USA Rugby Head Coach Rob Cain has named the squad for the Women’s Rugby Super Series 2019 which will be held June 28 to July 14 in San Diego, CA, and broadcast LIVE on FloRugby.com.
Tickets for Women’s Rugby Super Series featuring No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 England, No. 3 Canada, No. 4 France and No. 5 United States are available at usarugby.org/superseries2019.
The USA squad consists of 28 players with another seven injury reserves. Up to nine new caps may be awarded.
The squad includes five players from the USA Women’s Sevens Residency program including Ashlee Byrge, Eti Haungatau, Alev Kelter, Kris Thomas, and Hope Rogers.
The squad includes three Collegiate players in Dartmouth College’s Emily Henrich, who won the 2019 MA Sorenson Award, Olivia Ortiz from Davenport University, and Joyce Taufa from Lindenwood University. The remaining players are Club athletes, most having played in the Women’s Premier League. Neariah “Nene” Persinger is unattached, while Kristin Sommer played with the Harlequins in the English Women’s Premier League, as well as with the Seattle Saracens.
The Women’s Eagles will assemble on June 22 in San Diego, CA for the two-week Women’s Rugby Super Series featuring No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 England, No. 3 Canada and No. 4 France. The first four rounds will be hosted at the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Chula Vista with the final round taking place at University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium. Two matches will be played per round.
U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM 15s FULL SQUAD
PLAYER NAME | POSITION | CLUB | CAPS |
---|---|---|---|
Katy Augustyn | Hooker | Berkeley All Blues | 33 |
Bui Baravilala | Center | San Diego Surfers | 6 |
Catie Benson | Prop | Life West Gladiatrix | 17 |
Amy Naber-Bonté | Center | Life West Gladiatrix | 1 |
Stacey Bridges | Second row | Beantown Rugby | 36 |
Ashlee Byrge | Scrumhalf | USA Women’s Sevens Residency | 0 |
Elizabeth Cairns | Back row | Life West Gladiatrix | 8 |
Gabriella Cantorna | Flyhalf | Glendale Merlins | 3 |
Jennine Duncan | Back Three | Seattle Saracens | 2 |
Fane “Eti” Haungatau | Center | USA Women’s Sevens Residency | 0 |
Emily Henrich | Center | Dartmouth College | 2 |
Katana Howard | Flyhalf | Twin City Amazons | 0 |
Charli Jacoby | Prop | Chicago North Shore | 0 |
Nick James | Prop | Houston Athletic | 6 |
Rachel Johnson | Back Row | Oregon Rugby Sports Union | 3 |
Alev Kelter | Center | USA Women’s Sevens Residency | 9 |
Joanna Kitlinski | Hooker | Glendale Merlins | 8 |
Bulou Mataitoga | Fullback | Berkeley All Blues | 0 |
Olivia Ortiz | Scrumhalf | Davenport University | 0 |
Neariah “Nene” Persinger | Wing | Unattached | 0 |
Hope Rogers | Hooker/Prop | USA Women’s Sevens Residency | 25 |
Asinate Serevi | Back Row/ Second Row | Scion Rugby | 2 |
Kristine Sommer | Flanker | Seattle Saracens Harlequins (ENG) |
7 |
Nicole Strasko | Second Row / Back Row | Life West Gladiatrix | 3 |
Joyce Taufa | Back Row | Lindenwood University | 3 |
Kris Thomas | Wing | USA Women’s Sevens Residency | 7 |
Alycia Washington | Second Row | New York Rugby | 17 |
Kate Zackary (C) | Back Row | San Diego Surfers | 9 |
INJURY RESERVES
PLAYER NAME | POSITION | CLUB | CAPS |
---|---|---|---|
Tess Feury | Wing | Morris | 6 |
Megan Foster | Fullback | San Diego Surfers | 5 |
Sam Luther | Second row | Glendale Merlins | 0 |
Christiane Pheil | Back row | Atlanta Harlequins | 8 |
Shamira Robles | Back Three | New York Rugby | 0 |
Kimber Rozier | Center | Beantown | 31 |
Carly Waters | Halfback | New York Rugby | 2 |
U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM STAFF
General Manager | Emilie Bydwell
Head Coach | Rob Cain
Assistant Coach | Jamie Burke
Assistant Coach | Kate Daley
Assistant Coach Rich Ashfield
Coach/Team Manager | Jenny Lui
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach | Ian Jones
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach | Michaela Staniford
Head Performance Analyst | Dave Gardner
Team Doctor | Terrence Cronin
Athletic Trainer | Katherine Henry
Athletic Trainer | Danielle Allen
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
*Times reflect PST, Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center
Friday, June 28
- England vs USA 1 PM
- Canada vs New Zealand 4 PM
- France BYE
Tuesday, July 2
- France vs Canada 2:15 PM
- New Zealand vs USA 5:15 PM
- England BYE
Saturday, July 6
- France vs New Zealand 2:15 PM
- Canada vs England 5:15 PM
- USA BYE
Wednesday, July 10
- England vs France 2:15 PM
- Canada vs USA 5:15 PM
- New Zealand BYE
Super Series Final Round – Sunday, July 14, Torero Stadium
- New Zealand vs England 1 PM
- France vs USA 4 PM
- Canada BYE
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