Australia’s Wallaroos have battled to eke out a 31-31 draw against the USA in the most thrilling match yet at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, with both sides still able to dream of reaching the quarter-finals.
In a thrilling, undulating contest in which both sides score five tries apiece on Saturday, brilliant doubles for Australian back-line stars Desiree Miller and teenager Caitlyn Halse at York Community Stadium were countered by a superb hat-trick from American flanker Freda Tafuna.
With the match in the balance, replacement prop Eva Karpani ploughed over for the Aussies’ fifth try with five minutes left to level the scores, but scrumhalf Sam Wood missed the conversion attempt that could have sealed the victory which would have guaranteed a place in the last-eight.
Though the game had been billed as win-or-bust, the draw still allows both sides to dream, with everything now hanging on the final group A matches next week, with Australia facing the hot favourites and hosts England while the US play Samoa.
Australia currently look to be just about in the driving seat, as they have a mighty 135-points difference advantage over the US, but if they cop a massive hiding from England and the Americans steamroll the exhausted Samoans, it’s possible that could be overturned.
But Australia’s fate is in their own hands, if they can grab a bonus point against the English in Brighton.
England earlier continued their magisterial progress after beating the US 69-7 in the opening match by hammering Samoa 92-3 in Northampton.
It was another performance designed to worry the Wallaroos that they could still be in trouble.
“The feeling’s a bit mixed,” admitted co-captain Kaitlan Leaney.
“We were on top in parts and they came back, we feel flat, it feels like a loss.”
