USA beat Samoa in their final attempt for Women’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal qualification originally appeared on The Sporting News

The USA laid it all on the pitch this afternoon, as they demolished Samoa 60 – 0 at York Community Stadium.

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The stakes were incredibly high for the Eagles, who needed to garner the highest score possible against the Manusina in order to be in with a chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

What do the USA need to qualify?

After they drew with Australia 31 – 31 last week, the final decision for which team has earnt their place in the knockout rounds will come down to points difference.

Before their match, the USA were on 3 points to the Wallaroos 8 points, with a points difference of -62 to Australia’s +73.

However, their performance today has meant that they now sit at 8 and -2 points difference, meaning that England will have to beat Australia by 75 points or more in order for the USA to progress.

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USA vs Samoa match report Try scorers

USA: Tafuna (4), Rogers (2), Bargell, Coulibaly, Jarrell-Searcy, Conv: Cantorna (5)

The USA truly poured their all onto the pitch this afternoon, coming away with an impressive 60 – 0 win against Samoa.

The Eagles knew that they needed a high scoreboard going into the game to be in with a fighting chance of beating Australia on points difference in order to make it to the final eight.

Freda Tafuna evidently took this brief and ran with it – quite literally. She scored a huge four of the ten USA tries, and started off the Eagles’ offensive, crossing the line in the sixth minute.

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Erica Jarrell-Searcy also maintained the reputation that she had built for herself over this tournament, as she opened the second half with a try – meaning that she is the only current USA player to have scored in every group game.

Despite the ten tries, Gabriella Cantorna’s conversions often lacked crucial precision, especially in the first half – which caused the USA to miss out a potentially campaign-changing ten points.

Once again, despite not managing to score a try of their own, Samoa captured the stadium’s hearts as they put on an incredible final performance for their last World Cup match.

Full-back Tatyana Pati Ah-Cheung came within a nail biting metre of the USA’s try line, an effort which was met with some of the loudest cheers of the match. For the second worst ranked team in the tournament, the Manusina’s tenacity and fire has been something truly outstanding to witness.

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The USA have now done all they can to book that elusive final place at the quarterfinals – it will now up to the Wallaroos performance against England this evening to decide which nation will be progressing to the knockout rounds.

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