Refreshed and refocused following the holiday break, the USA Women’s Sevens squad are back in action as they head to Perth SVNS, the next stop on the 2024 HSBC SVNS. Competition kicks off Friday, January 26. All action will be available on RugbyPass TV, with semifinals and finals also live on Peacock. Fans can follow all match results and stats at svns.com and the HSBC SVNS app.

Captain Naya Tapper leads the squad of 13 to Australia as they zone in on moving up the SVNS ranks and improving on a fourth-place finish in Cape Town. Co-captain Lauren Doyle will remain in Chula Vista for the Perth event due to an injury sustained during training.

Having sat out Dubai and Cape Town due to injury, Kristi Kirshe hits the pitch for the first time this season. Summer Harris-Jones steps in for the first time this season, following a stint with the Women’s Eagles in the PAC4 and WXV 2 tournaments. Steph Rovetti and Sarah Levy also join the series roster for the first time this season. Levy last played on the series in Australia last season.

SVNS LAX Expanding to Three Days with Friday Night Lights

“We are really looking forward to getting back into competition following the holiday reset," said Head Coach Emilie Bydwell. "Dubai and Cape Town gave of a great picture of the challenges coming our way this season. We’ve taken that opportunity to look at not only how we respond but what adjustments we need to make, and what standards we prioritize in order to ensure that we are able to play the ‘USA way’ to empower the players to express themselves.

"The competition within the training environment continues to demand that players consistently take action and put their best foot forward and we are excited at how Sarah, Summer, and Steph have performed over the last block to earn selection for this competition. As we know, this season is all about how we build and take the opportunities to be at our best together. Our pool in Perth will challenge us in different ways. We will go one game at a time as we work to refine our process and ignite our strengths.”

GRR checked in with Spiff Sedrick during the break between tournaments and she discussed in detail some of the challenges the USA women faced in the first two tournaments, including playing too timidly, and worrying about making mistakes rather than taking the bull by the horns.

The Eagles open their 2024 campaign in Perth against Ireland, a team they certainly will want to keep behind them in the rankings. Their last meeting was a 15-14 USA win in Hong Kong last year—Ireland continues to improve and could well be a dark horse in Paris this year.

The USA’s second game in Australia is against Japan, a team the USA is favored to beat. So if things go as the USA players expect, they should enter their third pool game at 2-0. There they will face New Zealand, a team they were slowly getting closer to during the 2022-23 season.

New Zealand and the USA faced off in the Bronze Final in Cape Town, with the Black Ferns Sevens taking that game 19-7.

USA Women Pool Play Schedule in Perth
Friday, January 26
v Ireland | 12:32 am ET (Thursday night)
v Japan | 4:33 am ET 
v New Zealand | 10:06 pm ET