United States women's national rugby union team

United States

Union	USA Rugby
Nickname(s)	Eagles
Coach(es)	Peter Steinberg
Team kit Change kit
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1991)
Best result	Champions 1991

The United States women's national rugby union team represents the United States in women's rugby union. Officially formed in 1987, the Women's National Team (known as the Eagles) has been an international powerhouse since its inception. The Eagles won the first official Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991, and finished second in the two following World Cups (1994, 1998). The team finished sixth in the 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup. The Eagles have set the standard for international competition, leading an ensuing wave of women's rugby growth and game development worldwide.

The team is currently coached by former Eagle Kathy Flores. Flores took over the team in January, 2003. Flores played on the 1991 and 1994 World Cup Squads, playing #8 and scrumhalf. In addition to coaching the Eagles, Flores is the coach of the 11 time national championship women's club team, the Berkeley All Blues.

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 Hookers at Fort Collins; the University of Colorado, at Boulder; and the University of Illinois, at Champaign. During the mid 1970’s 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.

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 ‘USAPresidents 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 at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. Coached by Beantown’s Kevin O’Brian, a Welshman himself, and Minnesota’s Chris Leach, a South African the stage was set for the US Woman 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 BOD.

In 1996 the first assembly of a National Women’s 7’s team was formed. Emil Signas held tryouts to pick a team to compete in the first Women’s International 7’s tournament to be held during the Hong Kong 7’s event. The team competed under the name ‘Atlantis’, the prestigious National 7’s program created by Emil, and finished their tour undefeated. Many of these players went on to compete for the USA Women’s 7’s Team in the Hong Kong 7’s Women’s Division.

In 1997 The U23 Women’s National Team was formed. USA Women’s National Team Head Coach Frank Bouvert appointed Penn State Coach Peter Steinburg to be Head Coach for the U23 Women’s National Team program. At a very emotional 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.

Today Women’s Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in both the United States, with teams competing in six divisions domestically, and across the World, where the US Women’s National Team Program fields five representative teams; U19, U23, 7’s, USA ‘A’, and the Women Eagles. It is important that we remember and recognize the women and men that have paved the way for the growth of US Women’s Rugby.

Squad

Squad for 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup .

Forwards Jamie Burke Farrah Douglas Rachel Reddick Lara Vivol Lisa Butts Kitt Wagner Maurin Wallace Sharon Blaney Stacey Bridges Mel Denham Phaidra Knight Beckett Royce Kristin Zdanczewicz Blair Groefsema

Backs Claudia Knudsen-Braymer Kim Magrini Hannah Stolba Emilie Bydwell Amy Daniels Mel Kanuk Lynelle Kugler Victoria Folayan Nathalie Marchino Vanesha McGee Ashley English Ashley Kmiecik Christy Ringgenberg

Results summary

(Full internationals only)

Rugby: USA internationals 1987-

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Australia	1997	4	4	0	0	100.00%
Canada	1987	29	16	0	13	55.17%
England	1991	12	1	0	11	8.33%
France	1996	3	1	1	1	50.00%
Ireland	1994	5	4	0	1	80.00%
Japan	1994	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Kazakhstan	2010	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Netherlands	1990	3	3	0	0	100.00%
New Zealand	1990	7	1	0	6	14.29%
Russia	1998	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Scotland	1998	5	4	0	1	80.00%
South Africa	2009	3	2	0	1	66.67%
Spain	1998	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Sweden	1994	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Soviet Union	1990	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Wales	1994	3	3	0	0	100.00%
Summary 1987-		82	47	1	34	57.93%

Results

See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering

Full internationals

[17]
	1987-11-14	Canada	3-22	United States	Victoria, British Columbia	[1/1/1]

[27]
	1988-08-08	United States	26-10	Canada	Saranac Lake	[2/2/2]

[33]
	1989-09-03	Canada	3-28	United States	Edmonton	[3/3/3]

[41]
	1990-08-29 (RF)	Netherlands	0–38	United States	Christchurch	[17/4/1]

[43]
	1990-08-30 (RF)	New Zealand	9–3	United States	Christchurch	[3/5/1]

[44]
	1990-08-31 (RF)	United States	32–0	Soviet Union	Christchurch	[6/3/1]

[49]
	1991-04-06 (WC)	Netherlands	0-7	United States	Pontypool	[18/7/2]

[57]
	1991-04-10 (WC)	United States	46-0	Soviet Union	Glamorgan Wanderers	[8/5/2]

[59]
	1991-04-12 (WC)	New Zealand	0-7	United States	Cardiff Arms Park	[7/9/2]

