USA Women's Sevens go 2-1 to start final leg of Emirates Invitational

The USA Women's Sevens National Team opened the final leg of the Emirates Invitational with a 2-1 record. Wins over France and Brazil were hard-fought and tricky at times, as the United States struggled to find rhythm and consistency to control possession and maintain defensive structure against the opposition.

A final loss against Canada — the second in two weekends of play — demonstrated both improvements and resilience. In the opening minutes, Ilona Maher fell to injury and was taken off the field, halting play for a couple minutes where the entire squad had to mentally reset for the rest of the game.

Head Coach Chris Brown said:

"I was pretty gutted with our performance in the Brazil game as we did not represent ourselves well. Apart from a couple of soft defensive sets in the first half against Canada, we made a BRAVE showing. We'll start again tomorrow for another chance. Tournaments are never one on Day one'

The United States return tomorrow for two more matches against Japan (1:44 AM ET) and Kenya (7:36 AM ET). Fans can live stream the Emirates Invitational on YouTube at bit.ly/EI7sTake2LiveStreamDayTwo.

To rewatch today's matches, visit bit.ly/EI7sTake2LiveStreamDayOne.

vs France | 12-14 (W)

USA started the game with a great attack and then France won a turnover and scored two back to back tries, 12-0

The French defense made it tough for the U.S. to advance the ball with very few trips inside the 22. The USA grew some momentum off the back of a lineout in the second half, pushing back against the tight French defense in search of any margin of space to run through.

In the flurry of movement, frantic passing led to a French turnover until the Stephanie Rovetti scored from a scrum. The USA’s Nicole Heavirland scored the winning try immediately after following an aggressive take from the restart and a powerful go forward, 12-14.

TRIES | Stephanie Rovetti, Nicole Heavirland
CONS | Nicole Heavirland (2)

vs Brazil | 31-14 (W)

In the opening minutes, Brazil won a penalty five-meters from their own tryline, spotted a gap and ran pitch length. Jordan Matyas made an impressive chase down but the Brazilians made a quick offload to put the ball over the line. Kasey McCravey responded immediately on the kickoff, evening the scoreline in what became a back and forth first half.

Following a Brazilian penalty, Kristi Kirshe found space from the scrum to escape and completely outpace defenders to dot down. Brazil answered back immediately to close the first half at 12-14. The second half was all USA. Kris Thomas drove in a try from the kickoff, Kirshe intercepted a Brazilian pass and the entire squad combined to move the ball edge to edge for Cheta Emba to bring the final tally at 31-14.

TRIES | Kasey McCravey, Kristi Kirshe (2), Kris Thomas, Cheta Emba
CONS | Kasey McCravey, Nicole Heavirland (2)

vs Canada | 12-19 (L)

Canada escaped with the first try, after which Ilona Maher broke open on the wing, took a tough hit, received medical attention and was ultimately taken off the field. When play resumed, the ball rolled loose on a U.S. attack and Canada ran away with another try. The United States struggled to get anything going for some time until the Canadians drew a yellow and Lauren Doyle found space to give the USA its first points. The opposition drew their second yellow shortly after and Sui A’au scored in the corner to make it 12-14.

The Canadians scored another try in the final minutes, leaving just enough time for one final play. In the heat of a tense attack, the USA made a costly kick that allowed their counterparts to reclaim the ball and kick it to touch for the victory.

TRIES | Lauren Doyle, Sui A’au
CONS | Nicole Heavirland

USA Women’s Sevens Roster - Weekend Two

PLAYER NAME	POSITION	HSBC TOURNAMENTS
Sui A’au	Prop	uncapped
Lauren Doyle	Flyhalf/Wing	30
Abby Gustaitis (Co-Captain)	Prop/Hooker	12
Nicole Heavirland	Hooker/Scrumhalf	24
Kristi Kirshe	Center/Wing	8
Ilona Maher	Center/prop	12
Jordan Matyas	Prop	14
Alena Olsen	Scrumhalf/Flyhalf	3
Steph Rovetti	Flyhalf/Wing	6
Naya Tapper	Wing/Prop	21
Kris Thomas (Co-Captain)	Hooker/Center	26

Reserves

PLAYER NAME	POSITION	HSBC TOURNAMENTS
Nia Toliver	Prop/Wing	uncapped
Kasey McCravey	Hooker/Flyhalf	4
Cheta Emba	Prop/Wing	16

USA Women’s Sevens Traveling Staff