Team USA Women’s Rugby Eliminate Great Britain To Advance to Semis Versus New Zealand

U.S. women’s rugby sevens captain Naya Tapper, Sammy Sullivan and Kristi Kirshe all scored tries as Team USA defeated Great Britain, 17-7, in a quarterfinal contest, Monday night, under the lights at the Stade de France.

Ariana Ramsey turned on the after burners to catch Team GB’s Jasmine Joyce and thwart what seemed like a certain five points late in the contest, while Kayla Canett contributed a conversion in what was an all-around team effort.

“We knew they were going to be super strong, they were going to want it, and they’d come out with fire, so to do it like this feels really good,” Sullivan said, about the resounding victory over Great Britain. It was sweet revenge for the U.S., as they were eliminated by Team GB in Tokyo, also in a quarterfinal match, three summers ago.

Chants of USA, USA, USA, reverberated from the stadium, while one fan was seen on the jumbotron dressed as the Statue of Liberty and another proudly sported a Mike Eruzione hockey jersey – shades of the Miracle on Ice, albeit at a game contested on a muggy Monday night in France.

The U.S. held a 7-5 lead at the halfway point of the 14-minute contest, thanks to the try scored by Tapper 5:55 into the contest. The versatile North Carolina athlete – who announced that she will hang up her cleats after the Paris 2024 Games – received a sweet pass from teammate Ilona Maher and was off to the races.

In the second half, the red, white and blue dominated play, completely shutting down their British opponents as if the Stade de France field was tilted considerably in the American’s favor

Sullivan’s try came roughly midway through the second half, increasing the U.S. lead to 17-7. An awesome pass from Kirshe sprung her down the field. It proved to be the final points, from other side, in the match.

“Kirshe always doing the hard work for me, so I can score an easy try on the edge,” Sullivan said. “We knew if we got the small details right, we would put them away.”

The U.S. held Team GB to a goose egg in the second half. Major props go to Ramsey for preventing Joyce from scoring with just over two minutes left on the game clock. Had the British attacker out-run Ramsey, the U.S. lead would have been sliced to a tense 17-12 margin.

“That was pure determination – if anybody was going to catch Jasmine Joyce, it had to be me,” Ramsey said. “She’s one of the fastest players and I’m one of the fastest players, so I had to hunt her down.”

The U.S. women erased the bitter taste in their mouths from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“We didn’t want to feel like that last feeling in Tokyo – that’s really what I was driven after. I did not want to lose to them again this time,” Ramsey said.

It’s full speed ahead to the semifinals with Team USA’s toughest test of the three-day tournament ahead versus the female ‘All Blacks’ of New Zealand, the defending women’s rugby sevens Olympic champions.

“We’re playing an American style of rugby – hard, fast and resilient,” said Kirshe. “Tomorrow is just about playing our game and not giving them too many opportunities.”

The twelve-person U.S. squad ended their preliminary round play with a 3-1 record, having faltered to France, 31-14, earlier on Monday, in an electric atmosphere with 69,000 fans packing the largest stadium in the country.

With the triumph over Great Britain, the U.S. has assured that it will compete for a medal on Tuesday. It is a first for the U.S women in rugby sevens coming in the third edition of the sport at the Olympic Games.

“We’ve learned a lot in three years – we’ve played a lot of games where we’ve been punched in the face first, and we always find a way to come back,” Kirshe said. “Really proud of the girls – that took everyone doing their job over-and-over again tonight.”