa & USA vs Canada TODAY!
8/10/2009: Nations Cup Video LIVE!
8/3/2009: Rugby Video Monday: ESPY Awards Highlights 1995 Rugby World Cup and Nelson Mandela
7/27/2009: Still no USA vs Canada Video?
7/20/2009: Bloodfest 7s Final - Satiated Beavers vs Phatties
7/13/2009: Tyra McGrady USA U20 Try against Wales
7/6/2009: USA A vs Canada A Video & Great Defense by USA Women's Nation Team Player...Mel Denham

Please keep sending me your favorite videos to scrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Make sure to check out the YSC VimeoChannel or my Youtube channel...and you can subscribe to both if you like, but keep in mind that all new videos will be onVimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

For full rosters and schedule of Nations Cup 2009, go here.
8/10: USA vs England Match Report
8/10: France vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: Canada vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: England vs France Match Report
8/16: Canada vs France Match Report
8/16: USA vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: England vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: Canada vs USA Match Report
8/22: USA vs France Match Report
8/22: England vs Canada Match Report

**Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

from Rugby Canada:
Light rain failed to dampen the spirits of the United States and France as they kicked off for the final game of the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup at Fletcher’s Field in Markham, Ontario.

Due to poor weather conditions, neither side was able to complete their conversions as they had to rely on tries for their points. The dying minutes saw both sides gridlocked in the American 22 until a last minute try by France was waved away, leaving the game tied at 15 points apiece.

The game started off with France making waves through a series of quick hands and well-positioned players.

A breakaway run past the American red line gave France’s inside centre Celine Allainmat the first try of the game.

Soft hands by the American backs were intercepted by France several times, as a quick rush by American’s winger Victoria Folayan was stopped short by an offside whistle.

Despite the constant pressure, Les Bleus held steady and managed to push the other team offside by their five metre line.

The Americans scoring opportunities were wasted by knock ons and handling errors as the two sides battled through the sloppy conditions. A well-placed kick gave France some breathing room and a brief respite.

“It was tough at the break downs,” said American Head Coach Kathy Flores. “I think France was really strong [there]. We were a step out of our support so they were being much more physical at the breakdown than we were.”

Though the rain stopped to give the teams a chance to dry off, the Americans benefited the most from the break in play to regroup and find their stride.

Quick hands by the Eagles back line put the ball into Folayan’s hands for another try scoring run, this time out-manoeuvring multiple blue jerseys to go over for five points.

An equally determined France smoothly passed the ball in outside centre Caroline Ladagnous’s hands, but was cut short by a crunching tackle to the ground.

Half time was called as France made a last ditch kick from the 10 metre line for a shot to get ahead but missed the posts, leaving the game at five all.

The heavy rain struck again affecting the game’s flow with both sides struggling to string their passes together.

Recovering first, France charged into American territory as Allainmat put France ahead at 10-5, but the lead was short lived.

Not to be outdone, U.S. returned the favour with swift precision responding with two tries of their own. The first five points came from Lynelle Kugler who ran down the sidelines nearly unopposed, while the second came in similar fashion through the blistering speed of full back Christy Ringgenberg.

France’s Head Coach Christian Gallonnier was pleased with his team’s effort against the Americans afters struggling to find their form earlier in the tournament. “The Americans were organized and aggressive – they [came out] and got three tries.”

Desperate to tie the game, France advanced with quick hands that turned ended with dropped balls late in the game, placing the ball back into the opposition’s possession and into a U.S. led scrum.

From there, much of the game progressed in neutral territory, each team gaining and losing several yards to keep the game at a stand-still.

A break came finally came for the French as they switched the field allowing for hooker Celine Barthelemy to tie the match at 15-15.

As the clock wore out, France looked as though they had emerged victorious but the try was called back after a last second knock on.

The result saw the USA finish in second place and the French in third at the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup.

