There was a noticeable new energy on the pitch as the USA Women’s Eagles made a statement in Dubai in their opening stop of the HSBC SVNS Series, finishing in 5th place.
The fresh look squad made their statement defeating the Black Ferns in the second match of their Pool A game ending a 14 game winning streak for New Zealand. Even with 2 pool wins after working through some settling in the opening match against Fiji, points differentials meant the Eagles would not advance to the Cup Semis and landed the USA in the 5th place Semi final despite wins against New Zealand and France in pool play.
The Eagles welcomed three new USA Eagles Sevens caps in XV crossover talent, Erica Coulibaly and Jr Pan Am Games team members Tahna Wilfley and Nalu Liufau. Both Wilfley and Coulibaly would clinch debut day tries with the latter helping solidify the epic win against the Black Ferns.
The first of her 6 tries from the weekend, Olympian Ariana Ramsey scored her 50th try for the USA Eagles, walking away from Dubai with 55 to her name. Kaylen Thomas’ return from injury also unleashed a series of scores as well as flying form from Sarah Levy who was unstoppable all around.
Proud of her team and the progress they are making for the season, Head Coach Emilie Bydwell recapped,
“I'm super proud of the way that we carried ourselves the whole weekend. It was pretty tough, dropping that first game to Fiji, and the weekend could have gone a couple of ways, especially with the young team that we have and the way that we've reimagined how we're playing.
“We could have been a little bit frustrated by that, but I think the way that we stuck in and really returned to who we want to be as a team from our intention standpoint, from a philosophy standpoint, who we want to be culturally and just really working towards this mindset of being anti fragile, when things don't go our way.
“We really want to be bouncing forward, and so to go from that loss against Fiji to beating New Zealand for the first time in six years, to dominant performances against France and GB, and then, against Canada who we didn't beat at all last year. In games like Canada where you really have to stay in it - Canada is an awesome team, and we just had to stay in it and grit it out. It's a good step for us building towards the rest of the season.”
To kick off the tournament, Fiji found their footing first and despite a woman down from a yellow card, Fiji put up points first. Kaylen Thomas, returning from a long injury hiatus burst back into her groove with gas on the outside right leveling up at the half time buzzer. The conversion added 2 putting the Eagles ahead 7 to 5. USA were unable to add any points in the second half with Fiji running in two more tries to take the win 7 -19.
Next up, USA took on world number one, New Zealand where the Eagles collected their composure despite the Black Ferns getting an early lead. A classic Ariana Ramsey break gathered USA possession and a pass from Captain Kirshe to Su Adegoke who found the inside cut in to break the black line and run in the first of the Eagles tries. Next it was New Zealand with two tries but a Sarah Levy break left the Kiwis in her dust. Debutant Erica Coulibaly running a brilliant support line linking with her RWC teammate Sariah Ibarra who put her into space to run in the try that put the Eagles ahead. The USA Eagles enthusiasm, however, almost put them into trouble with the quick conversion leaving the Black Ferns with 2 seconds on the clock. New Zealand in possession had the chance to fight back, but the USA held them off and finished with an epic 21-17 upsetting the 14 game winning streak the Black Ferns had built against the Eagles.
France looked to upset the Eagles' new found momentum scoring first off a quick tap. Some jockeying back and forth for possession left both sides scrambling until the unstoppable Ariana Ramsey stepped in to take control and earn her 50th try for the USA. With her hands on the ball, the Olympian put on the pace to run in the first try for the US. Sarah Levy, making brilliant moves across the weekend shifted the ball outside to find Wilfley who despite some slippery handling managed to hold on to the ball behind her back and dot down her first try in the red, white and blue. Kaylen Thomas again showed her prowess with a perfectly timed line out wide fly into space for the USA's 3rd try before the half. On the restart, Ramsey challenged France to a footrace she knew she could win to take her second try of the match and putting a comfortable lead between the sides. France responds with one, but not before Su Adegoke cuts back on an inside line once again and runs in under the post just before the final whistle to clinch the Eagles second win in Pool Play.
