We started game day with a walk through led by our captain, Kate Daley. It was short and sharp and focused our minds on the task ahead. After an hour long bus ride to the pitch we started to settle in and do our individual game day prep. Headphones on, I got in the zone then started to link up with my teammates in the locker room. 
Our warmup begins with a short gym session to get our muscles firing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! I get so amped and love throwing up weights! The music is blasting and the energy is high. We crank our 30 minutes of lifting then take to the field to start individual warmups. It was raining, naturally, during our entire warmup. The overall team vibe was incredibly focused and on point. It felt so great! The rain felt great and seemed to focus us.
Game time. I felt my usual pre-game nerves kick in somewhere between the national anthems and the first whistle. Once we got going the nerves left, but I didn’t get myself into a good swing for another 40-50 minutes-ugh. Both teams were playing really hard! There was a lot of back and forth play, often due to slippery ball. I ran in a ball to the corner for the first try of the game somewhere around the 38 minute mark - a very necessary boost needed before the half! 
We made a few tactical changes at the half and tightened up our defensive focus. The rain stopped just long enough for us to sit in the locker rooms and started up again as we kicked off the second half. Perfect ;) The first minutes of the half felt promising, but we slipped defensively and let in an early try. The battle raged on from both sides! We made some critical errors, but also some amazing breaks. It was a very hotly contested match-so hard, but so fun. We went out on top with a penalty kick from Kimber. Our first match on tour, our first win. Happy with the result, but not necessarily with the overall performance. We have some work to put in before the next match and eventually World Cup.  |
| Cheers for Bui! |
Bui played her very first USA 15s match and we celebrated with the Welsh over dinner (along with their newly capped player)!
Now we focus on recovery. Today was a day off (besides our mobility gym session). Most of the team headed into Cardiff for sight seeing. I stuck to the hotel for a long nap, reading and some major chill time! :) Tonight we meet to bring our focus together for our upcoming matches against England. And tomorrow we start the physical work to get us to another win! 
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