The USA Women's Sevens team heads out to Japan this week to play in the Kitakyushu Sevens in Round 3 of the five-event Women's Sevens World Series.
Head coach Richie Walker has named his squad to take the trip, as the Eagles look to catch New Zealand, Canada, and Russia and move up from fifth place.
Poor Follow-Up
Following an impressive second-place finish in the opening series tournament in Dubai, the Eagles lost to England, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, and Ireland to finish eighth in Sydney in late January and drop to fifth in the World Series.
It was a frustrating tournament for the Americans, as they have the talent to beat any of those teams but looked physically battered and lost four very close decisions.
Walker has been working to correct what went wrong in Sydney, and he has also brought in more experience. Abby Gustaitis, Saskia Morgan, Becca Kosko, and Tia Blythe have been replaced by Kate Zachary, Kristen Thomas, Kelly Griffin, and Neariah Persinger. Only Persinger is a new face, with the other three having significant World Series experience.
Power And Speed
Hope Rogers, a 15s prop, has shown to be a useful addition to the USA sevens team, and she and Jordan Gray, Zackary, and Cheta Emba form an effective group of powerful, physical players who like to mix it up.
Naya Tapper is the team's top try-scorer, and Thomas complements her superbly. Those two are as quick as anyone on the circuit and will benefit from playmakers like Alev Kelter, Nicole Heavirland, and Griffin.
Persinger, the newcomer to the squad, is a crossover athlete who first made her name as a swimmer. She's out of Oklahoma, where she played rugby as a high schooler and is an excellent overall athlete.
Long Break
The Sydney Sevens were in January, so it's been a while since the Eagles have played, although the Falcons development squad has been in action. The USA team did play a small series in Las Vegas in early March.
"With the long break between the Australia stop and the Japan stop we were very lucky that we got to play Australia in a four-match series in Las Vegas," Walker said. "We also got to play Canada and Japan at the training center which was very helpful for us."
Tough Pool
The USA is in Pool B with New Zealand, Japan, and France. Getting a clean sheet in pool play has been difficult. But in Dubai, the Eagles managed a shocker victory over New Zealand in the Cup Quarterfinals. They need to recapture that magic.
"We have a very tough pool and we need to be at our best to qualify for the Cup Quarters," Walker said. "New Zealand is one of the best teams in the world that very rarely makes mistakes so we have to make even less. They will also be coming from the Commonwealth Games which I think will benefit those sides.
"France is one of the top nations and proved very hard for us to beat as they are fast and physical and we have to match that. Japan is the host nation and—no matter who it is—host nations generally step up, so we have our work cut out for us."
USA Women's Sevens Team Roster for Kitakyushu
Sarah Buonopane
Ryan Carlyle
Cheta Emba
Jordan Gray
Kelly Griffin
Nicole Heavirland (C)
Alev Kelter
Neariah Persinger
Hope Rogers
Naya Tapper
Kristen Thomas
Kate Zackary