United States women's national rugby union team
The USA Women's National Team XVs is the senior national team for the United States in the 15-a-side version of rugby. The team was officially formed in 1987 and is nicknamed the Eagles.
An international powerhouse during the 1990s— the Eagles won the inaugural 1991 Women's World Cup and finished second in the two following World Cups in 1994 and 1998. The team finished fourth in the most recent Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland.
In May 2018, the Rob Cain was appointed full-time Head Coach. Cain joined the Eagles after winning the inaugural Tyrell Premier 15s title in England with Saracens Women.
History
The history of women's rugby in the United States can be traced back to three teams that existed in 1972 – the Colorado State University Hookers at Fort Collins; the University of Colorado, at Boulder; and the University of Illinois, at Champaign. During the mid-1970s women's teams began to spring up on college campuses across the United States. As those players graduated they went on to set up teams near cities and urban centers. At that time there was only one division for all women's rugby. In 1975 United States Rugby Football Union was formed and contained four territories. At this time the women had their own Board of Directors and followed in parallel USARFU with four territories. In 1978 the first Women's National Championships was held. The Chicago Women's Rugby Club in Chicago, Illinois hosted this event. The winner of that championship was Portland, Maine.
1980s–1991
In 1985 the first semblance of a national team was formed. An ‘invitation-only’ team was put together and made up of, arguably, the top women playing the game at the time. . The team finished the tour undefeated. Many of these players went on to be selected to the 1991 World Cup Team.In 1987 the USA women's national team was officially born with their first match against the Canadian women's national team. Although the women were not permitted to wear the Eagle logo, this match was sanctioned by Rugby Canada and USA Rugby. USA and Canada began holding an annual match, which became known as the CanAm series. For ten years the Women Eagles went undefeated in this test series.
In 1990 the women's national team, competing under the name ‘USA Presidents 15’, traveled to New Zealand to compete in the historic Women's World Rugby Festival. The WNT posted a record of 3–1 with their only loss coming at the hands of New Zealand. In 1991 the first Women's Rugby World Cup was held in Cardiff, Wales. Coached by Beantown's Kevin O’Brien, a Welshman himself, and Minnesota's Chris Leach, a South African the stage was set for the US women to bring home the Cup. Defeating New Zealand in semi-final play, the USA women advanced to the finals where they defeated England.
Also in 1991 the first woman was elected to serve on the USARFU Board of Directors. Jamie Jordan was elected Treasurer for the Board.
Present
The USA Women's National Team XVs most recently finished fourth at Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland which earned them automatic qualification to the next World Cup in New Zealand in 2021. In early 2018, the program hired former Women's National Team player Emilie Bydwell to serve as its General Manager of Women's High Performance. Soon after in May, Rob Cain was appointed full-time Head Coach and has since helped lead the program in a new direction.The Women's National Team Program fields a number of age-grade and development programs including the High School All-Americans, Under-20s, Collegiate All-Americans and USA Selects. All age-grade and development programs are umbrellaed under the national team program and serve as a feeder to the senior Women's Eagles.
2019 Performance Squad
The 2019 Performance Squad serves as the top tier of the USA Women's National Team XVs depth chart. Other tiers include the extended squad and the watchlist. Only the performance squad has been made public.*All clubs listed below were current as of the announcement of the Performance Squad in February of 2019.
| Player Name | Position | Club |
| Sui Aa'u | Center | Central Washington University |
| Tiana Aa'u | Prop | Central Washington University |
| Tiara Aa'u | Prop | Central Washington University |
| Katy Augustyn | Hooker | Berkeley All Blues |
| Bui Baravilala | Center | Berkeley All Blues |
| Catie Benson | Prop | Life West Gladiatrix |
| Stacey Bridges | Second Row | Beantown Rugby |
| Kaitlyn Broughton | Back Three | Atlanta Harlequins |
| Bitsy Cairns | Back Row | Life West Gladiatrix |
| Gabriella Cantorna | Flyhalf | Glendale Merlins |
| Jennine Duncan | Back Three | Seattle Saracens |
| Megan Foster | Fullback | San Diego Surfers |
| Misha Green | Back Row | New York Rugby |
| McKenzie Hawkins | Flyhalf | Lindenwood University |
| Emily Henrich | Center | Dartmouth College |
| Evan Hoese | Wing | Berkeley All Blues |
| Katana Howard | Flyhalf | Twin City Amazons |
| Nick James | Prop | Houston Athletic |
| Bailey Johnson | Second Row | Twin City Amazons |
