| Union | USA Rugby | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Eagles | ||
| Coach(es) | Eddie O'Sullivan | ||
| Captain(s) | Todd Clever | ||
| Most caps | Mike MacDonald (65) | ||
| Top scorer | Mike Hercus (465) | ||
| Most tries | Vaea Anitoni (26) | ||
|
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| First international | |||
| United States 8–12 Australia (November 16, 1912) |
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| Largest win | |||
| United States 91–0 Barbados (July 1, 2006) |
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| Largest defeat | |||
| England 106 – 8 United States (August 21, 1999) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1987) | ||
| Best result | One win in 1987, 2003 and 2011 | ||
USA Rugby's men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th by the IRB World Rankings.[1] Their highest ranking was from November 2, 2006 – September 10, 2007 at the 14th position. The USA is involved in the implementation of the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association zone competition, which will give North American and Caribbean sides regular competition. The one area that has seen improvement for the USA internationally is in the game of rugby sevens, where the Eagles have impressed on the IRB World Sevens circuit. They made major breakthroughs in the 2007–08 Sevens World Series, winning the Shield at the 2008 New Zealand Sevens event and losing a close match to Argentina 26–21 in the Bowl Final at the 2008 Australia Sevens. These and other performances led the IRB to elevate the national sevens squad to "core team" status for 2008–09 at the expense of their neighbor Canada.[2] They built on this success by advancing to the Cup semifinals at the 2009 USA Sevens. The team also successfully captured silverware at the Dubai Sevens, the Adelaide Sevens, and Edinburgh Sevens. In all three cases the team took home the Shield, by beating the Arabian Gulf rugby team, Scotland, and Canada respectively. During the 2009–10 season, the team made its first-ever Cup final at the Adelaide Sevens. The Sevens success has come under head coach Al Caravelli.
Competing in international tournaments like the Churchill Cup and the Pan American Championship, as well as specially scheduled matches against world powers such as France and Ireland, the Eagles have qualified for six of the seven Rugby World Cups, missing out in 1995. At the 1987 World Cup they beat Japan but lost to Australia and England, in 1991 they lost all their games. In 1995 the Eagles defeated Canada on Canadian soil, a first, by a score of 15–14.
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Informal football games such as rugby became popular in the United States in the mid-19th century. Formal rugby union was played, largely by British immigrants, as early as 1872, when there were rugby clubs flourishing in the San Francisco Bay Area, composed mainly of British expatriates. On December 2, 1882, the first Californian representative rugby team to play an outside opponent, took on a group of rugby-playing ex-Britons, who called themselves the Phoenix Rugby Club of San Francisco. California lost to the Phoenix club 7–4. This was the start of the Californian rugby tradition.
The sport of rugby union in the United States has always had a close relationship with the sport of American football. Initially, games of rugby, soccer, and hybrid games had been played between American universities, with the first recorded rugby game taking place in May 1874 between Harvard University and McGill University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Though McGill won the match, the game sparked an interest on college campuses nationwide. In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which used the rugby code, except for a slight difference in scoring. The modern sport of American football is a descendant of these rules. In 1886 Harvard's Oscar Shafter Howard introduced these rules to the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
American football was fierce, and as time went on and injuries mounted, the public became alarmed at its brutalities. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to outlaw the sport unless the national rules committee made changes that satisfied the Eastern schools. Beginning with the season of 1906, rugby union became the game of choice at Stanford University, Berkely and several other colleges in California but the sport had died out by the outbreak of World War I.
The first USA international was played on November 16, 1912 at Berkeley against the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies). The visitors won the match 12–8. A year later the U.S. hosted New Zealand at the same venue, but the score was not nearly as close, and the Kiwis ran away with the contest 51–3.
Rugby union had not been played competitively in most of the USA for more than a decade before the 1920 Olympics, the US Olympic committee replied that because "California is the only state playing Rugby in the US, the Committee will give sanction but no financial aid". The Olympic Games Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union paid the expenses to transport the team from California to the games in Antwerp.[3] By the time the US Rugby team arrived in Europe, Czechoslovakia and Romania had withdrawn from the competition, and France and the U.S. were the only teams left to compete. The USA won a shock 8–0 victory and the gold medal. The stunned French suggested that the U.S. team tour France, which they did; winning three out of the four matches they played.
