The USA squad kicked off a successful day of round robin competition at the Winton Rugby Centre with a 12-0 victory over the reigning Caribbean champions Jamaica. Jessica Watkins (Stanford) ran in both of the USA’s tries and Kirsten Ahrendt (Keystone) kicked in a successful conversion during the second half.

The developmental squad’s match against Guyana showcased an aggressive display from both sides, with each respective team being held scoreless heading into the break. While Guyana was the first to strike in the second half, the USA’s Katie Dowty (Beantown) shot down the middle to bring the USA back, with Kirsten Ahrendt (Keystone) kicking the extras for a final score of 7-5.  

In the USA’s final match of the day, the squad put up a hard fight against a strong Canadian developmental team, with a second half try from Jessica Watkins (Stanford) and Kirsten Ahrendt (Keystone) conversion. However, at the final whistle, Canada topped the USA 19-7. 

"The goal of this program is to develop international caliber sevens players,” said Sue Parker, USA Women’s Sevens Developmental Team Coach. “The highlight of the day was the extent that many members of this team improved and showed that they have the potential to play on the Senior Women’s Sevens team.”

“The team showed a high level of discipline and mental toughness playing against an excellent and experienced Canadian team,” Parker added. “We were able to maintain our offensive and defensive patterns during most of that game. Doing so was an improvement, as the Guyana team's unorthodox play and athleticism impaired our ability to maintain those patterns.”

The USA Women’s Sevens Developmental Team resumes play in Nassau on Sunday at 10 a.m. when the team faces Guyana. The squad takes on Jamaica at 11:10 a.m. and rounds out the tournament with a match against Canada at 2:40 p.m. In day two, the developmental team looks to uphold key defensive strategies against its tough competition.

“Our goals for tomorrow include improving our work rate which should in turn improve our ability to recognize and execute attacking opportunities.  We've made some adjustments in our defense to prevent a couple of the breakdowns that occurred today,” Parker said.

For more information on the USA Women’s Sevens Developmental Program, please contact Women’s National Team Administrator Yvonne Parkhurst at yparkhurst@usarugby.org.  For information on the NAWIRA Sevens 2007 Tournament, please log on to www.nawira.com.