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 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. The team finished fourth at the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland. In May 2018, Rob Cain was appointed full-time Head Coach. Cain joined the Eagles after winning the inaugural Tyrell

Premier 15s The Premier 15s, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Allianz Premier 15s, is the top tier of the women's English rugby union domestic league system run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The league was created mainly from teams in t ...

title in England with

Saracens Women Saracens Women (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsærəsənz/) are a women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London, England. They were founded in 1989 and currently play in the Premier 15s, the top level competition of Women's rugby union, women's rugby ...

History

''(Source
US Women's Rugby Foundation
'' 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 Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Hookers at

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

; the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, at

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

; and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, at

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. 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 (East, Midwest, West and Pacific). 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–1997

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 was named WIVERN and toured throughout England and France
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. 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.

Present

The USA Women's National Team XVs 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 Emilie Bydwell (born 31 August 1985 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian American rugby union player. Bydwell was a 3 time All-American and was also selected as the 2007 Collegiate Player of the Year. Bydwell was named the head coach of the United ...

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 (U18), 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.

Record

Overall

''See

List of United States women's national rugby union team matches The following is a list of the 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 ...

'' ;Full internationals only ''Correct as of 09 October 2022''

Rugby World Cup

Players

Current squad

The United States named their final 32-player squad on the 16 September 2022, for the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

. Alycia Washington,

Rachel Ehrecke Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her au ...

Bulou Mataitoga Bulou is a title used by Fijian women of chiefly rank, in the Provinces of Nadroga-Navosa and Kadavu, and parts of Serua Province, in Fiji. It is equivalent to ''Adi'', the title given to female chiefs elsewhere in Fiji. The equivalent t ...

and

Saher Hamdan Saher is a both a family name and a unisex given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that ...

were named as non-travelling reserves.

2022 schedule and results

''For match reports, visit:'
Schedule & Results

Previous squads

Notable players

Two former Eagles have been inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

Patty Jervey Patricia "Patty" Marie Jervey (born March 29, 1964) is an American former rugby union player. She appeared in five Women's World Cups for the . She was a member of the Eagles squad to win the inaugural 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup. The 2006 Wo ...

and Phaidra Knight. Patty Jervey was inducted in 2014. She was the first player to play in five

Women's Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing ...

s. She won the inaugural tournament in 1991 and appeared in the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions. She made her Eagles debut in 1989 and has won 40 caps, and scored 178 points. Phaidra Knight was inducted in 2017. She has been capped 35 times for the Eagles and has appeared at three Women's Rugby World Cups – 2002, 2006 and 2010. She was named USA Rugby Player of the Decade in 2010. Knight also represented the USA Women's Sevens, from 2006 to 2009.

Coaches

References

External links

* {{Women's national rugby teams Women's national rugby union teams North American national women's rugby union teams