For full rosters and schedule of Nations Cup 2009, go here.
8/10: USA vs England Match Report
8/10: France vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: Canada vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: England vs France Match Report
8/16: Canada vs France Match Report
8/16: USA vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: England vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: Canada vs USA Match Report
8/22: USA vs France Match Report
8/22: England vs Canada Match Report

**Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

from Rugby Canada:
The final match of the 2009 Nations Cup was an 80 minute Tide commercial.

The weather treated England to a taste of home as they beat Canada 22-0 in the last game of the 10 day tournament.

England was eager to annul Wednesday’s performance against South Africa and successfully played to the elements, keeping the ball tight and using kicks effectively for territory.

Following a series of scrums, England eventually crossed for their first try in the left corner of the pitch where they found success another two times.

The greasy conditions forced both squads to play a forwards’ game, though the majority of England’s tries were finished by the backs.

Canada held strong in the scrums defensively as England maintained most of the possession, directed well by veteran 10.

Canada’s defence held strong and was able to force England to score in the corners. Captain Leslie Cripps anchored the front row and the team, leading by example as England crossed another two times in the first half to lead 15-0.

England’s pack and Katy Maclean's right foot was the engine of their yardage gain as the kicks consistently found touch, effectively eliminating fullback Ashley Patzer from any sort offensive counterattack.

Canada’s tackle count was ample as they consistently forced England to earn most of their ground a metre at a time. A strong point all week, their backrow continued to impress with a solid work rate and excellent work at the breakdown.

An injury to Canada’s Maria Gallo saw Brittany Waters, normally comfortable in the back three, make her second half international debut in the centres.

A cruel irony saw the skies dry up as the two teams shook hands. The rain really played a starring role in the game, wiping out any offensive flair game plans for either squad.

Canada finishes the tournament with 1-3 win-loss record, falling narrowly to France and the USA. The NSWT has a lot of positives to take from the 3 international tests and will be able to turn their losses into lessons in time for the November tour to France.

Canada prop Marlene Donaldson says the amount of the work the forwards put in today was remarkable.

“Kris [de Scossa] has been building an environment for the forwards where we believe in our ability to be one of the best packs in the world and we really showed genuine glimpses of that all tournament. Today especially, by never letting England come up the middle, I was really proud of the forwards. We have amazing depth in that we can put any combination of players on the field and still feel equally confident.”

Assistant and forward coach de Scossa echoed Donaldson’s sentiments and said he is really proud of the work the pack did up front all week.

“Without a doubt the key to building success is building a forward culture and taking responsibility for our performance. We are an inclusive not exclusive group so if players have a desire and passion to play, we will show them a pathway to success.

“This tournament has been a great foundation and stepping block to the pathways where we can be world class performers.”

de Scossa refuted the notion of pointing any player out and insisted on crediting the entire group for their hard work.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint one or two players, so it’s difficult to single out. It’s been great to see our more experienced players take this challenge head on. The exciting new players who have come in and seamlessly stepped into the team have shortly gained the international experience and now the know how hard we have to work to beat England and beat the world champions.

“This was the first step. Our development program to France and throughout the winter is going to be key and the girls know that.”

There is more Nations Cup Rugby action today! Its starts at 2:00pm EST with France vs USA and finishes with England vs Canada at 4:00EST.

You can either view the at below or go directly to the Ustream site here. Each match will also be archived and available at Ustream.

For full rosters and schedule of Nations Cup 2009, go here.
8/10: USA vs England Match Report
8/10: France vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: Canada vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: England vs France Match Report
8/16: Canada vs France Match Report
8/16: USA vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: England vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: Canada vs USA Match Report
8/22: USA vs France Match Report
8/22: England vs Canada Match Report

**Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

Live TV : Ustream



from Rugby Canada:
It does not matter that England’s bonus point win over South Africa on Wednesday was less than spectacular; it was enough to secure their position atop the tournament standings and earn them their second consecutive Nations Cup title.