Going into 2 day following a despite a showing in Pool A, the USA missed out on the medal rounds due to points differentials. Ariana Ramsey put the first points on the board against Great Britain, who immediately responded with their own try leveling the score 7 all. Orchestrating from Sarah Levy drew in the Brits creating space for Kaylen Thomas to run in her first try of the day. Great defense set up Thomas for another chance to fend and free up a clear patch for one more try before the half time buzzer. Quick on the restart, Ariana Ramsey, stole 2 more tries to seal the hat trick, and seeing the chance to take a quick tap she runs in #4 of the match, to land in leading Dubai try scorer with 6 tries. Great Britain responded but not before Sariah Ibarra added her name on the board for a final try to take the win 49-14 and advance to the 5th place play off.
USA take on North American rivals, Canada who won the last 4 match ups contested between the sides. Canada started off with strong momentum putting points up first, which was just enough to elicit a response from Ramsey who found forward momentum and shifted the ball to Kirshe who hammered down to take the Eagles first try. Sarah Levy and Su Adegoke go on the attack and set up Kaylen Thomas for the second try of the match, but the Canadians still remained in the lead 12-14. Work rate from Sariah Ibarra and an offload to Sarah Levy pull the Eagles ahead and a smart decision at the buzzer by Ibarra who kicks the ball out to seal the win 19-14 and break Canada’s dominance from the previous year.
The USA Women’s Eagles will now travel to Cape Town for stop number 2 of the HSBC SVNS series kicking off December 6-7.
| Player # | Player | Sevens Caps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ariana Ramsey | 15 |
| 26 | Ashley Cowdrey | 2 |
| 99 | Autumn Czaplicki | 3 |
| 2 | Erica Coulibaly | 1 |
| 19 | Kaylen Thomas | 5 |
| 12 | Kristi Kirshe - Captain | 31 |
| 33 | Nalu Liufau | 1 |
| 15 | Rachel Strasdas | 8 |
| 13 | Sarah Levy | 15 |
| 28 | Sariah Ibarra | 8 |
| 8 | Spiff Sedrick | 22 |
| 24 | Su Adegoke | 8 |
| 3 | Tahna Wilfley | 1 |
USA v Fiji | (L) 7-10
Tries: K. Thomas
Conv: T. Wilfley
USA v New Zealand | (W) 21-17
Tries: S. Adegoke, S. Levy, E. Coulibaly
Conv: T. Wilfley (2), S. Ibarra
USA v France | (W) 27-14
Tries: A. Ramsey (2), T. Wilfley, K. Thomas, S, Adegoke
Conv: S. Ibarra
5th Pace Semi Final: USA v Great Britain | (W) 49-14
Tries: A. Ramsey (4), K. Thomas (2), S. Ibarra
Conv: A. Cowdrey (6), S. Ibarra
5th Place Play Off: USA v Canada | (W) 19-14
Tries: K. Kirshe, K. Thomas, S. Levy
Conv: T. Wilfley (2)
November 29 - 30 | Dubai - 5th Place
December 6 - 7 | Cape Town
January 31 - February 1 | Singapore
February 7 - 8 | Perth
March 7 - 8 | Vancouver
March 14 - 15 | NYC
April 17 - 19 | Hong Kong
May 29 -31 | Valladolid
June 5 - 7 | Bordeaux
Emilie Bydwell | Head Coach
Tony Roques | Assistant Coach
Charlie Purdon | Technical & IDP Skills Coach
Ben Pinkelman | Support Coach
Lauren Barber | Performance Analyst
Trey Ford | Head of Athletic Performance
Ashley Morataya | Assistant S&C
Nicole Titmas | Head of Athlete Health & Wellness - 7s / Women's 7s Head ATC
Meghan Chambers | Rehab Specialist
Jackie Rodriguez | Athletic Trainer
Jacque Scaramella | Dietician
Peter Haberl | Sport Psychologist
Liz Strohecker | Head of High Performance Operations - 7s
Maria Adams | High Performance Operations Coordinator - 7s
Jenni Burke | High Performance Communications Manager