Between 1920 and 1924, Rugby union virtually disappeared once again as American football soared in popularity. But the 1924 Paris Olympics caused France to challenge the US to defend its title. Once again, the US Olympic Committee granted permission but no funds. Nonetheless, seven players of the 1920 team dusted off their boots, raised $20,000, and found some American football players who had never even seen a rugby union match, and headed for England-where they were trounced four times in practice sessions.
The French Olympic Committee (FOC) had scheduled the rugby event to kick off the 1924 Paris Games, and Romania and the U.S. were expected to provide only token opposition for the European champions. On Sunday, May 11 , the US pounded Romania 39 to 0, including nine tries, at Colombes Stadium. The final was played at Colombes Stadium, Paris, on May 18, 1924 before a crowd of more than 30,000.[4] Paris bookmakers set the odds at twenty to one: The French team was one of the strongest ever assembled. To everybody's surprise the Americans were victorious again by 17 to 3. Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed rugby union as an Olympic sport. Without the Olympic incentive, the sport's growth in America collapsed and the game remained dormant.
Rare vintage film footage of the 1924 gold medal match was recently released in the documentary, "A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby".
The sport then enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby) in 1975. The first Eagles match was played in Anaheim in 1976 against Australia, the Wallabies won 24–12.
The USA also performed well against France in Chicago, losing the game 33–14. The next season the Eagles played two internationals, one against England (XV-not capped) at Twickenham, which they lost 37–11, and the other against Canada, which they also lost, 17–6. The USA played the Canadians again in 1978, and defeated them 12–7 in Baltimore. They then travelled to Canada in 1979 and lost 19–12 in Toronto.
The national team came to further prominence during the 1980s, and from the start of the decade, were playing a notably larger number of games every season. They did however lose all three of their games in 1980, all at home. They could not muster up a win in 1981 either, losing 3–6 to Canada, and 7–38 to the South African Springboks. The USA then drew Canada 3-all in 1982. The next year they travelled to Australia to play the Wallabies, and lost 49–3 in Sydney. Wins followed against Japan and Canada. Key players included Tom Selfridge, Dan Wack, Tommy Smith, Jack Jensen, and the Sianos—Stephen and Mark.
In 1987, the USA were invited by the IRB to participate in the first ever Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. The USA were in pool 1, alongside co-hosts Australia, England and Japan. In their first ever World Cup game, the USA got off to a winning start, defeating Japan 21–18 at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane. The USA lost both subsequent matches; 47–12 against the Wallabies and 34–6 against the English. The USA finished 3rd in the pool, but out of contention of the finals. The Eagles first met Wales at Cardiff in November 1987. Wales, fresh from finishing third in the inaugural World Cup, enjoyed a 46–0 win.
The USA qualified for the 1991 Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom, making their way through a qualifying tournament, and pooled with World Champions New Zealand, hosts England and Italy in a very tough group. In their first match of the tournament at Otley, Italy defeated them 30–9. At Gloucester, New Zealand defeated them 46–6 but still USA's captain and Mark Sawicki and Thomas Westerman had some knock out hits as usual removing 3 of the All Blacks's players during the match. New Zealand hosts England won 37–9 at Twickenham. The USA finished fourth in the pool.
The USA defeated Bermuda 60–3 in round one of the Americas qualifying tournament for the 1995 Rugby World Cup to advance to round two. Although close games, Argentina defeated the Eagles twice in the series to qualify and leave the USA behind. The Eagles went close to beating a major nation at rugby union match against Australia at Riverside in 1994 when USA lost 22–26.
The Eagles, having missed out on South Africa 1995, set out to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. In round four of the Americas tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the United States did not get off to an ideal start, losing 52–24 to Argentina and 31–14 to Canada. They defeated Uruguay 21–16 in their last game to qualify for the 1999 tournament.