The last time the two rugby nations faced off in the 2006 World Cup, England took a 74-8 win, but South Africa has made massive strides since and showed a wealth of potential in yesterday’s 25-0 loss.

South Africa finish the Nations Cup at the bottom of the table, but they will be an impressive side with the added experience from six more test matches between now and the World Cup.
England will conclude their campaign with what could be seen as a formality, but a final match against Canada on Saturday promises to be an intense one as both sides will look to erase their previous performance.

What started as a tiny snowball of momentum has quickly gathered into an avalanche for the USA. The American program entered the Nations Cup without a win to their name since the last World Cup, but has since secured two victories against South Africa and Canada.
With exactly a calendar year before the next World Cup, the Americans have picked a very opportune time to make ground, and look to Saturday’s match against France with newfound confidence.

Third-ranked France hope to kill the US’s momentum on Saturday, but with the two countries having identical 2009 Nations Cup records, the match should be closer than originally anticipated.

The sun had set and injury time was ticking down in Canada’s Wednesday match against the USA when the Americans crossed for their final try. It was a hard loss for Canada, having previously beat the same side 25-17 in June.

Both of Canada’s losses have been a heartbreaking 5-point difference and though the squad has a much-needed day off after 210 minutes of test rugby in a week, you can bet the tournament is never far from their thoughts.

The Canadians produced a solid 80 minutes but were unable to capitalize on their lion’s share of territory, especially in the first half.

The Meraloma’s Brittany Waters and Calgary Irish’s Tara Eckert scored their first international points in the loss to the Americans. A dramatic conversion attempt by Julianne Zussman would have put the Canadians ahead in the dying minutes of the game, but the ball rang off the post emphatically instead.

The Nations Cup tournament may seem slightly unrealistic with so many quality internationals scheduled so close together, but Canada’s head coach John Long sees the value of being able to quickly turnaround physically and mentally.

“From a coaching perspective, the value of a tournament like this comes from having players being put under international duress to see how they perform. There’s always an inclination to select the strongest side and not give every player an opportunity to perform, but with this sort of schedule we have to manage our players. “

Long has a lot of respect for England and knows the Canada will face a certain challenge in their final match of the 2009 Nations Cup.

“England always set themselves apart, they don’t make mistakes. If we make mistakes, nine times out of 10 England will capitalize on it. We have to retain possession, if we don’t, we’re going to make it very difficult for ourselves on Saturday.”

The Nations Cup will move venues for the final matches of the tournament from gracious Appleby College in Oakville to Fletcher’s Fields in Markham. France and the USA have the early game at 2pm, before Canada kicks off against England at 4.30pm. Both matches will be broadcast on Rogers TV on a 24-hour delay.

Canada Roster
Leslie Cripps (Saracens)
2. Leslie McKenzie (UBCOB Ravens)
3. Tabitha Stavrou (Irish Canadians)
4. Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan
5. Megan Gibbs (Irish Canadians)
6. Heather Jaques (Capilano RFC)
7. Gillian Florence (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC)
8. Kelly Russell (Toronto Nomads)
9. Laura Stoughton (Calgary Irish)
10. Brooke Hilditch (Yeomen Women’s RC)
11. Cheryl Philips (Toronto Scottish RFC)
12. Sarah Ulmer (Saracens)
13. Maria Gallo (Burnaby Lake Rugby Club)
14. Julianne Zussman (Town of Mount Royal RFC)
15. Ashley Patzer (Lethbridge RFC)

Reserves: 
16. Kim Donaldson (Burnaby Lake Rugby Club)
17. Marlene Donaldson (Velox Valkyries)
18. Paige Burdett (Calgary Irish)
19. Jen Kish (Edmonton Rockers)
20. Barbara Mervin (Velox Valkyries)
21. Julia Sugawara (Burnaby Lake Rugby Club)
22. Brittany Waters (Meraloma)

