Rugby comes to Chicago but Eagles still have far to travel

CHICAGO, IL—A crowd of 35,051 saw part or all of The Rugby Weekend tripleheader at Soldier Field making it the third largest crowd to see rugby in the United States behind the USA-New Zealand match in 2014 (61,500) and the historic Ireland-New Zealand match in 2016 (62,300).

The American women and men faced opponents from New Zealand and Ireland faced Italy in the other match

USA Women 6-67 New Zealand

In the first match, a full-strength New Zealand Black Ferns squad, who put on a clinic with high school kids at a local high school on Friday with the Maori All Blacks, put on another clinic against a Women’s Eagles side featuring 13 uncapped players who had spent just a couple of days together, 67-6.

It was the first test for the USA since last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup where they placed fourth. The first of 11 tries for the Black Ferns came in the 2nd minute after they stole a USA line out and Aldora Itunu punched it in.

The Eagles had some moments in possession and the closest they got to a try was a kickchase that got past the end line before they could touch down for a try. The only points for the Eagles were a pair of penalty goals by Kimber Rozier. Besides that, it was all Black Ferns all the time.

For Eagles coach Rob Cain and captain Kate Zackary, the focus was on the future of the program.

“The players kept on working for each other,” said Cain. “We do have a long way to go, we’ve only had a couple of days together. I think the pleasing thing is that we were creating opportunities, but combinations take a bit of time to [work]in and they just couldn’t see space sometimes. But I’m really proud of them, they stuck to the task really well.

“We knew it wouldn’t be about the scoreline today, it was all about the experience,” said Zackary. “Every time we got together, just kept kept reminding the team to keep having fun, keep trying out new things and just believe in themselves and work hard.”

The Eagles travel to London next week to face England while the Black Ferns travel to Toulon to face France.

TRIES:
USA:
NZL:  Itunu (2) Ally (16) Blackwell (19)(76) Faamausili (35) Wickliffe (46)(61) Winiata (53) Cocksedge (66) Waaka (70) Leti-I’iga (81)

CONVERSIONS:
USA:
NZL: Cocksedge (3)(16)(20)(54)(66) Demant (77)

PENALTIES:
USA:  Rozier (6)(39)
NZL:

YELLOW CARDS:
USA:
NZL:

UNITED STATES:  #1-Catherine Benson, #2-Katy Augustyn, #3-Azniv Malbandian, #4-Stacey Bridges, #5-Alycia Washington, #6-Rachel Johnson, #7-Kate Zackary, #8-Jordan Gray, #9-Calry Waters, #10-Gabriella Cantorna, #11-Kaitlyn Broughton, #12-Kimber Rozier, #13-Emily Henrich, #14-Kelsi Stockert, #15-Amelia Bizer

Replacements:  #16-Joyce Taufa, #17-Nick James, #18-Megan Rom, #19-Finau Tamaivena, #20-McKenna Strong, #21-Nikki Kenyon, #22-McKenzie Hawkins, #23-Evan Hoese

NEW ZEALAND:  #1-Phillipa Love, #2-Fiao’o Faamausili, #3-Aldora Itunu, #4-Eloise Blackwell, #5-Charmaine Smith, #6-Charmaine McMenamin, #7-Les Elder, #8-Aroha Savage, #9-Kendra Cocksedge, #10-Ruahei Demant, #11-Ayesha Leti-I’iga, #12-Chelsea Alley, #13-Stacey Waaka, #14-Renee Wickliffe, #15-Selicia Winiata

Replacements:  #16-Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, #17-Leilani Perese, #18-Aleisha-Pearl Nelson, #19-Jackie Patea-Fereti, #20-Linda Itunu, #21-Kristina Sue, #22-Krysten Cottrell, #23-Monica Tagoai

Referee:  Aimee Barrett-Theron (RSA)
Assistant 1: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistant 2:  Emily Kshe (USA)
TMO:  Marc Nelson (USA)
Woman of the Match: Kendra Cocksedge (NZL)

Ireland 54-7 Italy

In the second match of the day, Irish full back Jordan Larmour made the most of his first test start with a hat trick of tries in the second half of Ireland’s 54-7 thrashing of Italy. This was Ireland’s first match at Soldier Field since their historic first-ever win over New Zealand two years ago.

Italy did well to hold Ireland to a 14-7 lead after Michele Campagnaro intercepted an Irish pass and ran to the try. However, six minutes into the second half, Larmour picked off an Italian pass and strolled for the first of his three tries. His two other tries saw him cut through the Azzurri defense and going down the left wing in the 64th minute and then again in an 80-meter effort to end the match.

Another Irish player making his first start was Tadhg Beirne who also scored two tries in the match. Luke McGrath, Sean Cronin, and Garry Ringrose scored one try each.

“I was really happy with the way we started…then the game became very stodgy. There was no real tempo in the game. It didn’t suit us overly well. At halftime, we tried to commit to raising the tempo and getting a bit more speed in the game.”

The tempo came courtesy of his #15.

“[Jordan] was on the ball a number of times. The way he (Larmour) set up Luke McGrath for his try in the first half. I think John Cooney was looking for one right at the end, he chased him all the way but he didn’t require him.

“I do think it was a pretty spectacular effort from Jordan and he’ll be delighted with that. The first ball he took in the air was good as well. There are a few positional things that he’s still working on and we wanted to spread his time across 15 and the wing. We know he can slot in at 13 as well.”

For Italy and coach Conor O’Shea, it was a missed opportunity to capitalize on a late first half score that multiplied as the second half wore on.

“It’s just unbelievably frustrating,” said O’Shea. “In the first-half, despite our bad start, we work unbelievably hard to come back into a game and you literally just go out, and get a double barrel shotgun, and stick it on your foot and blow it off, because that’s what we did, and the game is done. That’s the bit that’s frustrating.