The Eagles were in pool E, alongside Australia, Ireland and Romania. In their first game of the tournament, the USA went down 53–8 in Dublin to Ireland. They were unlucky not to win the Romania encounter, with Romania winning 27–25. Australia defeated the Eagles 55–19 in their final game of the tournament, seeing the Eagles finish fourth in the pool. The Eagles, however, had the distinguished honor of being the only side to manage to score a try against the eventual champions, Australia, during the entire tournament.
The Eagles qualified for the 2003 Rugby World Cup by beating Spain twice in April followed by victories over Japan and Canada. This was the first time the Eagles had won four consecutive tests since making their international debut in 1976. The Eagles finished fourth of five in their pool. In the first match against Fiji, an upset was brewing. The Americans were leading 6–3 at the half, then 13–3 minutes into the second half. Fiji eventually regained the lead, but with a try at the death, the Americans trailed by a point at 19–18 with the conversion kick to come. Unfortunately Mike Hercus was unable to convert and the Eagles suffered their ninth consecutive World Cup loss. The streak ended however after the Americans defeated the Japanese, as they did in their only other World Cup victory in 1987.
The Super Powers Cup was first contested in 2003 between Japan, Russia and the United States. For the 2004 Super Powers Cup with the addition of Canada. The USA beat Russia in the third-place play-off. The 2005 Super Cup took part between the USA, Canada, Japan and Romania. The USA lost 30–26 to Canada but beat a Romanian team stripped of their France-based players 23–16 in the third place play-off.
The USA began their campaign to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France during July 2006, in Round 3b of the Americas tournaments, pooled with Canada and Barbados. The USA defeated Barbados 91–0 in their first game, but lost 56–7 to the Canadians in the last pool game, sending Canada through, and relegating the USA to a home/away play-off with Uruguay. The USA came from behind to defeat Uruguay 42–13 in Montevideo in the first match. Winning the second 26–7 sent them through to the World Cup. They qualified as Americas 3, joining England, Samoa, South Africa and Tonga in Pool A.
In the 4th round, the Eagles, ranked 13th in the world standings, lost all 4 games in Pool A, scoring 1 pool point in the game against Samoa. Coached by Peter Thorburn (a New Zealander who recently was the coach for the New Zealand provincial team North Harbour Rugby Union), the Eagles started off with tough match against the defending world champions England, losing 28–10. Following this loss, the US was beaten by Tonga 25–15, losing to Samoa 25 – 21 and finally to highly favored South Africa 64 – 15. The Eagles, however, had one major highlight in the South Africa match. After an interception and a pair of passes, Takudzwa Ngwenya sped down the sideline and outran Bryan Habana, arguably the fastest man in world rugby, to score a try that received Try of the Year honors at the 2007 IRB Awards. Following the resignation of Scott Johnson, on March 5, 2009 Eddie O'Sullivan was named the new national coach.[5]
In November 2009, the United States booked their place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with a 54–28 aggregate victory over Uruguay. They won the second leg 27–6 in Florida with tries from captain Todd Clever (2), flanker Louis Stanfill and wing Kevin Swiryn.[6] The Eagles finished a solid 2009 campaign at a mark of 4–5, with a 4–3 record in full internationals while capturing the Bowl in the Churchill Cup.[7] In reaching that mark the Eagles split a World Cup qualifying series with Canada, lost to Ireland and Wales, swept Uruguay, and defeated Georgia to take home the Bowl in the 2009 Churchill Cup.
