The USA Women’s 7s National Team made an impressive showing on Day One of Fast Four in Vancouver, held in conjunction with the men’s HSBC Canada Sevens.
Winning two of three, with defeats over hosts-Canada (22-12) and Mexico (62-0), the squad’s seven uncapped players delivered excitement for the future of USA Sevens. Despite ending the day with a harsh 12-41 loss to Great Britain — the side who took the U.S. out of the Olympic medal rounds — the group had a number of positives to carry into tomorrow’s semifinals.
Next Game
The USA will face hosts Canada at 3:04 PM ET on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock TV.
Director of Women’s High Performance Emilie Bydwell said:
“We got a lot of what we wanted out of the tournament pretty early on. In the Canada game we saw the players play all 14-minutes and we saw some really good role playing from our players when they came off the bench. Against Mexico, while we put up a number of tries, we’re really happy with our defensive performance.
“We felt like we had a good plan going into GB but ultimately, compounding moments where it didn’t go our way. For the players it’s important for us to remember that and how we can reduce those moments going into tomorrow.”
USA vs Canada | 22-12 (W)
The first half was a back and forth between the U.S. and Canada with Nia Toliver putting points on the board almost immediately. Canada showed some spirit in attack with Emma Chown scoring their two tries in the first half, but the USA were far more decisive and cohesive on both sides of the ball. In the second half, the United States strung together three tries by Toliver, Jaz Gray and Kayla Canett which all came from a series of phases that saw the entire attacking line move in quick succession to protect and advance the ball.
TRIES | Nia Toliver (2), Jaz Gray, Kayla Canett
CONS | Kayla Canett
USA vs Mexico | 62-0 (W)
Mexico struggled to keep up with the U.S. through both halves. The USA’s intelligent and speedy ball carriers put up a number of breakways that made it difficult for Mexico to get any momentum. Jaz Gray and Sarah Levy both secured hat tricks while the squad, as a whole, minimized errors and took care of the ball through each phase of play.
TRIES | Jaz Gray (3), Salote Tausinga, Sarah Levy (3), Sui A’au, Kayla Canett, Nia Toliver
CONS | Spiff Sedrick (2), Kayla Canett (4)
USA vs Great Britain | 12-41 (L)
Great Britain captured momentum with a try on the kickoff and managed to maintain possession, win turnovers and react quickly enough to keep the USA from building anything. The Eagles Sevens fell behind early and struggled to gain any momentum in attack, despite a clear effort to continue fighting phase after phase. Tries by Stephanie Rovetti and Nia Toliver were both hard fought, with Rovetti rolling her body over the try line and reaching over defenders to dot down. Toliver ran with fury from the bench, gassing defenders with a powerful run that excited audiences at B.C. Place. Though it was too late to win the scoreline, the United States ended the game with an intensity and grit that will carry into tomorrow’s games.
TRIES | Nia Toliver, Stephanie Rovetti
CONS | Kayla Canett
Full Squad for Vancouver and Edmonton Fast Four
| PLAYER NAME | POSITION | WORLD SERIES EVENTS |
| Sui A'au | Prop / Center | Uncapped |
| Kayla Canett | Halfback/Flyhalf | 10 |
| Nana Fa'avesi | Hooker / Scrumhalf | 18 |
| Jazmine Gray | Wing | Uncapped |
| Summer Harris Jones | Prop / Hooker | Uncapped |
| Emily Fubrook | Prop / Hooker | Uncapped |
| Sarah Levy | Center | Uncapped |
| Stephanie Rovetti | Flyhalf/Wing | 6 |
| Alex Sedrick | Halfback/Flyhalf | Uncapped |
| Rachel Strasdas | Hooker | Uncapped |
| Salote Tausinga | Prop / Center | Uncapped |
| Lauren Thunen | Prop | 1 |
| Nia Toliver | Prop / Wing | Uncapped |
USA Women’s Sevens Traveling Staff
Director of Women’s High Performance | Emilie Bydwell
Strength & Conditioning | Joshua Schnell
Athletic Trainer | Hilary Stepansky