England Roster
15 Danielle Waterman Team Northumbria 14 Katherine Merchant Worcester 13 Emily Scarratt Lichfield 12 Alice Richardson Richmond 11 Fiona Pocock Richmond 10 Katy McLean Darlington Mowden Park Sharks 9 Amy Turner Richmond 1 Rochelle Clark Team Northumbria 2 Amy Garnett Saracens 3 Sophie Hemming Bristol 4 Rebecca Essex Richmond 5 Jo McGilchrist Wasps 6 Sarah Hunter Lichfield 7 Heather Fisher Wasps 8 Catherine Spencer © Bristol

Replacements:
16 Olivia Poore Lichfield 17 Katy Storie Team Northumbria 18 Karen Jones Richmond 19 Charlotte Barras Saracens 20 George Rozario Plymouth Albion 21 Rachael Burford Saracens 22 Claire Allan Saracens

USA Roster
1 FARRAH DOUGLAS
2 KITT WAGNER
3 JAMIE BURKE
4 STACEY BRIDGES
5 BECKETT ROYCE
6 MEL DENHAM
7 KRISTIN ZDANCZEWICZ
8 BLAIR GROEFSEMA
9 KIM MAGRINI
10 STEPH BRUCE
11 VICTORIA FOLAYAN
12 MEL KANUK
13 LYNELLE KUGLER
14 ASHLEY KMIECIK
15 CHRISTY RINGGENBERG
16 STACY BAKER
17 LISA BUTTS
18 SHARON BLANEY
19 PHAIDRA KNIGHT
20 CLAUDIA BRAYMER
21 AMY DANIELS
22 ASHLEY ENGLISH

France Roster

I received a request from Monica with Beantown that we build a community letter for our Eagles in Canada. I am a bit late in fulfilling her request, but I think it would be nice to keep it going until the World Cup next year. We are only a year away from the World Cup...lets give them the motivation and all the good thoughts they can use!

Use the form below to fill out your letter to the Eagles and read other responses here.

Thanks to Monica for putting together this great idea!

*Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

Facebook disabled my YSC Facebook Profile page because I had too many rugger friends! They requested that I setup a Facebook Fan Page and I have done that. Please become a Fan of the new YSC Facebook Fan Page here!

There is more Nations Cup Rugby action today! Its starts at 4:30pm EST with England vs South Africa and finishes with USA vs Canada at 6:30EST. Unfortunately I have practice tonight and I will not be able to Tweet about the USA vs Canada game but I will have updates as soon as practice is over.

You can either view the at Scrumhalf Connection or go directly to the Ustream site here. Each match will also be archived and available at Ustream.

For full rosters and schedule of Nations Cup 2009, go here.
8/10: USA vs England Match Report
8/10: France vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: Canada vs South Africa Match Report
8/13: England vs France Match Report
8/16: Canada vs France Match Report
8/16: USA vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: England vs South Africa Match Report
8/19: Canada vs USA Match Report
8/22: USA vs France Match Report
8/22: England vs Canada Match Report

**Submit Your Letter of Encouragement to the USA Eagles!

Live TV : Ustream



England Women’s team announced for penultimate Nations Cup clash

from England Women's Rugby:
England Women’s Head Coach Gary Street has named his starting line-up for Wednesday’s penultimate Nations Cup clash against South Africa in Toronto, kick-off 930pm (BST).

Having already beaten the USA and France England go into the game on course to clinch the round robin tournament for a second year on the bounce, and at the same time add to the RBS 6 Nations title they have already won this year.

England captain Catherine Spencer returns to the starting line-up after being rested against France while Saracens’ Charlotte Barras is named as vice-captain and switches to full back. Lichfield’s Olivia Poore, Plymouth Albion’s Georgina Rozario and Saracens’ Rachael Burford also get their first Nations Cup starts of the tournament.