The 2010s started with news of many of the Eagles' best-established players having to miss the 2010 Churchill Cup because of injury including team captain Todd Clever and impact players Kevin Swiryn and Hayden Smith. Notably coach Eddie O'Sullivan took a big step in the future of the Eagles excluding long time fixtures Mike Hercus and Mike MacDonald, demonstrating a policy that is willing to exclude players who are playing professionally. The Eagles built on a full schedule in 2009 (9 games) with a 6 game schedule. They were expected to play two full test matches in the Churchill Cup. However, arch-rival Canada pulled a massive upset beating France A and unexpectedly advanced to the Chuchill Cup Final. The USA put in a solid performance beating Russia 39–22. The Eagles then put in their best effort to date against the England Saxons yet still fell 32–9, having cut the deficit to 9 (18–9) late in the second half. Despite the loss to the Saxons the Eagles insured their best finish to date in the expanded (6 teams) Churchill Cup format with the win over Russia in reaching the Plate Final to play France A. The win over Russia saw the Americans climb the IRB world rankings to 16th. The win was also key in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup where the Eagles are scheduled to play Russia again. The Eagles dropped their match against France A in the Plate final for the 2010 Churchill Cup with a 24–10 score in favor of the French, with the last score being a converted try for the French on full time. While the Eagles had chances in the game, they suffered from poor kicking and constantly surrendered possession at crucial times by fumbled passes and losing the ball when going into contact. The Eagles finished the tournament at 1–2. In the Fall, the Eagles traveled to Europe for a 4 game tour. The Eagles were triumphant in their first hit out against Portugal securing a 22–17 victory.[8] That win turned out to be the high water mark of the tour. In their second match the Eagles took on English Premiership side Saracens and dropped the match with the score 20–6 in favor of Saracens.[9] The next stop for the Eagles was a friendly against Scottish representative side Scotland A. The Eagles were outclassed in every phase and dropped 25–0.[10] In their final match the Eagles saw their dreams of ending the 2010 campaign on a high note come to a crashing halt with a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Georgia with a final margin of 19–17.[11] The Eagles finished the 2010 year ranked 16th in the world[12] and with a 2–1 record in test matches. However, the Eagles were less successful with their overall record which was a modest 2 wins against 5 losses.
The 2011 campaign, a crucial one in the build up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, started out disastrously in the Churchill Cup. The Eagles, having trotted out what was essentially a B-side, dropped their first match to England Saxons with the embarrassing score line of 87–8.[13] The Eagles, with a much more substantial side, then compounded the setback by suffering a harsh defeat to Tonga with a 44–13 defeat to the Tongans.[14] The defeat dropped the Eagles in the IRB World Rankings from 16th to 17th,[15] moving Tonga up to 16th, and left the Eagles relegated to the Bowl Final against Russia in an attempt to not go winless. The Eagles showed dramatic improvement in the Bowl Final defeating Russia 32–25 in what was an even match throughout that saw the score leveled 5 times and with that advancing their 2011 record to 1–2 and 1–1 in full tests.[16] The win was only the second time (2009) the Eagles have brought home hardware from the Churchill Cup and was their last opportunity to do so as immediately after the tournament organizers announced that 2011 would be the final Churchill Cup.[17] After the Churchill Cup the Eagles played a two game home-and-home series against Canada in early August (6th & 13th) and traveled to Tokyo to take on Japan (21st) as final preparation before the Eagles match against Ireland as the first of 4 matches in World Cup pool play.[18] The Eagles also played a game between the two Canada tests as USA A against the Glendale Raptors (10th). In their first match against Canada the Eagles came out the gates hard and fast taking a 15–10 lead into the half, however, the second half saw the Canadians bringing the pressure and the Eagles fell to the score 28–22 with tries scored by Todd Clever (2) and Takudzwa Ngwenya.[19] The USA A side that took on the Glendale Raptors saw a weak showing in the first 40 minutes taking a 19–10 lead at the break but blew the match open in the second 40 minutes scoring 39 unanswered points to take the match 58–10.[20] The Eagles were unable to parlay their midweek success into a victory over Canada as they squandered several try scoring opportunities and fell to the Canadians dropping the match 27–7 and slipping to 18th in the IRB Rankings.[21] The Eagles had a much better showing in Japan when they took a 14–8 lead into the half. However, it was not to be as the Eagles lost the lead in the second half and squandered a chance to take it back at full time with a knock on, losing 20–14 and resulting in a 1–5 record for the Eagles on the year.[22]
