GRR: All-Time Americans
The championship USA women's teams of the 1990s were beautifully balanced, with hard-nosed forwards and brilliant backs.
The lock forward from the Back Bay club was a California, and USA, guy through and through.
Born in Southern California, which is where he played and coached, Ed Burlingham was an imposing lock and supreme leader, captaining the USA in nine of his 14 capped matches. This included the 1987 World Cup, where he led the USA to a victory over Japan.
Chris Osentowski was a throwback, or more accurately, the end of an era.
As rugby became more and more professional, Osentowski was an avowed amateur. He worked extremely hard to be a great prop, and was the best tighthead in the United States for some period, but he did all of that while holding down a demanding career.
Tara Flanagan's poise and good nature off the field, something that has stood her in good stead during an impressive career as a lawyer and a judge, belies her aggression and power on the field.
As a lock forward for the USA she was a huge part of the 1991 World Cup winners, earning a tournament MVP nod and the 1994 World Cup runners up.
From about 1990 through 1998 the USA women’s 15s team was one of the three best teams in the world, rising to the top of that heap and staying near it for close to a decade.
To reach such heights you need plenty of mountain climbers, and perhaps the strongest and most dogged of them all was Diane Schnapp.