England’s Street said: “We are very looking forward to the next game. It’s going to be great to play against new opposition. South Africa have improved tremendously since the last World Cup and England versus South Africa is always a huge game in world rugby.”

England Captain Spencer added: “We have not played against South Africa since 2006 so we are very much looking forward to running out against them on Wednesday. They are an ever improving side who have some very talented individuals so we need to be clinical in everything that we do. We are playing in increasingly hot conditions here in Canada but I am confident that our fitness and conditioning will help us to overcome this additional challenge.”

England Roster vs South Africa
15 Charlotte Barras (VC) Saracens
14 Katherine Merchant Worcester
13 Claire Allan Saracens
12 Rachael Burford Saracens
11 Fiona Pocock Richmond
10 Alice Richardson Richmond
9 Georgina Rozario Plymouth Albion
1 Claire Purdy Wasps
2 Olivia Poore Lichfield
3 Katy Storie Team Northumbria
4 Sarah Beale Lichfield
5 Rebecca Essex Richmond
6 Karen Jones Richmond
7 Heather Fisher Wasps
8 Catherine Spencer C Bristol

Replacements:
16 Amy Garnett Saracens
17 Sophie Hemming Bristol
18 Jo McGilchrist Wasps
19 Gemma Sharples Worcester
20 Amy Turner Richmond
21 Kim Oliver Bristol
22 Danielle Waterman Team Northumbria

Nations Cup Preview Day 4

from Rugby Canada:
South Africa remains the lone winless team at the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup and will face a tough challenge coming up against heavy tournament favorites England on Wednesday.

England have released their lineup for the game and it appears they are taking the opportunity to make a couple of positional changes, testing a few players in unfamiliar spots under the pressure situation of an international test.

Aside from when France scored first in their game, the 2008 Women’s Nations Cup champions have yet to be really challenged this tournament.

Because of the global weight of the match, second year England head coach Gary Street says his side is expecting a challenge.

“Though they [South Africa] haven’t won yet this tournament, they’ve come on massively since the last World Cup and made huge strides. It’s their last match of the tourney so they will have added motivation. England-South Africa has always been a big match in terms of world rugby, and our side has been training and preparing consistently all week.”

By beating South Africa on Monday, the USA won their first international match since the 2006 World Cup, giving them a momentum that Canada hopes to nullify on Wednesday when the two sides face each other in the day’s late game.

The North American rivalry was last ignited in July in a Can-Am series that saw Canada victorious in both an ‘A’ match and a full test match against their compatriots.

Wednesday’s meeting promises to be a heated one, as both countries will be represented by their full sides. Canada has transitioned well from Monday’s narrow loss to France, learning from the match and applying the experience in today’s training sessions.

Regular Canada captain Leslie Cripps has been assigned to the bench after playing 160 minutes of international rugby in three days, her captaincy passed on to clever centre Sarah Ulmer for the game. Cripps, who plays alongside Ulmer for the Saracens as well as Canada, has full confidence in her teammate.

“Ulmer is a great leader on the team, even if she’s not in a captain role. She has a great knowledge of the game and all of her teammates, whether international or club, have the most respect for her. Her experience and game smarts provide a calming aspect to what could be a very intense match.”

With a 7’s World Cup under her belt, backrow Kelly Russell will be vice captain on Wednesday, and will provide quality leadership well above her years.

Both matches will be played at Oakville’s Appleby College and will be the last ones played at the hospitable private school before the Nations Cup changes venue to Fletcher’s Field on Sunday for the final matches. England and South Africa will kick off first on Wednesday at 2pm, followed by Canada and USA at 4pm.

