Women U20: Nations Cup starts

In the openening roiund of the Women's Under-20 Nations Cup the defending champions England started off with a big 45-0 win over Canada at Brunel University in West London.
 
In the other match on the first day, the USA beat Wales 7-3. In the inaugural competition last year, Wales failed to win a single match.
 
England vs Canada, 45-0
 
England scored seven tries in their victory. At half-time they led 23-0.

England's coach Giselle Mather said: "I'm thrilled with this performance and how the players stepped up to the challenge. This performance was a massive step up from our game against Wales earlier this month. They have taken on to the field everything we have worked on in training. The next three games are certainly an exciting prospect."

Scorers:

For England:
Tries: Bree 4, Fong, Packer, Heather
Cons: Garner 2
Pens: Garner 2

Teams:

England: 15 Natasha Hunt (Bath), 14 Garnet MacKinder (Exeter Saracens), 13 Rose Fong (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 12 Sarah McKenna (Old Albanian Saints), 11 Samantha Bree (Worcester), 10 Claire Garner (Leeds Leos), 9 Jessie-Joy Flowers (West Park), 1 Victoria Cornborough (Richmond), 2 Davinia Monterio (Bath), 3 Charlotte Male (Plymouth Albion), 4 Harriet Mills (Manchester), 5 Juliet Short (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 6 Marlie Packer (Bath), Captain, 7 Hannah Field (Reading), 8 Nicola Hoole (Bath)
Replacements: 16 Elizabeth Peak (Oakmedians), 17 Sasha Acheson (Sudbury), 18 Charlotte Wild (Leeds Met Uni), 19 Amy Miller (Reading), 20 Hannah Walker-Smart (Paviors), 21 Alex Cook (Bath), 22 Lizell Heather (Kettering).

Canada: 15 Brittany Orr (Lethbridge), 14 Amanda Lalonde (St Albert), 13 Amanda Thornborough (Brandon Barbarians), 12 Mackenzie Higgs (Aurora Barbarians), 11 Kayla Moleschi (Columneetza Cougars), 10 Beth McNeill (Capilano), 9 Megan Hamm (Abbotsford), 1 Asya Bartley (Barrhaven Scottish), 2 Lauren Tagg (Burnaby Lake), 3 Julie Emmerson (Moncton), 4 Jesse Olynyck (University of Victoria), 5 Jamee George (Brandon Barbs), 6 Jessica Jacobs (Brampton), 7 Jill Maclaren (Ottawa Irish), 8 Tyson Beukeboom (Oshawa Vikings).
Replacements: 16 Stacie Becker (St Albert), 17 Hayley Smith (Red Deer Titans), 18 Kayla Mack (Wild Oats), 19 Alex Hendricks (ethbridge), 20 Lindsay Anderson (Toronto Irish), 21 Radha Jain (York Yeoman), 22 Jenn Skilnick (Wild Oats).

Referee: Dana Teagarden (USA)
Assistant referees: Daisy Martinelli (England), Jane Pizii (England)

USA vs Wales, 7-3

The USA won the match at the death when Tyra McGrady pounced on a dropped ball and ran 40 meters down the field to score in the corner. Cat Parkhill kicked the conversion from touch.

Wales led 3-0 at half-time, scoring a penalty goal early on after a spirited attack in the early part of the game.

USA's coach Bryn Chivers said: “This was a well deserved result. We played most of the second half on the front foot and had several chances that we just couldn't finish. The squad contained eight players from the team who narrowly lost 15-14 to Wales the last time the teams played (two years ago) and this proved an emotional win for our side.

“Jozy Gessner was all over the field and her work ethic was an inspiration. In a physical game you have to have someone who will step up and put in the big hits and Erica Cavenaugh did that today.”

Scorers:

For USA:
Try: Tyra McGrady
Con: Cat Parkhill

For Wales:
Pen: Elinor Snowsill

Teams:

USA: 15 Jessica Sexaur (Army), 14 Erica Cavenaugh (University of Virginia), 13 Brooke LeGate (Maryville, Tennessee), 12 Lisa Hennenman (Seattle Women), 11 Tyra McGrady (Indiana University), 10 Sadie Anderson (Penn State), 9 Cat Parkhill (University of Minnesota), 7 Jozy Gessner (Summit, Colorado), 8 Katie Johnson (Hopkins, Minn.), 6 Candace Barley (Maryville Tennessee), 5 Maggie Reidy (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), 4 Katie Humphreys (Kent, Washington), 3 Rachel Sommer (West Linn, Oregon), 2 Erica Lane (Chico State), 1 Wendy Sherman (Colorado State)
Replacements: 16 Katie Hathaway (Norwich), 17 Amelia Villines (Stanford), 18 Mallory Ives (Colorado State), 19 Brittany Houston (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), 20 Erin LeGate (Maryville), 21 Brittany Woodard (Virginia State), 22 Morgan Rovetti (Brigham Young).

Wales: 15 Kerin Lake (Neath Athletic), 14 Rhianydd Morgan (Neath Athletic), 13 Adi Taviner (Neath Athletic), 12 Ceri Redman (UWIC), 11 Charlie Murray (Neath Athletic), 10 Elinor Snowsill (Cardiff Quins), 9 Natalie Watkins (Neath Athletic), 8 Vicky Owens (UWIC), 7 Kathryn Joseph (Neath Athletic), 6 Sioned Harries (UWIC), 5 Shona Powell-Hughes (Neath Athletic), 4 Kirsty Morgan (Neath Athletic), 3 Lowri Harries (UWIC), 2 Amy Lawrence (Neath Athletic), 1 Alex Stokes (Neath Athletic)
Replacements: 16 Sophie Mangano (Carmarthan), 17 Lorna Compton (Newport), 18 Sian Williams (Neath Athletic), 19 Carys Thomas (Pontyclun), 20 Yasmin Leung (Caernarfon), 21 Katie Bevan (Pontyclun), 22 Levi Hallett (Pontyclun)

Referee: Sherry Trumbull (Canada)
Assistant referees: Paula Carter (England), Wendy Langley (England)
Assessor: Clive Nicholas (England)

Fixtures

12 July

Canada vs Wales
England vs USA

15 July

Canada vs USA
England vs Wales

18 July

Consolation Final
Final