In a strong opening act, the USA Women’s Eagles put out a gutsy performance against New Zealand to kick off the 2026 Pacific Four Series.
Despite keeping the Black Ferns close for the first half, a clinical New Zealand side capitalized on every opportunity in the second to take the win 15-48 in Sacramento's Heart Health Park. With six debutants starring and a new era incoming, the USA Women’s Eagles exited a thundering pitch with more determination and resolve to better the performance they will deliver next week.
Heading in the right direction, Head Coach Jack Hanratty shared the team’s reaction to their performance;
“The best part about it is we're all pretty disappointed. It was a strange game - the first half was excellent, it was really good. I thought, tactically, we got it right, but there were moments in transition that we could have gotten better. Every time we got into their end, we seemed to get points, which was one of our targets, and in the second half, we probably made more line breaks, but, unfortunately, didn't get points on the board.”
“The (yellow) cards, actually, didn't really help us. It was interesting. We tried to do things faster, rather than earn the right to keep going up the field. So that’s something that we’ll look at. We're targeting going up the rankings and we’re already showing our rugby IQ is improving.”
“We had six athletes make their debut which with this performance, shows some pretty strong potential for us; and it’s even more special we got to do it at home, in front of a home crowd.”
“But, we have more to give and we know what is possible with this group next time we get back on the field. We've got a lot of work to do, but we’re excited that we have more in us, and honestly, we're disappointed that we didn't fully achieve what we wanted. So, onwards and upwards.”
On her 60th outing, Hope Rogers opened proceedings to power over the line and put the first points on the board in Sacramento while moving herself into third position on the USA ranking list with 130 total career points.
The Black Ferns responded with 2 tries of their own, but a penalty near the posts, gave the Eagles a chance for 3 more and Bella Voge, in her first USA outing slots the kick to bring the Eagles within 2. New Zealand countered and touched down off a scrum oft their line to go up 19-10.
In a kick chase down off the boot of Cass Bargell, pace from winger Erica Coulibaly won the foot race to ground over the line and take 5 more points bringing the Eagles 15-19 and within touching distance at half time.
On the restart, New Zealand came in firing, and despite a penalty showing them yellow, showed their clinical skill shifting the ball wide with speed and precision on three occasions to secure tries on the wing bringing the Black Ferns up 15-31.
Strong runs and defense from the Eagles were put into play and with New Zealand five meters out with another sure try, Hann Humphreys on their debut, intercepted for a turnover, Erica Coulibaly gained ground on the outside until a missed kick and chase from Bulou Mataitoga gave the ball back to the Ferns. Despite a New Zealand penalty upgraded to a 20 minute card the Black Ferns managed to run it wide and pull in a further try.
The second half saw debuts from the bench in Abigail Paton, Hope Cooper, Reece Woods and Telesi Uhatafe all putting in strong shifts in their first run out in the red, white and blue. With torrential down pours and lightning looming, a penalty to New Zealand slotted the final 3 points from the tee for a 15-48 finish.
Now with a 6 day turnaround, the USA Women’s Eagles travel to Kansas City for the next stop of the Pacific Four Series where they take on Australia. Tickets still available at https://usa.rugby/pac4.
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hope Rogers |
| 2 | Kathryn Treder |
| 3 | Keia Mae Sagapolu Sanele |
| 4 | Hallie Taufoou |
| 5 | Erica Jarrell-Searcy (C) |
| 6 | Hann Humphreys* |
| 7 | Georgie Perris-Redding |
| 8 | Freda Tafuna |
| 9 | Cass Bargell |
| 10 | Bella Vogel* |
| 11 | Erica Coulibaly |
| 12 | Katana Howard |
| 13 | Emily Henrich |
| 14 | Bulou Mataitoga |
| 15 | Alev Kelter |
| 16 | Hope Cooper* |
| 17 | Reece Woods* |
| 18 | Alivia Leatherman |
| 19 | Emerson Allen |
| 20 | Ina Bailey |
| 21 | Abigail Paton* |
| 22 | Kristin Bitter |
| 23 | Telesi Uhatafe* |
April 11 | USA vs. New Zealand | 15-48
Heart Health Park (Sacramento, CA)
April 17 | USA vs. Australia
10:00 pm ET - CPKC Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
April 24 | USA vs. Canada
9:30 pm ET - SeatGeek Stadium (Chicago, IL)
Jack Hanratty | Head Coach
Sarah Chobot | Assistant Coach
Lou Meadows | Assistant Coach
Jon Humphreys | Assistant Coach
Tom Clough | Head of Athletic Performance
Anna Unnasch | Athletic Trainer
Janie Kleumpers | Athletic Trainer
Rachel Sachs-Bourne | Team Physician
Alana Gattinger | Head of High Performance Operations, 15s
Hannah Reid | Team Manager
