The USA Rugby team led by captain and Somerville native Jamie Burke, cruised to a 51-0 win over Kazakhstan.

By Mike Rubin

For the United States Women’s Rugby team, the quest for a 2010 World Cup kicked off on the right note.

Led by Christy Ringenberg’s 26 points, the USA cruised to a 51-0 win over Kazakhstan in the opening round of pool play last Friday.

In the opening minutes Riggenberg capitalized on a penalty kick while Nathalie Marchino delivered a try. Ringgenbenrg also cashed in on another try, increasing the lead to 13-0 before the half.

In the second half, the USA continued to dominate following scores by Victoria Folayan and Ringgenberg en route to a 20-0 edge. Another try and a conversion by Ashley Kmiecik paved the way for a commanding 27-0 cushion.

“We came out of the gates on fire and got on the board quickly, but everything seemed pretty frenetic,” said Somerville resident and team captain Jamie Burke.  “After that opening burst we got a little too crazy and got a series of penalties that had us on the back-foot.  We just couldn’t keep ball in hand initially, which I attribute to match-day jitters, and everyone trying to force something on every play.”

Even with a 13-0 halftime lead, Burke was well aware that there was still much work left to be done to secure a victory.

“We weren’t happy with the scoreline heading into half-time and knew we needed to step it up on both offense and defense,” said Burke. We scored 38 points in the second half because we started to relax and trust each other and just play rugby. It was great. I was bummed to come out of what had become such a pretty game, but glad to have been a part of it and to get a chance to watch some of that beauty as a fan.”

Not only was Burke impressed with the team’s efforts on the field, but also for the overwhelming amount of fan support off of it.

“We had such an amazing group of supporters there. Between family and friends, as well as the D.C. Furies, who were decked out in Star Spangled Bikinis. we had the best fans. The USA fans were the loudest of the day. That U-S-A chant definitely picked me up every time I felt a little lagging.”

The USA aimed to continue their unbeaten run in pool play on Tuesday against Ireland. Prior to the match, the squad decided to scout their opponents in a match against England.

“There was some good rugby being played all around,” said Burke. “After dinner we went out and watched the Ireland-England match.  The match was hard-fought, with Ireland playing dogged defense.  We were really hoping that they could hold England to under 4 tries so they wouldn’t get the bonus point, but alas, it was not to happen.  England scored their 4th try in the waning moments of the match.  But it was a brutal game, so we can only hope that they beat each other up a bit in preparation for our Tuesday match.”