U.S. women into Rugby World Cup semifinals

DUBLIN, Ireland — USA joined pool winners New Zealand, England and France in the semifinals of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 as the best runner-up across the three pools.

The Women’s Eagles, winners of the inaugural World Cup in 1991, lost their Pool B decider 47-26 to England at Billings Park on Thursday, but the bonus points secured in wins over Italy and Spain meant they kept the best runner-up spot they had held at the start of the day.

USA secured a try-bonus point when Kris Thomas touched down with the last play of the match against the defending champions to strengthen their cause, but Canada and hosts Ireland failed to get anything out of their matches with New Zealand and France respectively.

Their reward is a meeting with four-time champions New Zealand, who were the first to confirm their place with a dominant 48-5 victory over Canada in the Pool A decider that will also see them return to the summit of the World Rugby Women’s Rankings on Monday.

Whitefish’s Nicole Heavirland is an outside center for the Eagles, playing every minute of USA’s three games in the tournament.

The semifinal matchup with the Black Ferns will air live on NBC Sports at 10 a.m. MT on Tuesday.

The other semifinal pits familiar rivals England against France after Les Bleues avenged their Six Nations defeat by Ireland with three first-half tries for a 21-5 victory that brought the curtain down on the pool stages in Dublin.