Stars and Stripes Women's Teams Picked for End of USA Assembly
Stars and Stripes Women's Teams Picked for End of USA Assembly
GLENDALE, Colo. – USA Women's 15s Head Coach Rob Cain and staff have selected rosters for the upcoming Stars vs Stripes match presented by DAC.
Following a 60-minute pre-scrimmage on Tuesday, Cain evaluated player roles for the intra-squad match with a few adjustments and settled on rosters for the Saturday, July 10 curtain call. Kate Zackary will captain the Stars side while Emily Henrich will captain the opposing Stripes squad.
Henrich, the 2019 MA Sorensen Award-winner as the top collegiate player in the country, is one of three Sorensen Award-winners in the squads, with prop Hope Rogers (2016), and center McKenzie Hawkins (2018) also there. Nominees and finalists such as Bitsy Cairns, Olivia Ortiz, Maya Learned, Cassidy Bargell, Eti Haungatau, and Kate Broughton are also involved.
With a handful of uncapped players slated to play, the full 80-minute competitive setting will stage a positive opportunity for development towards Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand. The teams have a mixture of experienced internationals and players new to test rugby. The match is closed for general spectators, but will be streamed LIVE on USA Rugby Facebook at 5:30pm MT.
“It’s great for the players to have this opportunity to showcase both their hard work and development across their areas of focus," Cain said. "The previous three weeks have allowed us to cement and refine some key concepts in terms of both our playing philosophy and our identity as a team on and off the pitch. We as a collective staff are very excited to see some very interesting match ups as we continue to have one eye on our own November Test match window which is on our horizon.”
Closing out a third Daily Training Environment in the last year, the Women’s Eagles will compete through Stars vs Stripes while also looking ahead to a November test match series this fall. With traveling rosters on the horizon for Cain, Saturday’s matchup offers a prime opportunity for each player to put their hand up for selection.
“We have seen some great inner competition, ownership and leadership continue to drive standards and behaviors on and off the pitch, we’re very excited at the prospect of the teams showcasing this and more as we become internally focused on our performances these next 14 months.”
It's been a tough job to get even these assemblies done.
“Again we want to thank the very thoughtful and supporting USA Rugby community for all your support and the incredible donors for helping make such a crucial game happen. It means so much to the players, our collective aspiration is to not only put on a show we can celebrate, but to use this platform as an opportunity to continue to develop as people competing on the world stage and celebrating our wonderful USA Rugby community while we do.”
| USA STRIPES | |||
| No. | NAME | CLUB | CAPS |
| 1 | Hope Rogers-Dellermann | Life West Gladiatrix | 29 |
| 2 | Saher Hamdan | Life University | uncapped |
| 3 | Nick James | Houston Athletic | 8 |
| 4 | Stacey Bridges | Beantown Rugby | 40 |
| 5 | Jenny Kronish | Colorado Gray Wolves | uncapped |
| 6 | Evi Ashenbrucker | San Diego Surfers | uncapped |
| 7 | Elizabeth Cairns | Life West Gladiatrix | 11 |
| 8 | Rachel Johnson | Exeter Chiefs (ENG) | 7 |
| 9 | Carly Waters | Colorado Gray Wolves | 4 |
| 10 | Katana Howard | Twin City Amazons | 4 |
| 11 | Kayla Lawson | San Diego Surfers | uncapped |
| 12 | Amy Talei Bonte | Life West Gladiatrix | 6 |
| 13 | Emily Henrich | Dartmouth | 8 |
| 14 | Jennine Duncan | Exeter Chiefs (ENG) | 7 |
| 15 | McKenzie Hawkins | Colorado Gray Wolves | 3 |
| 16 | Jett Hayward | Life West Gladiatrix | uncapped |
| 17 | Emerson Allen | Life University | uncapped |
| 18 | Catherine Benson | Life West Gladiatrix | 23 |
| 19 | Matalasi Morissette | Brigham Young University | uncapped |
| 20 | Olivia Ortiz | Davenport & Chicago North Shore | 5 |
| 21 | Neariah Persinger | Life West Gladiatrix | 1 |
| USA STARS | |||
| No. | NAME | CLUB | CAPS |
| 1 | Maya Learned | Colorado Gray Wolves | 2 |
| 2 | Joanna Kitlinski | Colorado Gray Wolves | 14 |
| 3 | Charli Jacoby | Chicago North Shore | 6 |
| 4 | Hallie Taufoou | ARPTC | uncapped |
| 5 | Alycia Washington | New York Rugby | 22 |
| 6 | Rachel Ehrecke | Colorado Gray Wolves | uncapped |
| 7 | Kathryn Johnson | Twin City Amazons | 2 |
| 8 | Kate Zackary | Exeter Chiefs (ENG) | 15 |
| 9 | Cassidy Bargell | Harvard University | uncapped |
| 10 | Megan Foster | San Diego Surfers | 5 |
| 11 | Bulou Mataitoga | Berkeley All Blues | 3 |
| 12 | Gabby Cantorna | Exeter Chiefs (ENG) | 8 |
| 13 | Fane “Eti” Haungatau | Lindenwood University | 3 |
| 14 | Sarah Levy | New York Rugby | 2 |
| 15 | Tess Feury | New York Rugby | 6 |
| 16 | Kathryn Treder | Beantown Rugby | 2 |
| 17 | Kaitlyn Broughton | Atlanta Harlequins | 5 |
| 18 | Erica Jarrell | Harvard University | uncapped |
| 19 | Sam Luther | Colorado Gray Wolves | uncapped |
| 20 | Shelby Lin | Berkeley All Blues | uncapped |
| 21 | Kelsie O’Brien | Colorado Gray Wolves | uncapped |
USA WOMEN’S XVS NATIONAL TEAM STAFF
Women’s High Performance Director | Emilie Bydwell
Head Coach | Rob Cain
Assistant Coach | Rich Ashfield
Assistant Coach | Jamie Burke
Assistant Coach | Kate Daley
Assistant Coach | Jenny Lui
Assistant Coach | Neil Harris
Strength & Conditioning | Sylvia Braaten
Assistant Strength & Conditioning | Albert Sasu
Performance Analyst | Callum Howells
Assistant Analyst | Grant Thomas
Team Doctor | Terrence Cronin
Athletic Trainer | Bri Arsenault
Athletic Trainer | Crystal Pawlak
Athletic Trainer | Jade Callen
Team Manager | Louise Stewart
Logistics Coordinator – Denver | Dee Nash