Despite their poor showing in the 2011 season before the World Cup, the Eagles showed tremendous fight and power in their World Cup opening match against Ireland. The Irish came out strong but the Eagles were stiff in defense. The Irish suffered from poor goal kicking and were only able to gain a 3–0 lead before finally scoring a try and a conversion at the 39' mark. The Irish came out more ready to play in the second half but still ran into stiff Eagles defense. Ultimately the Irish would score two more tries to give a final tally of 22 points. For the Eagles, they succeeded in frustrating Irish expectations to gain a bonus point with a full strength squad and managed to post 10 points with a Patterson penalty, a Malifa conversion, and an interception try on full-time for Paul Emerick.[23]
The Eagles came into the World Cup with their measuring mark for success as being a win over Russia. The Eagles did not disappoint. Russia leaped out to an early 3–0 lead after a penalty goal from inside the 22 setup by a block on a Mike Petri box kick. The rest of the match was all USA. Though the score board did not heat up in the cold weather the Americans took a 10–3 lead into the half after an amazing break by Andrew Suniula set up a try for Mike Petri. The kicking duty fell upon Chris Wyles who capitalized on his first kick, a deep strike in poor conditions from the 10 meter line. Wyles was also successful on a conversion and with his last attempt at goal. He did, however, miss 3 kicks at goal and a drop goal. Russia would land once more on the board to snatch a bonus point from the match but fell to the final tally of USA 13–6 Russia.[24] Both Wyles and Mike McDonald had amazing matches as McDonald scooped up the man of the match accolades.[25] The Eagles were absolutely dominant at the lineout winning 7 of Russia's 13 throws and winning all 12 of their own throws.[26] The win elevated the Eagles back up to 17th in the IRB rankings and dropped Russia one spot to 21st.
For their third match of the World Cup the Eagles trotted out a squad with 14 changes from the one that met Russia. This squad ensured that each player on the 30 man roster received a cap in the tournament. Australia got on the board early with tries at the 7 and 10 minute marks. However, because of some shaky kicking the Wallabies were only able to make the lead 10–0. The Eagles soon answered with tremendous pressure that resulted in a JJ Gagiano try for the Eagles only points of the match and cutting the lead to 10–5 after a Nese Malifa miss on the conversion at the 22nd minute. Australia quickly responded with two more tries and a conversion to take a 22–5 lead into the half along with clinching a bonus point. In the second half the Wallabies jumped on the Eagles quick and hard leading to the final result of a 67–5 thrashing over the Eagles in which the Wallabies touched down 11 times. This replaced a 67–9 defeat to the Wallabies as the worst defeat a US team has ever suffered to Australia.[27]
The final match saw the Eagles playing for a 3rd place finish in Pool C and with that an automatic qualification into the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The Eagles faced off against Italy (the Azzurri) and the match got physical early with the Azzurri pounding in a try and a conversion on the two minute mark. Unfazed, the Eagles struck back with a try of their own after a tremendous line break by Paul Emerick which set up a Chris Wyles try in the 17th minute. After a Wyles conversion the match was level at 7 points. Italy soon took the lead with the boot converting a penalty to take a narrow 10–7 lead in the 21st minute. The Americans refused to go quietly and drew the match level again 6 minutes later as Wyles struck a penalty goal to make the score 10–10. Sadly this would be the last points scored by the Americans but not the Italians. The Italians struck quickly with their second try at the 29 minute mark and again on the stroke of halftime to make the score at the break 20–10 in Azzurri favor. The Italians seemed assured of a win and of a bonus point going into the half but discovered quite quickly that if they were to accomplish either goal they would have to break through an indescribably tough American resolve. Ultimately, after a tremendous amount of pressure in the scrum, a section of the game which Italy dominated all match, the Azzurri were able to get their fourth try and the bonus point after finally winning a penalty try. The American defense inside their own 22 for every bit of 10 minutes or more was tremendous. There may never have been a more valiant stand made in all the history of the sport of rugby union than the stand that the USA made against Italy while fighting incredible pressure from the Italian scrum with Louis Stanfill in the sin bin, a victim of the pressure at the scrum, and first choice tight head prop Mate Moeakiola out with blood. The penalty try and subsequent conversion in the 65th minute were to be the only points for the Azzurri in a desperately hard fought second half.[28] The defeat marked the end of an impressive World Cup for the Eagles and completed the 2011 season for the Americans. The Eagles finished 2011 with a record of 2–8 (2–7 in full tests).
