The wasteful Wallaroos were left to rue disciplinary errors after a dramatic 31-31 draw against the USA in the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Sunday morning AEST.
The ten-try contest at York Community Stadium, dubbed the match of the tournament thus far, ended as a stalemate after Australia’s Sam Wood missed a conversion attempt in the 76th minute, with her shot sailing wide of the sticks. Moments earlier, replacement prop Eva Karpani dived over to tie the scores with five minutes remaining.
After Australia got off to a flying start, the lead was exchanged on multiple occasions, with the Eagles twice overturning nine-point deficits. Winger Desiree Miller and teenage fullback Caitlyn Halse both scored twice for the Wallaroos, while America’s Freda Tafuna was named player of the match for her hat-trick.
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“It’s a bit mixed, we had ascendancy in parts and they came back,” Australian co-captain Emily Chancellor said.
“Right now it’s a little bit flat because both teams wanted that game really and it kind of feels like both teams lost it. Frustrating.
“We made it hard for ourselves, discipline will be the overall message.”
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp continued: “On the whole, a bit disappointed, a bit flat. We let them into the game in that second half and our penalty count allowed them access to our half, and when they’re in there, they’re hard to stop.
“Ultimately our discipline really let us down. At times, we weren’t accurate with our launch plays as well. We’ll always reflect and look to bounce back – the girls have got a big game next week.”
Earlier during the first half, America’s McKenzie Hawkins ran out of time to take a conversion attempt after a gust of wind blew the ball off the tee, which proved a decisive moment.
The Wallaroos, having been on the wrong end of a 13-6 penalty count, made 229 tackles compared to 100 for the United States, who dominated possession and territory.
“The thing I am most proud about is every time we got hit, we hit back a little bit harder,” Eagles captain Kate Zackary said.
“We’ve earned ourselves another chance for the quarter-finals.”
Australia, who won last weekend’s tournament opener against Samoa 73-0, will now need to defeat powerhouse England next weekend to guarantee quarter-final qualification. However, courtesy of their 135-points difference advantage, a narrow defeat against England could be enough for the Wallaroos to qualify for the knockouts.
Meanwhile, the United States can keep their campaign alive and knock the Wallaroos out of the tournament with a heavy victory over Samoa.
Earlier, England thumped Samoa 92-3 in Northampton.
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