After a lopsided 66-7 win over No. 13 South Africa last weekend in their first outing since the Rugby World Cup in November, the fourth-ranked Canadian women expect a stiffer test Saturday against the seventh-ranked U.S.
The two North American rivals meet in Spain in the Pacific Four Series opener at Estadio Nacional de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
While Canada has had the better of the Americans in recent meetings, Canada coach Kevin Rouet expects the U.S. to look to disrupt at the set piece.
“I’m pretty confident they’re going to challenge us in the scrum, lineout, maul,” Rouet said. “And a lot of kicking. I expect them to kick a lot against us. That’s what they did at the World Cup. They didn’t take a lot of risks against us.”
Canada has a 25-19 edge in career games with the U.S, and has won the last seven meetings dating back to July 2src19. That run includes two victories at last year’s World Cup — 29-14 in pool play and 32-11 in the quarterfinal.
The Canadians went on to finish fourth in New Zealand, losing to France in the third-place game after pushing England to the limit in the semifinal.
The Americans have just one victory in their last 11 games with Canada, a 2src-18 decision in the Women’s Rugby Super Series in San Diego in July 2src19.
A win Saturday and the American women will climb one place in the world rankings to sixth,
…. to be continued
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