| Katie Johnson | Back Row | Twin City Amazons |
| Rachel Johnson | Back Row | Oregon Sports Union |
| Joanna Kitlinski | Hooker | Glendale Merlins |
| Cortney Kuehl | Center | Atlanta Harlequins |
| Bulou Mataitoga | Fullback | Berkeley All Blues |
| Azniv Nalbandian | Prop | Penn State University |
| Mary Jane Pasioles | Halfback | Central Washington University |
| Christian Pheil | Back Row | Atlanta Harlequins |
| Kat Ramage | Half Back | Dartmouth College |
| Megan Rom | Prop | Life University |
| Kimber Rozier | Center | Beantown Rugby |
| Kristine Sommer | Second Row | Harlequins / Seattle Saracens |
| Kelsi Stockert | Back Three | Unattached |
| McKenna Strong | Second Row | Lindenwood University |
| Finau Tamaivena | No. 8 | Seattle Saracens |
| Joyce Taufa | Hooker | Lindenwood University |
| Alycia Washington | Second Row | New York Rugby |
| Carly Waters | Halfback | New York Rugby |
| Kate Zackary | Back Row | San Diego Surfers |
Super Series 2019 Roster
Players that were chosen for the 2019 Super Series which took place in San Diego in June and featured England, New Zealand, Canada and France. The Eagles went 1–3 with a huge upset over No. 3 ranked Canada for their first win over their northern rivals in four years.| Player Name | Position |
| Katy Augustyn | Hooker |
| Bui Baravilala | Center |
| Catie Benson | Prop |
| Amy Naber-Bonte | Center |
| Stacey Bridges | Second Row |
| Ashlee Byrge | Scrumhalf |
| Elizabeth Cairns | Back row |
| Gabriella Cantorna | Flyhalf |
| Jennine Duncan | Back Three |
| Fane "Eti" Haungatau | Center |
| Emily Henrich | Center |
| Katana Howard | Flyhalf |
| Charli Jacoby | Prop |
| Nick James | Prop |
| Rachel Johnson | Back Row |
| Alev Kelter | Center |
| Joanna Kitlinski | Hooker |
| Bulou Mataitoga | Fullback |
| Olivia Ortiz | Scrumhalf |
| Neariah "Nene" Persinger | Wing |
| Hope Rogers | Hooker/Prop |
| Asinate Serevi | Back Row / Second Row |
| Kristine Sommer | Flanker |
| Nicole Strasko | Second Row / Back Row |
| Joyce Taufa | Back Row |
| Kris Thomas | Wing |
| Alycia Washington | Second Row |
| Kate Zackary | Back Row |
2019 Schedule & Results
For match reports, visit2017 World Cup Team
The 2017 Rugby World Cup was held in Ireland where the United States women finished in fourth-place. Below are the players who comprised the traveling roster.| Player Name | Club |
| Kathryn Augustyn | Berkeley All Blues |
| Catherine Benson | Life West |
| Sylvia Braaten | Twin Cities Amazons |
| Stacey Bridges | Twin Cities Amazons |
| Kayla Canett | Pennsylvania State University |
| Cheta Emba | United States women's national rugby sevens team |
| Tiffany Fa’ae’e | New York Rugby Club |
| Jordan Gray | Life West |
| Abby Gustaitis | Northern Virginia Rugby |
| Nicole Heavirland | United States women's national rugby sevens team |
| Nicole James | -- |
| Jessica Javelet | -- |
| Alev Kelter | -- |
| Deven Owsiany | -- |
| Samantha Pankey | -- |
| Sara Parsons | Northern Virginia Rugby |
| Tess Feury | -- |
| Christiane Pheil | Chicago North Shore |
| Naima Reddick | Seattle Saracens |
| Jamila Reinhardt | San Diego Surfers |
| Hope Rogers | Pennsylvania State University |
| Kimber Rozier | Scion Rugby |
| Kristine Sommer | Seattle Saracens |
| Naya Tapper | United States women's national rugby sevens team |
| Kristen Thomas | United States women's national rugby sevens team |
| Alycia Washington | New York Rugby Club |
| Jess Wooden | Aylesford Bulls Ladies |
| Kate Zackary | San Diego Surfers |
1991 World Cup Team
Women's team that won the inaugural 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup
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Other U.S. Women's National Rugby Teams
The USA Women's National Rugby Team also has a team which competes in rugby sevens, the 7-a-side version of the sport which features in the Olympic Games. Known as the USA Women's Sevens or Eagles Sevens, the program had its most successful season of all-time in 2019, claiming five medals in six tournaments during the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series where they finished with a World No. 2 ranking, won their first-ever gold medal and qualified for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
In 1996 the first assembly of a National Women's 7s team was formed. Emil Signes held tryouts to pick a team to compete in the first Women's International 7s tournament to be held during the Hong Kong 7s event. The team competed under the name ‘Atlantis’, the National 7s program created by Emil, and finished their tour undefeated. Many of these players went on to compete for the USA Women's 7s Team in the Hong Kong 7s Women's Division.
In 1997 The U23 women's national team was formed. USA Women's National Team Head Coach Franck Boivert appointed Penn State Coach Peter Steinberg to be Head Coach for the U23 Women's National Team program. At an event in the CanAm Series the US Women's National Team celebrated their 10-year anniversary by cheering on the Women's U23 National Team in their first test against Canada.