By Priscilla Rotich
In the latest women’s rugby world rankings, the USA fell two places to ninth after a thrilling 17-17 draw with Japan in Kitakyushu.
Although Japan scored three tries and the USA only two at Mikuni World Stadium, McKenzie Hawkins’ consistent kicking helped the USA to a draw in the first of their two friendlies.
The USA led 14-12 at halftime, with Hawkins’ Olivia Ortiz and Summer Harris-Jones scoring tries, but an unconverted home try early in the second half put Japan ahead.
Although the Women’s Eagles spent most of the game on Japanese territory, they had to wait until the last two minutes for the equalizer.
Hawkins scored a point confidently from the tee, bringing her total for the match to seven and ensuring the match ended in a tie.
The tie resulted in Japan receiving 0.34 rating points, but the country remains in 11th place, 4.97 points behind Ireland in 10th place.
As a result of this result, the USA fell from seventh to ninth place, having lost 0.34 rating points.
Wales and Italy benefited from the draw and climbed to seventh and eighth place respectively in the rankings.
WXV, which runs from September 27 to October 12, is crucial for teams preparing for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, where six final qualifying spots are at stake for those who have not yet secured their place.
The USA’s lead over Ireland has now shrunk to just 0.71 points, and there is only 1.75 points between the Women’s Eagles in ninth place and Scotland in sixth place.
Sunday’s match was valuable preparation for both teams. Japan will take part in WXV 2 in South Africa, where they will play against the hosts, Scotland and Wales.
Meanwhile, the USA will make its top-flight debut next month, playing against England, France and Ireland in Canada.
The second and final test of the USA tour will take place next Saturday at Shizuoka Stadium. After the draw, Eagles coach Sione Fukofuka was optimistic about the next game against Japan.
“Next week we will work on our attack distribution, attack faster, use the ball more often, find edges in space and use our line-out and maul better,” Fukofuka said, adding that the Japanese team “…apply pressure when building up the attack.”
