YORK, England — The United States beat Samoa 60-0 on Saturday to keep their Women’s World Cup quarterfinal hopes alive.
The Eagles secured the bonus point they required within 30 minutes in York, putting the pressure on Australia who face England later in the afternoon.
Should the Wallaroos fail to get a bonus point — winning or losing — of their own, it will come down to points differential. The result means Australia need to lose by 75 or more and not earn a four-try bonus point for the U.S. to go through.
Knowing the stakes, the U.S. got to work early.
Superstar Ilona Maher won a turnover in the middle of the pitch to set the wheels in motion before Freda Tafuna opened the scoring.
The second came off a well worked lineout move, the ball coming down to veteran prop Hope Rogers who pierced a gap in the set piece to score in her fourth World Cup.
Samoa showed resilience and the passion they have become famous for throughout the tournament and made their opposition work for their third try, which came again through Rogers who went over from close range.
The fourth and crucial try came after a wonderful break from Keia Mae Sagapolu. The U.S. proved too slick and scrum-half Cassidy Bargell scored under the posts.
With the bonus point in the bag, it became a case of notching up a huge score, with a 135-point swing needed to overtake Australia in the event it comes down to points differential.
It looked as if a weight was lifted off their shoulders and the Eagles opened up.
Winger Erica Coulibaly scored her side’s fifth first-half try after finding space on the left.
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The points kept flowing after the break. Erica Jarrell-Searcy went over shortly after the restart before Tafuna — who has proved to be a try-scoring machine this tournament — scored her second of the match.
Another period of Samoan resistance followed but it was broken by Tafuna who secured a memorable hat trick.
The U.S. may regret a lack of points from the boot, with just five conversions off the back of ten tries.
Tafuna, though, did more than her fair share, adding a fourth try just after the hour mark.
Scrum-half Olivia Ortiz came off the bench to score her side’s tenth of the afternoon and take them to 60 points and still with a slim hope of reaching the quarterfinals.
