Thirty-one athletes have been named to the traveling roster as the USA Women’s Eagles gear up for their home game against Canada as they open the 2024 Pacific Four Series.
Captain Kate Zackary will miss the home game as she recovers from a foot injury sustained in the South Africa game last month. She will join the team in Australia and New Zealand with the hopes of returning for the PAC4. Lotte Clapp will join the team for the Australia and New Zealand legs as well. Veteran Rachel Johnson will step into the Captaincy role for the first two matches of Pacific Four Series.
Samantha Brackett joins the squad list for the Pacific Four Series with an opportunity to earn her first international cap with the Eagles. Brackett, who participated in the Eagles ID camp in Charlotte in February, played with the U23s program in 2022 and 2023.
The team heads into the 2024 Pacific Four Series with eyes on qualification for WXV 1 and ultimately the 2025 World Cup. The winner of PAC4 will earn a spot at the World Cup, and the top-six ranked non-qualified teams out of WXV will earn qualification. The top three teams from the Pacific Four Series will head to WXV 1 in Ottawa, while the fourth-ranked team will head to WXV 2 in South Africa.
The USA Women’s Eagles kick off against Canada at 1:30pm PT on Sunday, April 28th, at DignityHealth Sports Park in Los Angeles. Tickets are available at usa.rugby/tickets.
“We were happy with a solid performance against South Africa that allowed us to implement our attack and defensive systems and provided an opportunity to test our set piece. From the match we took a lot of positives including our ability to win contact, and our work rate to be back on our feet and stay connected defensively for 80 mins. A key focus for us leading into Canada will be our set piece accuracy and platform, as well as our decision making and our kicking game to exploit the field position and attacking space available.
This squad is again a balanced group of players that allow us to play the style we are building toward. Although we will miss Kate Zackary for the first Pacific Four Series test, we are confident in our leadership group to fill that void and drive the team. With the addition of our USA Sevens players, we have added speed and skill to our back three with Atumata Hingano and Autumn Czaplicki, and I’m excited to see them integrate into the team and compete for a position. Ultimately, we are confident in the players re-selected from the UK squad and are looking forward to building off the platform we set in the South Africa test, and taking the Canadian challenge head on.”
| Name | Club | Caps |
|---|---|---|
| Alivia Leatherman | Notre Dame College | 1 |
| Amanda Berta | PR7s Experts | 1 |
| Atumata Hingano | USA Sevens | 2 |
| Autumn Czaplicki | USA Sevens | 3 |
| Bulou Mataitoga | Loughborough Lightning | 14 |
| Cassidy Bargell | Beantown RFC | 1 |
| Catie Benson | Sale Sharks | 41 |
| Charli Jacoby | Queensland Reds | 25 |
| Emily Henrich | Unattached | 13 |
| Erica Jarrell | Sale Sharks | 6 |
| Eti Haungatau | Sale Sharks | 13 |
| Freda Tafuna | Lindenwood University | 6 |
| Gabby Cantorna | Exeter Chiefs | 25 |
| Georgie Perris-Redding | Sale Sharks | 11 |
| Hallie Taufoou | Loughborough Lightning | 14 |
| Hope Rogers | Exeter Chiefs | 44 |
| Jenny Kronish | Beantown RFC | 13 |
| Katana Howard | Sale Sharks | 18 |
| Kate Zackary* | Ealing Trailfinders | 36 |
| Kathryn Treder | Loughborough Lightning | 17 |
| Keia Mae Sagapiolu | Leicester Tigers | 7 |
| Lotte Clapp* | Saracens | 14 |
| McKenzie Hawkins | Colorado Grey Wolves | 13 |
| Olivia Ortiz | Exeter Chiefs | 17 |
| Paige Stathopoulos | Beantown RFC | 5 |
| Rachel Ehrecke | Colorado Grey Wolves | 11 |
| Rachel Johnson | Exeter Chiefs | 26 |
| Samantha Brackett | Rhinos | Yet to debut |
| Tahlia Brody | Leicester Tigers | 8 |
| Taina Tukuafu | Lindenwood University | 6 |
| Tess Feury | Leicester Tigers | 23 |
*Kate Zackary and Lotte Clapp will join the squad in Australia and New Zealand.
Head Coach | Sione Fukofuka
Assistant Coach | Melodie Bosman
Assistant Coach | Ray Barkwill
Strength & Conditioning | Sylvia Braaten
Physio | Cerys Preston
Analyst | Caitlin Singletary
Performance Assistance | Charles Dudley (New Zealand/Australia)
Athletic Trainer | Emily Lauer
Liaison | KJ Skudder (New Zealand)
World Rugby Consultant | Milton Haig (New Zealand)
USA v South Africa
38-17 (W)
TRIES | G. Perris-Redding (3), K. Treder, E. Henrich, C. Clapp CONV | G. Cantorna (4)
2024 Pacific Four Series
USA v Canada | April 28 | 1:30pm PT
DignityHealth Sports Park | Los Angeles, CA
USA v New Zealand | May 10
FMG Stadium | Hamilton, New Zealand
USA v Australia | May 17
AAMI PARK | Melbourne, Australia