[61]
	1991-04-14 (WC)	England	6-19	United States	Cardiff	[10/10/1]

[65]
	1992-09-13	United States	13-12	Canada	Blaine, Minnesota	[11/6/4]

[72]
	1993-06-08 (CC)	England	17-6	United States	Fletcher's Fields, Toronto	[14/12/2]

[74]
	1993-06-10 (CC)	United States	26-0	Wales	Fletcher's Fields, Toronto	[13/11/1]

[76]
	1993-06-12 (CC)	Canada	3-60	United States	Markham, Ontario	[9/14/5]

[83]
	1994-04-11 (WC)	Sweden	0-111	United States	Melrose	[10/15/1]

[89]
	1994-04-15 (WC)	Japan	0-121	United States	Melrose	[4/16/1]

[94]
	1994-04-17 (WC)	United States	76-0	Ireland	Boroughmuir RFC	[17/4/1]

[99]
	1994-04-20 (WC)	United States	56-15	Wales	Gala RFC	[18/19/2]

[108]
	1994-04-24 (WC)	England	38-23	United States	Edinburgh Academicals RFC	[23/19/3]

[142]
	1996-09-08 (CC)	France	16-39	United States	Edmonton	[36/20/1]

[143]
	1996-09-11 (CC)	New Zealand	88-8	United States	Edmonton	[12/20/3]

[146]
	1996-09-14 (CC)	Canada	14-22	United States	Edmonton	[17/22/6]

[168]
	1997-07-06	Canada	12-21	United States	Ajax, Ontario	[18/23/7]

[169]
	1997-08-02	Australia	24-28	United States	Brisbane	[4/24/1]

[193]
	1998-05-02 (WC)	Russia	0-84	United States	Amsterdam	[9/25/1]

[200]
	1998-05-05 (WC)	Spain	16-38	United States	Amsterdam	[16/26/1]

[207]
	1998-05-09 (WC)	Scotland	10-25	United States	Amsterdam	[31/27/1]

[215]
	1998-05-12 (WC)	Canada	6-46	United States	Amsterdam	[22/28/8]

[229]
	1998-05-16 (WC)	New Zealand	44-12	United States	Amsterdam	[20/29/4]

[256]
	1999-08-08	United States	16-11	Canada	Saranac Lake, New York	[30/24/9]

[257]
	1999-10-13 (T99)	Canada	18-15	United States	Palmerston North, New Zealand	[25/31/10]

[259]
	1999-10-19 (T99)	New Zealand	65-5	United States	Palmerston North, New Zealand	[23/32/5]

[287]
	2000-06-06	United States	10-17	Canada	New York	[33/27/11]

[290]
	2000-09-23 (CC)	England	31-7	United States	Winnipeg	[63/34/4]

[292]
	2000-09-27 (CC)	New Zealand	45-0	United States	Winnipeg	[25/35/6]

[295]
	2000-09-30 (CC)	Canada	9-15	United States	Winnipeg	[30/36/12]

[333]
	2001-07-07	Canada	23-3	United States	Twin Elm Park, Ottawa	[31/37/13]

[334]
	2001-08-05	United States	22-21	Canada	Saranac Lake, New York	[38/32/14]

[341]
	2001-11-18	Wales	17-20	United States	Ebbw Vale	[58/39/3]

[342]
	2001-11-24	Scotland	22-3	United States	Inverleith	[57/40/2]

[364]
	2002-05-13 (WC)	United States	87-0	Netherlands	Barcelona	[41/56/3]

[373]
	2002-05-18 (WC)	France	21-9	United States	Barcelona	[77/42/2]

[382]
	2002-05-21 (WC)	Australia	0-18	United States	Barcelona	[16/43/2]

[390]
	2002-05-25 (WC)	Spain	5-23	United States	Barcelona	[48/44/2]

[420]
	2003-06-18 (CC)	England	15-8	United States	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	[92/45/5]

[421]
	2003-06-20 (CC)	Canada	18-13	United States	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	[41/46/15]

[465]
	2004-06-13 (CC)	New Zealand	35-0	United States	Calgary Rugby Park	[36/47/7]

[467]
	2004-06-19 (CC)	Canada	10-29	United States	Edmonton	[45/48/16]

[474]
	2004-11-27	Scotland	6-12	United States	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	[82/49/3]

[519]
	2006-01-21	Scotland	6-13	United States	Netherdale, Gala RFC	[90/50/4]

[520]
	2006-01-25	Ireland	5-23	United States	?	[68/51/2]

