"Underdog mentality" - Olivia Ortiz: USA will bring the fight to must win match against Australia - Women's Rugby World Cup

The Eagles were well beaten in their opening round match of the tournament, as they kicked-off the action against England up in Sunderland's Stadium of Light. The 69-7 defeat set Team USA down the Pool A rankings, with the deck stacked against them for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Red Roses will qualify for the final eight if they defeat Samoa this afternoon at Franklin's Gardens, with the pressure then piled on the USA as they take on Australia later tonight.

United States scrum half Olivia Ortiz recognised how the pressure is on, with the game-plan set to match up the Wallaroos along the wide channels. The USA came undone by England's flying outside backs upon their clash in the North East, with a stronger defensive structure required for tonight's battle in York.

"So, we spoke about that, England obviously worked really hard around the park." Ortiz said. "So, we wanted to take an opportunity to look at the short side, and what that looks like for us. For us, there are opportunities, because they [England] work so hard to get around the fold. Then there's opportunities for us to find space in those channels.

"So then, playing open side, and playing edge to edge there, and not getting stuck in the 15s [metres from try-line]. Going forward to Australia, we're looking forward to again, capitalising on opportunities and making sure that we're making good decisions with the ball and playing in all of the right areas of the field."

The USA have endured an arduous run of recent form, with just one win in their last 10 matches dating back to 2024 WXV. The Eagles managed a 31-24 win over Fiji in Washington DC's Audi Field, with Ortiz hopeful to see this run of underwhelming form come to an end in their must-win clash with Australia.

"I would say it's been an unfortunate year for us. We had our had a big win against Fiji back in DC, which is really exciting for us. So we really want to make sure that we are continuing that momentum and that mentality moving forward in games like we know that we aren't ranked as high as like our opposition [England].

"Obviously, going up against number one in the world, and then playing against Australia next week, that we might have to be a little bit more of an underdog mentality. So we want to play a full 80 minutes. It's just unfortunate that we haven't been able to get some good results."