The USA Women's Eagles coaching staff has named the squad set to face North American rivals, Canada on Friday, Aug 1, this time on their home turf at TD Place in Ottawa.
The match will kick-off at 7:00 PM ET and will be available for USA fans to tune in live on Paramount+
This will be the last dance for the Women’s Eagles to fine-tune before departing for England for the final preparatory camp ahead of their Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 window. The USA Women will be looking to better their recent result against Canada in the Pacific Four Series just months ago in Kansas City where the Canadians took the edge 26 point over the Eagles 14.
Head Coach Sione Fukofuka will be testing some new combinations with Cass Bargell starting as scrumhalf and Lotte Sharp and Cheta Emba joining on the wings. Georgie Perris-Redding and Freda Tafuna also enter into the Starting XV in the back row alongside Captain Kate Zackary.
Anticipating a sharp and physical match to solidify the mental and physical prep before shifting focus to Rugby World Cup 2025, both sides will have more than bragging rights on the line.
Fukofuka commented, “We were proud of our last performance against Canada in Kansas City, and it is one we are proud of and take a lot of confidence from, especially to do it in front of such a great crowd. We competed for the 80 minutes but needed to give ourselves more opportunities to score points, so we had some unfinished business. We have spent the past three weeks at the Mount preparing. First with the Fiji Test and now turning our focus on Canada. The players and staff have taken this time to zero in on our detail, work hard at our collisions and prepare to take the opportunities we are confident we will create against Canada.
“The team's energy has been great since we assembled for the Pre-World Cup Camp. The players came in knowing they’d have to work hard to earn their position on the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Squad, but that's the only first step.
Since confirming our Rugby World Cup 2025 selections, the players have trained with an edge to perform and whilst not an 80 minute performance, we saw a number of positive moments last week against Fiji that excited us for where we are building. There’s been a real anticipation for this match against Canada - a team we have a lot of respect for, but also really look forward to playing against.”
The USA Women's Eagles will head overseas following the match and settle into their last preparatory block before kicking off against host nation, England in the Women’s World Cup 2025 Opener.
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Hope Rogers | Exeter Chiefs |
| Kathryn Treder | Loughborough Lightning / Bay Area Breakers |
| Keia Mae Sagapolu | Leicester Tigers / ACT Brumbies |
| Hallie Taufoou | Loughborough Lightning / Denver Onyx |
| Erica Jarrell - Searcy | Sale Sharks |
| Kate Zackary | Ealing Trailfinders |
| Georgie Perris-Redding | Sale Sharks |
| Freda Tafuna | Lindenwood University |
| Cassidy Bargell | Boston Banshees |
| McKenzie Hawkins | Denver Onyx |
| Lotte Sharp | Saracens |
| Alev Kelter | Loughborough Lightning / Bay Area Breakers |
| Ilona Maher | Bristol Bears / USA Sevens |
| Cheta Emba | Boston Banshees |
| Bulou Mataitoga | Loughborough Lightning / Bay Area Breakers |
| Paige Stathopoulos | Ealing Trailfinders / Boston Banshees |
| Maya Learned | Denver Onyx |
| Alivia Leatherman | Trailfinders / Twin Cities Gemini |
| Rachel Ehrecke | Denver Onyx |
| Tahlia Brody | Leicester Tigers / Denver Onyx |
| Olivia Ortiz | Sale Sharks |
| Emily Henrich | Leicester Tigers / Boston Banshees |
| Sariah Ibarra | USA Sevens |
Head Coach, Attack + Backs | Sione Fukofuka
Assistant Coach, Defense | Sarah Chobot
Assistant Coach, Forwards + Attack | Mel Bosman
Head of Athletic Performance | Charles Dudley
Analyst | Callum Howells
Lead Physiotherapist | Alice Mae
Athletic Trainer | Sam Malette
Team Doctor | Derek Hatfield
Performance Psychologist | Scott Goldman
Team Manager | Alana Gattinger
Team Services | Aiyana Gilliard
General Manager, High Performance | Tamara Sheppard
Media Manager | Jenni Burke
USA v England
August 22 | 2:30 pm ET | Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Paramount+
USA v Australia
August 30 | 2:30 pm ET | York Community Stadium, York
Paramount+
USA v Samoa
September 6 | 8:30 am ET | York Community Stadium, York
CBS, Paramount+
Quarterfinals Begin September 13