[554]
	2006-06-10	United States	25-10	Canada	Boulder, Colorado	[52/55/17]

[555]
	2006-06-13	United States	18-20	Canada	Boulder, Colorado	[53/56/18]

[562]
	2006-08-31 (WC)	England	18-0	United States	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[120/54/6]

[570]
	2006-09-04 (WC)	Ireland	11-24	United States	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[76/55/3]

[575]
	2006-09-08 (WC)	Australia	6-10	United States	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[20/56/3]

[580]
	2006-09-12 (WC)	United States	29-12	Australia	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[21/57/4]

[586]
	2006-09-17 (WC)	Scotland	0-24	United States	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	[100/58/5]

[642]
	2007-08-27	United States	5-18	Canada	Blaine, Minnesota	[59/65/19]

[643]
	2007-08-29	United States	7-45	Canada	Blaine, Minnesota	[60/66/20]

[655]
	2007-12-15	England	34-0	United States	London Irish	[134/61/7]

[712]
	2008-08-19	England	50-3	United States	Esher, England	[143/62/8]

[713]
	2008-08-22 (NC)	England	17-14	United States	Esher, England	[144/63/9]

[715]
	2008-07-26 (NC)	Canada	15-0	United States	Esher, England	[67/64/21]

[758]
	2009-06-27	United States	17-25	Canada	Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado	[65/69/22]

[762]
	2009-08-10 (NC)	England	36-7	United States	Oakville, Ontario	[152/66/10]

[763]
	2009-08-16 (NC)	South Africa	0-39	United States	Oakville, Ontario	[14/67/1]

[766]
	2009-08-19 (NC)	Canada	10-15	United States	Oakville, Ontario	[72/68/23]

[767]
	2009-08-22 (NC)	France	15-15	United States	Fletchers Fields, Toronto	[138/69/3]

[790]
	2010-01-12	United States	8-18	Canada	Lakeland, Florida	[70/76/24]

[791]
	2010-01-16	United States	11-10	Canada	Lakeland, Florida	[71/77/25]

[829]
	2010-06-14	Canada	14-8	United States	Shawnigan Lake School	[81/72/26]

[830]
	2010-06-18	Canada	34-22	United States	Bear Mountain Stadium, Langford	[82/73/27]

[836]
	2010-08-20 (WC)	Kazakhstan	0-51	United States	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[46/74/1]

[845]
	2010-08-24 (WC)	Ireland	22-12	United States	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[104/75/4]

[852]
	2010-08-28 (WC)	England	37 – 10	United States	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[166/76/11]

[856]
	2010-09-01 (WC)	Ireland	3 – 40	United States	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[106/77/5]

[862]
	2010-09-05 (WC)	Canada	20 – 23	United States	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[87/78/28]

[900]
	2011-08-02 (NC)	England	15-11	United States	Oakville, Ontario	[174/79/12]

[902]
	2011-08-05 (NC)	Canada	35-17	United States	Chatham-Kent, Ontario	[89/80/29]

[903]
	2011-08-09 (NC)	United States	23-26	South Africa	Oakville, Ontario	[81/27/2]

[905]
	2011-08-13 (NC)	United States	29-9	South Africa	Oakville, Ontario	[82/28/3]

Other matches

[-]
	1997-08-04	Fiji	19-24	A USA XV	Suva	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2005-01-29	England A	8-21	United States	Imber Court	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2007-08-12	Nomads	24-0	United States	Clifton	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2009-06-23	USA Development	7-10	Canada Development	Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2008-08-15 (NACRA)	Cayman Islands	0-85	United States U20	Nassau, Bahamas	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2008-08-20 (NACRA)	Canada U20	6-3	United States U20	Nassau, Bahamas	[-/-/-]

2006 Women's World Cup

The Women's National Team finished in fifth place at the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup in August/September 2006 in Edmonton, Canada, winning four matches and losing one.

Pool Play:
8/31 - US vs England: loss, 0-18
9/4 - US vs Ireland: win, 24-11
9/8 - US vs. Australia: win, 10-6

Knockout match: 9/12 - US vs. Australia: win, 29-12
5th place match: 9/17 - US vs. Scotland: win, 24-0

Three players from the US squad were named to the tournament's All Star XV:
lock: Jen Crouse
flanker: Phaidra Knight
wing: Ellie Karvoski

See also

• United States at the team sports international competitions
• Women's international rugby - the most complete listing of all women's international results since 1982

External links

• Women's national team on usarugby.org
• Site for fans of the Women Eagles
• Women Eagles, rugby pioneers