Vejle, Denmark – USAWR finished pool play today at the 2022 WWR World Championships with a 4-1 record after wins over Switzerland, 54-35 and Great Britain, 55-49. In the early game against Switzerland, the U.S. came out strong and led the entire match. Top scorers for the U.S. in game one were Jake Daily (Freeburg, IL) with 12 and Eric Newby (Godfrey, IL) with 9. Daily was also named the Player of the Match. The U.S. would spend the remainder of the day focused on rest and recovery for the evening session against Great Britain. “Yesterday and today are huge days for us as far as rest and recovery,” said Coach Joe Delagrave. “Whether its yoga, Normatek, getting treatment, etc. we then have to focus in on our next game. It’s a late game but we’ve had this one circled for a while, it dictates where we will be in the quarters, we need to come out and play USA Rugby.”
After the commanding win against Switzerland, the U.S. stormed the court to face Great Britain for the first time in a major competition since their overtime loss to them at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. Forcing two quick turnovers in the opening minutes of the match, it was the U.S.’s game from wire to wire. Up 29-20 at the half, Great Britain seemed to spark a bit at the opening of the third, but the U.S. continued its aggressive defensive stand, holding them to a solid eight try deficit which carried forward into the fourth and a final 55-49 score. “Obviously without their leader of this year, Stu, that is tough for Great Britain, but they have played some teams really tough here. We knew we had to hit them early and we did. I don’t think I’ve seen a start like that from us in a really long time. That was all about us tonight, all about our attitude going in. Since our France loss [yesterday] its all about earning it. We know that anyone can beat us here and we have got to go out and earn it.” Top scorers for the U.S. were Sarah Adam (Naperville, IL) with 17 and Chuck Aoki (Minneapolis, MN) with 13.
Crossover matches begin tomorrow with the U.S. set to face longtime rival Canada at 7:45 a.m. CT. Catch the livestream of all the action from Vejle at https://worldwheelchair.rugby/2022/10/09/watch-the-2022-wheelchair-rugby-world-championships/ and check in for all the stats and highlights at usawr.org.