USA Rugby Women’s Eagles Sevens Dubai Squad

The second stop of the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series will be held at Dubai Sevens, Nov. 29-30. The U.S. enters the second of six stops in second place after losing to New Zealand in the Cup Final at the USA Sevens in Glendale, Colorado.

This is an Olympic qualifying year with the first four teams in the 2018-2019 Sevens Series automatically qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The team will have two changes from the USA Sevens. Ashlee Byrge, who is in the Women’s Sevens Residency program will debut at Dubai. She played in several competitions with the Falcons side. Joanne Fa’avesi is also back with the team.

Alena Olsen’s try at the death against France in the Cup semi-finals was a thrilling one for the team and for her debut.

Ilona Maher also had a break out performance, becoming the second highest scorer at the USA Sevens. Maher scored in four out of the six matches contested including a hat trick against Olympic Gold medalist Australia.

The Competition

The USA Women are in Pool B at the Dubai Sevens. The team will face China at 4:06 am ET, England at 7:02 am ET, and Australia at 9:59 am ET on Thursday, Nov. 29.

At the USA Sevens, the team beat China and lost a narrow Pool match to England. They then defeated Australia, who will be looking to redeem themselves after the quarterfinal loss to the U.S. and their ultimate 5th place standing.

England currently sits in eighth-place with China back behind at 11th.

USA Women’s Eagles Sevens: 1. Joanne Fa’avesi 2. Abby Gustaitis 3. Cheta Emba 4. Ilona Maher 5. Kristen Thomas 6. Ashlee Byrge* 7. Lauren Doyle (Co-Captain) 8. Alena Olsen 9. Alev Kelter 10. Nicole Heavirland (Co-Captain) 11. Naya Tapper 12. Stephanie Rovetti

*First HSBC World Sevens Series appearance. [All players are part of the Women’s Sevens residency program.]