Canada’s 22-man roster for USA game:
1. Kim Donaldson (Burnaby Lake)
2. Ashley MacDonald (Lethbridge RFC)
3. Marlene Donaldson (Velox Valkyries)
4. Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan (Town of Mount Royal RFC)
5. Paige Burdett (Calgary Irish)
6. Kelly Russell (Toronto Nomads)
7. Heather Jaques (Capilano RFC)
8. Barbara Mervin (Velox Valkyries)
9. Julia Sugawara (Burnaby Lake)
10. Anna Schnell (Burnaby Lake)
11. Tara Eckert (Calgary Irish)
12. Stevi Schnoor (United RFC London)
13. Sarah Ulmer (Saracens)
14. Brittany Waters (Meraloma)
15. Cheryl Phillips (Toronto Scottish)

Reserves:
16. Leslie Cripps (London Saracens)
17. Lesley McKenzie (UBCOB Ravens)
18. Danielle Rowlands (Calgary Irish)
19. Megan Gibbs (Irish Canadians)
20. Maria Gallo (Burnaby Lake)
21. Laura Stoughton (Calgary Irish)
22. Juilianne Zussman (Town of Mount Royal RFC)

USA Women’s Squad Set for Showdown against Canada

from USA Rugby:
OAKVILLE, Ontario – USA Rugby Women’s National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores officially named her roster for the Eagles’ upcoming Nations Cup match versus cross-border rivals Canada.
Once again held at Appleby College, outside of Toronto, the match kicks off at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Aug. 19, and will be streamed live on the Web via UStream.

The USA looks to build on the momentum of its 39-0 shutout over South Africa as it enters its next meeting with Canada. Meanwhile, the Canada Women set their sights on a win, following its 12-7 loss at the hands of France on Sunday.

When the two North American teams last played in the annual CanAm tournament in late June, it was Canada who came out on top; however, Flores is confident her team’s hard work will pay off in what’s certain to be a physical test.

“The weather has been pretty hard on everyone here but at least we have a later game. It will be a strong contest considering we've lost to Canada in our last few meetings and I'm sure they are hungry after their defeat to France,” Flores said.

“Canada has proven to have strong set pieces and attacking runners and we are looking to our extra work in those areas pay off for us on the field.”

After getting a rest on Sunday, Stacy Baker will start at loosehead prop, joined by Mari Wallace at hooker and Lara Vivolo at tighthead.

In the second row, Jenny Menke and Jillion Potter fill in at lock, while flanker Phaidra Knight retains her spot and looks to best her aggressive two try performance against South Africa. Kristin Zdanczewicz starts at openside flanker and Melanie Denham rounds out the pack at No. 8.

The backline also sees its share of changes and reverts back to a lineup reminiscent of the Eagles’ first round clash against England.

Calling the shots at scrumhalf is Claudia Braymer, with Stephanie Bruce also reclaiming her spot at flyhalf. Nathalie Marchino and Vanesha McGee pair up on the wings, with Emilie Bydwell and Amy Daniels looking to make an impact in the center.

Team captain Ashley English, who made quite an impact off the bench versus South Africa, is set to start at fullback on Wednesday.

The USA vs. Canada match follows a 4:30 p.m. (EST) match featuring the yet unbeaten England and South Africa.

For more information on the USA Women’s Team, including daily blogs from the Nations Cup, visit www.usarugby.org/goto/women_eagles.

USA v CANADA

1 STACY BAKER
2 MARI WALLACE
3 LARA VIVOLO
4 JENNY MENKE
5 JILLION POTTER
6 PHAIDRA KNIGHT
7 KRISTIN ZDANCZEWICZ
8 MELANIE DENHAM
9 CLAUDIA BRAYMER
10 STEPHANIE BRUCE
11 NATHALIE MARCHINO
12 EMILIE BYDWELL
13 AMY DANIELS
14 VANESHA MCGEE
15 ASHLEY ENGLISH

Replacements
16 JAMIE BURKE
17 LISA BUTTS
18 SHARON BLANEY
19 BLAIR GROEFSEMA
20 KIM MAGRINI
21 MELANIE KANUK
22 CHRISTY RINGGENBERG