While the year started off with a devastating loss to the England Saxons and saw two heartbreaking losses where the Eagles faded in the second half against Canada and Japan, the performances in the World Cup showed a tremendous amount of improvement and with the two wins over Russia left the year feeling as a tremendous success even if the overall record was a bit disappointing. The World Cup also saw prop Mike MacDonald become both the most capped Eagle in world cup play (11 caps) and the most capped Eagle of all time at 65 caps after the end of the World Cup.
The Eagles don't have an official home stadium, but they play many of their home games, including matches in the Churchill Cup, at Infinity Park in the Denver suburb of Glendale, Colorado. Many Major League Soccer stadiums across the country have also been used for rugby matches.
Eddie O'Sullivan announced his 30-man squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup on the August 22.[29]
Head Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by the International Rugby Board.
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Forwards: Blake Burdette, Owen Lentz, Mike MacDonald, Matekitonga Moeakiola, Chris Osentowski, Jonathan Vitale, Luke Gross, Mike Mangan, Hayden Mexted, Alec Parker, Mark Aylor, Inaki Basauri, Todd Clever, Fifita Mounga, Louis Stanfill, Henry Bloomfield, Dan Payne
Backs: Chad Erskine, Mike Petri, Mike Hercus (C), Valenese Malifa, Philip Eloff, Vahafolau Esikia, Thretton Palamo, Albert Tuipulotu, Paul Emerick, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Salesi Sika, Francois Viljoen, Chris Wyles
Head Coach: Peter Thorburn
| Year | Host | Champion | USA Record | USA Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Details |
Australia & New Zealand |
New Zealand |
1–2 | 3rd in Pool A |
| 1991 Details |
England, France, Ireland, Scotland & Wales |
Australia |
0–3 | 4th in Pool A |
| 1995 Details |
South Africa |
South Africa |
- | Did Not Qualify |
| 1999 Details |
Wales |
Australia |
0–3 | 4th in Pool 5 |
| 2003 Details |
Australia |
England |
1–3 | 4th in Group B two bonus points |
| 2007 Details |
France |
South Africa |
0–4 | 5th in Pool A one bonus point |
| 2011 Details |
New Zealand |
New Zealand |
1–3 | 4th in Pool C |
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 Paris | France | Germany | not awarded |
| Great Britain | |||
| 1904 St. Louis | not included in the Olympic program | ||
| 1908 London | Australasia | Great Britain | not awarded |
| 1912 Stockholm | not included in the Olympic program | ||
| 1920 Antwerp | United States | France | not awarded |
| 1924 Paris | United States | France | Romania |
| Year | Host city | Record | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Vancouver | 1–2 | Runner-up |
| 2004 | Calgary and Edmonton | 0–2 | 4th Place |
| 2005 | Edmonton | 1–1 | 3rd Place |
| 2006 | Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and San Jose (Santa Clara) |
0–3 | Bowl Runner-up |
| 2007 | Stockport, Exeter, Henley, Northampton and London | 0–3 | Bowl Runner-up |
| 2008 | Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, and Chicago | 0–3 | Bowl Runner-up |
| 2009 | Glendale and Commerce City | 1–2 | Bowl Champion |
| 2010 | Glendale and Harrison | 1–2 | Plate Runner-up |
| 2011 | Northampton, Gloucester, Esher, and Worcester | 1–2 | Bowl Champion |
| Year | Participants | Champion | USA Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Japan, Russia, United States | Russia | Runner-up |
| 2004 | Canada, Japan, Russia, United States | Japan | 3rd Place |
| 2005 | Canada, Japan, Romania, United States | Canada | 3rd Place |
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Toyota Park | Munster | Munster 10 – 6 USA[31] |
| 2008 | Rentschler Field | Munster | Munster 46 – 22 USA[32] |
| 2009 | Buck Shaw Stadium | Ireland | Ireland 27 – 10 USA[33] |
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Blackbaud Stadium[34] | ASM Clermont Auvergne | Clermont 37 – 14 USA[35] |
| Year | Participants | Champion | USA Selects Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Argentina Jaguars, BC Bears, Ontario Blues, Prairie Wolf Pack, The Rock, USA Selects |
