USA Women’s Head Coach, Emilie Bydwell and staff have named the squad set to travel to Singapore and Perth for the next two stops of the HSBC SVNS Series.
After an exciting opening Tour in Dubai with a win over the Black Ferns at 5th place finish, the Eagles went one better in Cape Town to take 4th overall. Now, after an intense period of training, the Women’s Eagles are targeting a further climb up the ranks.
This roster sees the return of Olympian Sammy Sullivan who returns from leave with the military. Sarah Levy continues to rest an injury sustained in Cape Town, so Tessa Hann joins the team. Traveling reserve is another of Bydwell's horde of young players, with former Provo Steeler Vasiti Turagavou.
“We’ve had a highly competitive and intense training block since reassembling after Christmas," said Bydwell. "As we transitioned from pre-season into in-season training, the focus has been on driving a deeper collective understanding of our game model while continuing to improve tactical adaptability and awareness. A major emphasis has been transferring ownership of decision-making to the players, allowing them to better understand how to maximize their individual and collective strengths and win pressure in the moment.
“As part of our ongoing evolution, we’ve also added new layers to our attack that we believe will create more chaos and uncertainty for defenses, and help us convert momentum quicker and more consistently.”
“We’re really excited to see how the players apply the new layers of our attack in a competition environment. As our principles become clearer, we want them to seize moments to be themselves and play to their strengths, while continuing to work toward a shared vision for how we want the game to be played."
Take Risks
Bydwell wants this team to play with confidence that if they try something, it can happen. Conservative won't beat New Zealand and Australia consistently.
“We’ll continue to encourage the players to experiment and take risks, knowing that when they are decisive in their decisions, there is value in every outcome. Each decision gives us an opportunity to learn and grow as we continue to build across these first six tournaments.”
Part of that approach comes with a newer, younger team that perhaps can be unleashed in a different way.
"I think, with the the profile of the players that we have—and we have younger players who've been playing rugby since they were in elementary and middle school, so they're a little bit more risk-taking—is a little bit more inherent for them and and something that we don't have to push as much. I do feel that when I took over the team for the Paris campaign, what was required of me and of the team was just have real clarity around specific roles and what we were trying to achieve. And obviously the way that we were looking to play got us, you know, a result that we were after."
But now the talk is of a step further, which means beating New Zealand on a consistent basis. It means beating Australia on a consistent basis.
