| Written by Alex Goff Friday, 30 November 2012 07:35 |  |  |  |
The USA women's 7s team has lost 12-7 to the Netherlands in a sloppy, mistake-filled match at the Dubai 7s.
Both teams were, early on, guilty of trying to do too much with ball in contact.
The good news for the USA was that they kicked off and defended with plenty of physicality, so their mistakes happened in the Netherlands 22.
But still they were [too anxious, and muffed a couple of prime scoring opportunities in the first four minutes.
But just when Netherlands seemed to have relieved all that pressure with a penalty, they dropped the ball in midfield. The ball was scooped up by Kelly Griffin and popped smartly to Jillion Potter who galloped in under the posts for a 7-0 lead.
But the Netherlands struck back immediately, with Kelly van Harskamp exploiting space on the left wing to run in from 80 meters. That tied it at 7-7 at halftime.
More mistakes and impatience cost the USA at the beginning of the second half. They started fine, but again tried to set up a try when it wasn't on, and the Dutch took advantage, moving the ball before contact to score in the corner and lead12-7.
The edginess was palpable after that. No one caught the next restart and Vix Folayan, eager to start something, fumbled the ball. The Eagles got the ball back, but Vanesha McGee had the wet ball slip out of her hands as she tried to pass. It seemed to be that kind of game.
The Eagles can defend, though, and it was their defense that turned the ball over. They worked the short side but didn't have enough room.
One more shot, but more mistakes, and Netherlands were the victors, despite giving up the ball 14 times, 12-7.
Source : rugbymag[dot]com