"The goal of this program is to give players experience in elite level sevens and to expose them to a high performance environment," said Pete Steinberg, the head of the USA Women’s Sevens Developmental Program. "The NAWIRA event was a great success on both counts."

The USA side ran past Guyana for four tries in its first match in day 2 of competition. Jessica Watkins (Stanford) led the charge with three tries and Tonya Ansel (Minn. Mankato) touched in one, with conversions by Kirsten Ahrendt (Keystone) and Lauren Rosso (Penn. State), for a score of 24-0 at the final blow.

The team also shut out Jamaica in its second match of the day. Jessica Watkins scored in the ninth minute and Lauren Rosso converted for the extra points. Watkins again ran down the outside two minutes later to lead the Women’s Sevens squad to a 12-0 finish.

In the USA’s final match, the team battled back and forth with a tough Canadian side. Canada was first to strike, but Lauren Rosso answered back in the fourth minute to bring the U.S. level with the competition. On a Jessica Watkins try, the USA team pulled ahead to a 10-5 lead in the sixth minute. By minute 10, Canada had surged ahead to a 19-10 lead, and Katie Dowty (Beantown) narrowed the gap with one more U.S. try, but it was not enough to overcome the Canadian side, with a 15-19 final.

“The Canada match was incredibly close and exciting,” Women’s Sevens Developmental Team Coach Sue Parker said. “Despite the loss, it felt like a victory for us.”

“It’s great to see the development of both individuals and the team as a whole, culminate in such resilient play,” Assistant Coach Josh Sutcliffe added.

The Women’s Sevens Developmental Program will next hold a camp for about 25 players in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on December 14-16, 2007, as the final selection vehicle before the 2008 player pool is selected.

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.