Freda Tafuna records a hat trick as USA Women\u2019s Eagles kept their Rugby World Cup Quarterfinal dreams alive in a thrilling 31-31 draw with Australia.<\/p>\n
Keia Mae Sagapolu and Erica Jarrell-Searcy also scored tries in an end-to-end contest that is without doubt the game of the tournament so far. Both the USA and Australia had to mount comebacks on the scoreboard that was an exciting back and fourth game of control. The draw now sets up a final round of fixtures to see who will reach the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
The USA will play Samoa in York, knowing a bonus-point win would move them level on points with Australia, who play England in Brighton later in the day.<\/p>\n
Speaking post-match, head coach Sione Fukofuka told World Rugby: \u201cIt’s bittersweet, isn’t it. We did everything to get back in the game and give ourselves an opportunity to close it out, but unfortunately, we gave a penalty away that allowed Australia a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud of the players, they worked hard to get back in the game but really disappointed with how it ended. We’re excited because we have an opportunity, now we get to work and obviously polish up for the game against Samoa.\u201d<\/p>\n
The weather in York ensured a war of attrition ensued and it was Australia who opened the scoring after seven minutes. Back came the Eagles however with purpose and only a staunch Australian defensive effort stopping them from getting their first points on the board. Australia continued to fly down the left wing but Kathryn Treder\u2019s tackle halted Miller just as she was about to turn the afterburners on, it looked a try-saving intervention.<\/p>\n
USA Women\u2019s Eagles capitalized on a penalty just before half-hour mark when Kate Zackary\u2019s surging run following a rolling maul took her team within meters of Australia\u2019s tryline, with Tafuna then burrowing over.<\/p>\n
Despite the Wallaroos scoring just before halftime through Halse, the opening salvo of the second 40 minutes saw USA\u2019s belief renewed and after Ilona Maher gained meters and sparked a run from Erica Coulibaly, setting up Keia Mae Sagapolu to score from close range. Six minutes later, Fukofuka\u2019s charges were ahead after Tafuna powered over for her second try of the evening following Maher brilliantly winning her team a penalty in the build-up.<\/p>\n
In a match that resembled a heavyweight slugfest, with both teams trading scoring blows with one another, Australia landed two more telling shots midway through the second half through Miller and Halse.<\/p>\n
But the Eagles held tight and Tafuna got her team back to within one score on 67 minutes \u2013 completing a hat trick – before a Jarrell-Searcy try put the Eagles back in front for a second time. Karpani then got her side back to parity with five minutes to go and that\u2019s how things remained in York.<\/p>\n
USA must now win their next match against Samoa and hope England win heavily against Australia if they are to progress, but the Eagles are still alive in the tournament.<\/p>\n
The next match is USA vs Samoa for the Pool A finale, Saturday September 6th at 8:30am ET live on CBS and Paramount +.\n<\/p>\n
USA Women’s Eagles Roster | Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2025<\/p>\n
Name Club 1 Hope Rogers Exeter Chiefs 2 Kathryn Treder Loughborough Lightning \/ Bay Area Breakers 3 Keia Mae Sagapolu Loughborough Lightning 4 Hallie Taufoou Loughborough Lightning \/ Denver Onyx 5 Erica Jarrell – Searcy Sale Sharks 6 Freda Tafuna Lindenwood University 7 Kate Zackary (C) Ealing Trailfinders 8 Rachel Johnson Exeter Chiefs \/ Denver Onyx 9 Cassidy Bargell Boston Banshees 10 McKenzie Hawkins Denver Onyx 11 Erica Coulibaly Denver Onyx 12 Emily Henrich Leicester Tigers \/ Boston Banshees 13 Ilona Maher Bristol Bears \/ USA Sevens 14 Cheta Emba Boston Banshees 15 Lotte Sharp Saracens 16 Paige Stathopoulos Ealing Trailfinders \/ Boston Banshees 17 Alivia Leatherman Trailfinders \/ Twin Cities Gemini 18 Charli Jacoby Exeter Chiefs \/ Queensland Reds 19 Rachel Ehrecke Denver Onyx 20 Tahlia Brody Loughborough Lightning 21 Olivia Ortiz Sale Sharks 22 Gabby Cantorna Exeter Chiefs 23 Sariah Ibarra USA Sevens <\/p>\n
USA Coaches & Staff | Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2025<\/p>\n
Head Coach, Attack + Backs | Sione Fukofuka<\/p>\n
Assistant Coach, Defense | Sarah Chobot<\/p>\n
Assistant Coach, Forwards | Mel Bosman<\/p>\n
Head of Athletic Performance | Charles Dudley<\/p>\n
Intern S&C | Nina Forte\u00a0<\/p>\n
Analyst | Callum Howells<\/p>\n
Lead Physiotherapist | Alice Mae<\/p>\n
Athletic Trainer | Sam Malette<\/p>\n
Team Doctor | Abbie Hamilton<\/p>\n
Massage Therapist | Delwyn Griffith<\/p>\n
Performance Psychologist | Scott Goldman<\/p>\n
Team Manager | Alana Gattinger<\/p>\n
General Manager, High Performance | Tamara Sheppard<\/p>\n
Media Manager | Jenni Burke<\/p>\n
USA Women’s Eagles Match Schedule | Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2025<\/p>\n
USA v England | 69-7 (L)<\/p>\n
Stadium of Light, Sunderland<\/p>\n
USA v Australia | 31-31 (D)<\/p>\n
York Community Stadium, York<\/p>\n
USA v Samoa<\/p>\n
September 6 | 8:30 am ET | York Community Stadium, York<\/p>\n
CBS, Paramount+<\/p>\n
Quarterfinals Begin September 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freda Tafuna records a hat trick as USA Women\u2019s Eagles kept their Rugby World Cup Quarterfinal dreams alive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,2846],"class_list":["post-107642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-usa-womens-eagles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}