Argentina Jaguars | 4th Place |
| 2010 | Argentina Jaguars, Canada Selects, Tonga A, USA Selects |
Argentina Jaguars | 3rd Place |
| Year | Participants | Championship | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Canada East, Canada West, USA Falcons, USA Hawks | Canada West 31 – 20 USA Falcons | Canada East 34 – 18 USA Hawks |
| 2007 | Canada East, Canada West, USA Falcons, USA Hawks | Canada West 16 – 11 USA Falcons | Canada East 34 – 29 USA Hawks |
| 2008 | Canada East, Canada West, USA Falcons, USA Hawks | Canada West 43 – 11 USA Falcons | Canada East 17 – 17 USA Hawks |
| Top 25 Rankings as of 19 December 2011 (End of 2011 Rankings)[36] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
| 1 | New Zealand | 91.43 | |
| 2 | Australia | 87.99 | |
| 3 | France | 84.70 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 84.34 | |
| 5 | England | 81.58 | |
| 6 | Ireland | 80.65 | |
| 7 | Argentina | 80.28 | |
| 8 | Wales | 79.61 | |
| 9 | Tonga | 76.63 | |
| 10 | Scotland | 76.20 | |
| 11 | Samoa | 75.81 | |
| 12 | Italy | 73.99 | |
| 13 | Canada | 72.92 | |
| 14 | Georgia | 71.09 | |
| 15 | Japan | 70.45 | |
| 16 | Fiji | 68.78 | |
| 17 | United States | 65.63 | |
| 18 | Romania | 63.98 | |
| 19 | Namibia | 61.24 | |
| 20 | Russia | 60.54 | |
| 21 | Uruguay | 60.47 | |
| 22 | Spain | 60.33 | |
| 23 | Chile | 59.52 | |
| 24 | Portugal | 59.30 | |
| 25 | Belgium | 57.02 | |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
| United States's Historical Rankings | |||
| Source: IRB - Graph updated to 05/12/2011[36] | |||
Their Test record against all nations:[37]
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Australia | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Barbados | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Bermuda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Canada | 47 | 12 | 34 | 1 | 25.53 |
| Chile | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| England | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Fiji | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00 |
| France | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14.29 |
| Georgia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Hong Kong | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Ireland | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Japan | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 63.16 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| New Zealand Māori | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Romania | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Russia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Samoa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Scotland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| South Africa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Spain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Tonga | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Uruguay | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 91.67 |
| Wales | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Total | 176 | 60 | 115 | 2 | 34.09 |
The U.S. women's national team, officially formed in 1987, has been an international powerhouse since its inception. The Eagles won the first official World Cup in 1991, and finished second in the two following World Cups (1994, 1998). The Eagles have set the standard for international competition, leading an ensuing wave of women's rugby growth and game development worldwide.
The next Women's Rugby World Cup was in August/September 2006 in Edmonton, Canada. Despite finishing 7th in the 2002 tournament, the USA was actually seeded 6th. They were bumped up ahead of Australia, who beat the USA in the 2002 tournament 17–5, because Australia hadn't played any international matches since the last World Cup.
The USA rugby women's national team had its first test matches in over a year when the Women Eagles traveled to the United Kingdom in January 2006 to play Scotland (Jan. 21), Ireland (Jan. 25) and England (Jan. 29). The team won all three games. The Eagles' travel squad includes 30 players, including 19-capped veterans.
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