WRWC2017: Comments

The 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup is being held in Dublin and Belfast in August 2017.

Comments from the Sakura Fifteens head coach, captain and several players following the 29-15 defeat to Australia in the third and final pool game.

Head coach Goshi Arimizu said, “It is my responsibility that we failed to reach our goal of finishing in the top eight at this World Cup. Today against Australia, we could not find any rhythm in the first half. If we had beaten Australia we would have finished in the top eight, but we fell short. Over the next few days, we have to reset and work to finish ninth overall.”

Captain Seina Saito said, “We did not achieve our aims today and unfortunately it shows where we are at as a group. We now want to make all out efforts to take ninth place at this tournament. We allowed Australia to get over the gain line too easily today and so we have to work on our defence and line speed along with one-on-one tackles.”

Halfback Moe Tsukui said, “This was an unfortunate result. Our tackling was soft at times and we gave away some easy tries. We knew the Australians were going to be physical, but they were tougher than we expected. They wanted the win more than us and we could not find our Sakura Fifteen rhythm”.

Centre Riho Kurogi said, “We went into this match knowing we could win, but we let ourselves down. We allowed Australia to dictate the run of play at crucial times and we were too passive in our response. I scored a try that I was personally happy about, but I have to step up with ball in hand over the remainder of the tournament.”