“If we had actually controlled what we can control at the start of the second half, there’s a different mentality. I’m not saying winning the game, I’m saying a different mentality and how competitive that becomes, because you drain everything out of yourself and you give to the opposition. We keep on talking and we’ll keep on working until we get it because we’ve got players who can play.”

Italy return home to play Georgia next Saturday while Ireland return home to play Argentina next Saturday.

TRIES:
IRE: Beirne (4)(43) L. McGrath (33) Larmour (46)(64)(81) Cronin (56) Ringrose (66)
ITA: Campagnaro (39)

CONVERSIONS:
IRE: Carberry (6)(33)(44)(47)(58) Byrne (65)(68)
ITA: Canna (40)

PENALTIES:
IRE:
ITA:

YELLOW CARDS:
IRE:
ITA:

IRELAND:  #1-Jack McGrath, #2-Niall Scannell, #3-Andrew Porter, #4-Tadhg Beirne, #5-Quinn Roux, #6-Rhys Ruddock, #7-Josh van der Flier, #8-Jack Conan, #9-Luke McGrath, #10-Joey Carbery, #11-Jacob Stockdale, #12-Bundee Aki, #13-Garry Ringrose, #14-Andrew Conway, #15-Jordan Larmour

Replacements:  #16-Sean Cronin, #17-David Kilcoyne, #18-Finlay Bealham, #19-Devin Toner, #20-Jordi Murphy, #21-John Cooney, #22-Ross Byrne, #23-Will Addison

ITALY:  #1-Nicola Quaglio, #2-Luca Bigi, #3-Tiziano Pasquali, #4-Marco Fuser, #5-George Fabio Biagi, #6-Johan Gert Meyer, #7-Abraham Steyn, #8-Renato Giammarioli, #9-Tito Tebaldi, #10-Carlo Canna, #11-Giulio Bisegni, #12-Luca Morisi, #13-Michele Campagnaro, #14-Mattia Bellini, #15-Luca Sperandio

Replacements:  #16-Oliviero Fabiani, #17-Cherif Traore, #18-Giosue Zilocchi, #19-Federico Ruzza, #20-Marco Lazzaroni, #21-Jimmy Tuivaiti, #22-Guglielmo Palazzani, #23-Ian McKinley

Referee:  Nigel Owens (WAL)
Assistant 1: Romain Poite (FRA)
Assistant 2:  Alexandre Ruiz (FRA)
TMO:  David Ardrey (USA)
Man of the Match:  Jordan Larmour (IRE)

USA Men 22-59 Maori All Blacks

Eight different players got tries for the Maori All Blacks in the nightcap at Soldier Field. Some were the result of naïve defending by the Eagles who saw an eight-match winning streak snapped at 59-22.

Some tries were despite the Maori All Blacks being shorthanded. With both Ash Dixon and Pari Pari Parkinson in the sin bin, the USA did get a try through Ryan Matyas before halftime, but immediately after halftime with Dixon and Parkinson still in the bin, Isaia Walker-Leaware marched down for a try to extend the lead. He would get another try six minutes later while they were still shorthanded.

The USA were already understrength coming in, but would also lose Nate Augspurger and Luke Hume injured before kickoff. Shaun Davies would leave the match after a rough hit by Parkinson which resulted in the latter’s yellow.

Tim Maupin and Cam Dolan got the other tries for the USA who next play Romania on November 17th.

TRIES:
USA:  Matyas (39) Maupin (60) Dolan (70)
MAB:  Ware (4) Karpik (16) Dixon (22) May (25) Walker-Leaware (41)(47) Thompson (54) Lowe (73) Stevenson (76)

CONVERSIONS:
USA:  Hooley (60)(71)
MAB:  Black (6)(22)(26)(47)(55) Ioane (74)(77)

PENALTIES:
USA:  Hooley (14)
MAB:

YELLOW CARDS:
USA:
MAB:  Dixon (32) Parkinson (36) Abel (61)

UNITED STATES:  #1-Chance Wenglewski, #2-Dylan Fawsitt, #3-Paul Mullen, #4-Ben Landry, #5-Nick Civetta, #6-John Quill, #7-Tony Lamborn, #8-Cam Dolan, #9-Shaun Davies, #10-Will Hooley, #11-Ryan Matyas, #12-Dylan Audsley, #13-Gannon Moore, #14-Tim Maupin, #15-Will Magie

Replacements:  #16-Jamese Hilterebrand, #17-Anthony Purpura, #18-Dino Waldren, #19-Greg Peterson, #20-Hanco Germishuys, #21-Psalm Wooching, #22-Ruben de Haas, #23-Mika Kruse

MAORI ALL BLACKS:  #1-Chris Eves, #2-Ash Dixon, #3-Ben May, #4-Isaia Walker-Leaware, #5-Pari Pari Parkinson, #6-Reed Prinsep, #7-Mitch Karpik, #8-Akira Ioane, #9-Brad Weber, #10-Otere Black, #11-Regan Ware, #12-Teilhorangi Walden, #13-Rob Thompson, #14-Jonah Lowe, #15-Shaun Stevenson

Replacements:  #16-Robbie Abel, #17-Ross Wright, #18-Marcel Renata, #19-Honai Matenga, #20-Billy Harmon, #21-Jonathan Ruru, #22-Josh Ioane, #23-Matty Lansdown

Referee:  Karl Dickson (ENG)
Assistant 1: Alexandre Ruiz (FRA)
Assistant 2:  Chris Assmus (CAN)
TMO:  Andrew McMaster (CAN)
Attendance: 35,051
Man of the Match: Isaia Walker-Leaware