Chiefs Women feature prominently in last World Cup pool games

Exeter Chiefs Women saw out the Rugby World Cup pool stages with prominent performances on Saturday and Sunday across the country.

United States v Samoa - LNER Community Stadium

Hope Rogers and Gabby Cantorna both got themselves on the scoresheet for the USA, as the Eagles enjoyed a blowout win against Samoa to end their campaign. Rogers scored a brace of tries in the first half while Cantorna converted five of her side's 10 tries scored.

The scoreline was unfortunately not enough for the former champions to progress in the tournament as Australia pipped them to the post on points difference in Pool A.

USA captain Kate Zackary said: "We had some really good opportunities, a slow start in those first 20 minutes and a little clunky at times and then we found our way in that middle 40. I think in the last 20 minutes we probably felt the pressure a bit on the scoreline, but on top of that Samoa never gave up. They strung together some amazing plays, some quick tap penalties, which put us under a lot of pressure, and to be fair I thought they were going to get one over. There were mixed feelings because you want them to, they've had a great tournament, but we needed to get that zero points."

England v Australia - Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium

In the Red Roses final pool match, Maddie Feaunati represented Chiefs on the international stage when she came on as a replacement just before the hour mark in Brighton.

It wasn't a clean run as play was held up by injuries - Ellie Kildunne will now miss the quarter-finals due to a head knock - and TMO decisions but ultimately, England were able to keep hold of the game to beat the Wallaroos 47-7 and set-up a knockout game against old rivals Scotland.

Jess Breach, who made her 50th appearance for her country, said: "The crowd were phenomenal today, super loud and cheering after someone all the way, which I think is really important. Sometimes we couldn’t hear calls but that’s the nature of the game now. We’re selling out crowds, which I think is really cool and they definitely spur us on in those hard moments, but I think we wanted to show our defensive game today and I think we did that which we should be proud of."

Canada v Scotland - Sandy Park

The first of a double-header day at Sandy Park, tournament favourites Canada took on Scotland in a dogged affair.

Three Chiefs were involved as Canadian captain Alex Tessier was joined by club teammates Emily Tuttosi and DaLeaka Menin in the starting XV. It was a proud day for Tuttosi as a dominant, brace-scoring performance saw her named player of the match at her adopted home ground.

Tuttosi spoke about the honour, saying: "It is really a blessing to be back at my home club ground. A little unconventional, I'm more used to being at the back of mauls, but pleased with the outcome today.

"I'm so thankful to see a full Sandy Park. The south west always supports rugby and today is testament to that - you see people from all all four nations here and a lot of local support. Women's rugby is here and it's here to stay. This was a really good testament to that."

New Zealand v Ireland - Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium

It was Chief against Chief as the reigning champions took on the Irish green wave in Brighton. Amy Rule came off the bench for the New Zealanders in a runaway 40-0 win over Edel McMahon, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Nancy McGillivray's Ireland team.

The result secured the Black Ferns the top spot in Pool C as Ireland struggled to get a foothold on the game. There were opportunities, mainly in the second half, but the Irish failed to capitalise while the Black Ferns continued to top-up their score right until the 80th minute.

Head coach Allan Bunting said: "Job done, pretty proud of that one, Scott [Bemand] and the Irish ladies really threw everything at us and put us under a lot of pressure. We were formidable on D, we didn't want to let them past and that's what it's going to take to go further in this competition. Really proud of that, and also of how clinical our ladies were too."

Italy v Brazil - Franklin's Gardens

It was a joyous exit of the tournament for summer signing Francesca Granzotto and her Italian teammates as they saw off Brazil 64-3 in a 12-try outing in Northampton.

The bonus-point win was more a point of pride than anything else as both sides had already learned their fait in Pool D but Granzotto made a memorable impact with a hat-trick of tries. Granzotto will now prepare to make Devon home as she joins up with her new Chiefs teammates.

Italy head coach Fabio Roselli said: "It was a really good and enjoyable rugby game. For the first 10 minutes we were under a lot of pressure from Brazil; they played really well. But in the end, we played the way we wanted to play.

"We are starting a new journey now. I am very proud. We have a lot of young players, who are at their first Rugby World Cup. They show great potential."

Quarter-finals

Now, the knock-out stages arrive as Sandy Park plays host to two quarter-final games this weekend. 

On Saturday at 13:00, the Black Ferns will take on South Africa in Devon before France and Ireland battle it out at Sandy Park on Sunday, also at 13:00. Tickets are still available.

Supporters will be also be able to watch the England quarter-final at Sandy Park following the conclusion of the Ireland game.