USA Women's Head Coach Sione Fukofuka has named his lineup to face England on Friday in the Women's Rugby Word Cup opener.
Fukofuka has named 11 players who will make their first Rugby World Cup appearance including Keia Mae Sagapolu, Tahlia Brody, Emily Henrich, Ilona Maher on the starting XV with Alivia Leatherman, Paige Stathopolous, Rachel Ehrecke, Freda Tafuna, Cass Bargell, Kristin Bitter, and Sariah Ibarra on the bench ready to make an impact.
“Our focus for the first match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is very much on ourselves and executing our game plan to put pressure on England," said Fukofuka. "We know they have big external expectations on them as world number 1 and will have the pressure of being the host nation, so we are quietly going about our work, building confidence and looking forward to performing in front of family, friends and fans on the World Cup stage.
“England are World Number 1, and we expect them to be physical, accurate and confident for the full 80 minutes. They have a strong set piece and threats across the field, however we are confident we also have a strong set piece platform with threats to attack them with confidence and have the commitment in defense to give us opportunities to create pressure."
With her start on Friday Hope Rogers moves into a tie for 3rd place for the most World Cup caps by a women's Eagle with 14. She has a very good shot at tying Krista McFarren for 2nd with 16.
“The team have worked hard to be here and earned their opportunity to represent the United States at the World Cup.," said Fukofuka. "Our intensive selection process, followed by the camps at Mt St Mary’s and Loughborough University have required the players to dig deep and work hard to make the team, so being here is a testament to that work ethic and commitment. Making it here has a level of satisfaction and excitement at the opportunity in front of us, but now we prepare to perform and earn results.”
The atmosphere and energy in the stadium will be high as the match will open with a performance from chart-topping English singer Anne-Marie before players run out to the biggest ever Women’s Rugby World Cup stage.
After taking on the host country, the USA Women’s Eagles will continue their pool stage journey with matches in York against Australia and Samoa. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout stage.
