USA 31-31 AUS: USA reaction (head coach Fukofuka, Tafuna, Zackary)
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USA head coach Sione Fukofuka, Mastercard Player of the Match Freda Tafuna and captain Kate Zackary reflect on the thrilling 31-31 draw against Australia in Pool A at York Community Stadium on Saturday.
USA head coach Sione Fukofuka, Mastercard Player of the Match Freda Tafuna and captain Kate Zackary reflect on the thrilling 31-31 draw against Australia in Pool A at York Community Stadium on Saturday.
Sione Fukofuka, head coach
On how he is feeling:
"Massively proud of the players. We went down and fought back and to be honest I thought we had it. You can never lie on Australia and they came back and took their opportunity. We had a couple of chances late but unfortunately couldn't convert that pressure and so now we look to next week."
On the message for next week:
"The message is stay in the process, stay in the system, build on possession and don't go chasing the points. They will come when we earn them."
Mastercard Player of the Match Freda Tafuna
On how she is feeling after a thrilling match:
"I'm feeling good. Credit to the girls."
On scoring a hat-trick:
"That third one came off Hope Rogers."
Kate Zackary, captain
On her assessment of the match:
"We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth match. We talked about it all week long and that's what you got. The thing I am most proud about is every time we got hit, we hit back a little bit harder. It's a trait we haven't shown in many games and something we will carry into next week."
On picking the team up to play Samoa:
"The biggest message is we fought back tonight, we've earned ourselves another chance for the quarter-finals so no job is done for now."
