Women’s Rugby World Cup
2010 Pools Announced

The premier 15-aside tournament in the Women's Game, which will be played from August 20 to September 5, will feature three pools of four teams with defending champions New Zealand, hosts and 2006 runners-up England and 2006 bronze medalists France all ranked top seeds in their pool.

The unprecedented qualification process, which saw 16 teams compete for the six places available outside the automatically qualified teams, was completed when Kazakhstan defeated Japan 43-5 to claim a place in Pool B, while Sweden join Pool C in their first appearance on the Women's Rugby World Cup stage since 1998.

Pool A: New Zealand, Wales, Australia, South Africa

Pool B: England, USA, Ireland, Kazakhstan

Pool C: France, Canada, Scotland, Sweden

U of M Rugby at the New TCF Stadium

Need Tickets? Click on photo for link!

 ...watch out for the turf toe...

source: www.rugbycanada.ca

USA held on for a draw on Saturday afternoon in their final match of the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup.

Light rain failed to dampen the spirits of the United States and France as they kicked off for the final game of the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup at Fletcher’s Field in Markham, Ontario.  Due to poor weather conditions, neither side was able to complete their conversions as they had to rely on tries for their points. The dying minutes saw both sides gridlocked in the American 22 until a last minute try by France was waved away, leaving the game tied at 15 points apiece.

“It was tough at the break downs,” said American Head Coach Kathy Flores. “I think France was really strong [there]. We were a step out of our support so they were being much more physical at the breakdown than we were.”

Stories from our Home Page  source: www.usarugby.org

U.S. Women Fired Up for Nations Cup           

 In photo: Hanna Stolba scoring try with Katy Hertel (rt) and Dez Markovich in support. (photo by Rick Gustafson)IRB.com 

They may take on defending champions England in their opening Women's Nations Cup match in Canada next month, but USA are fired up to put it all together as they begin the year-long road to Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 in London.

U.S. Women's Team Names Player Pool for Upcoming Nations Cup

from USA Rugby.org

7.13.09 - BOULDER, Colo. - The U.S. Women's National Team has announced the roster of athletes for the upcoming Nations Cup, to be held August 6-23 in Toronto, Ontario.

The team is looking to build on the significant progress made during the week of assembly prior to the Can-Am in June. Following the Eagle's 25 -17 loss to Canada on June 27, the squad is looking forward to the opportunity to play four international matches and to take advantage of the extended assembly time.

"We've made some changes in our roster after the Can-Am and will be working very hard on our attack," said Women's National Team Coach Kathy Flores. "These changes will include some sevens participants who performed well at the Can-Am and we look forward to working with them to round out our squad."

US Women's A Loses to Canada A

For Immediate Release
March 7, 2009

The U.S. Women's Sevens Team beat France 19-0 in the Cup Quarterfinals, only to be stopped short in the semi's by New Zealand , falling to the Black Ferns 14-12 in the inaugural women's event at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai .

 “I don’t know one player out there who didn’t give it everything they had,” U.S. Women’s Coach Julie McCoy said following the loss. “I know the fans will be disappointed, but I’m not. We all did our best in preparation for this moment and it just goes to show that with hard work, dedication and support, we can be competitive.”

Saying the USA Women’s side was competitive during these last two days may be a bit of an understatement. The Eagles rolled through the first day’s pool play with a loss to England, but definitive wins against Russia and Japan, outscoring those two opponents 50-0.

The squad earned its way into the Cup Quarterfinals today and faced a tough French side first, reiterating they were ready to take on the best the world had to offer. The Eagles held France scoreless, playing seamless defense and at half the score was tied at 0.

“We made a couple tweaks to our defense after that first match against England ,” U.S. scoring leader Jessica Watkins said. “As we got more confident, we got more comfortable playing together and vice versa.”

The U.S. Team also made a few tweaks to its offensive game during halftime and came out prepared to win the kicking game that France was using to gain the advantage. The tweaks worked and within the first minute Christy Ringgenberg was able to break away and touch one down. Her conversion missed, but the U.S. had the opening it needed. Watkins outpaced the French opposition to score the next two tries for the Americans and the whistle blew with the U.S. ahead, 19-0.

“One good kick deserves another,” McCoy said after the game. “Ringgenberg did a good job leading our adjustment and backing them off. We like to think of the team as a steering wheel and as long as we have all hands on the wheel, we can get where we want to be – in the finals.”

The first stop for the U.S. , however was the semifinals where it met New Zealand . The U.S. had scrimmaged New Zealand earlier in the week and in fact hosted the New Zealand Maori women’s side in San Diego prior to leaving for the Rugby World Cup, so they knew a fair amount about the  New Zealand players. But, within the first two minutes, the U.S. found itself down early after a try by Huriana Manuel put New Zealand up by seven.

The U.S. responded three minutes later, as Ringgenberg saw some space and dished to forward Amy Daniels who was able to touch it down for the try. Ringgenberg missed the conversion, however and the teams broke for half with the scoreboard at 7-5, New Zealand .

New Zealand again was the first to score in the second half, with just a minute and a half off the clock. The U.S. fought hard to keep New Zealand at bay throughout the remainder of the match, and finally, in the last minute of play, scored their final try to come within two points with just 30 seconds remaining.

The U.S. would try as it might, but it was too late by the time they made their last push down the field. At about midfield the ball was knocked out of bounds and the game came to an anticlimactic end.

“I think it just goes to show that we are that kind of team that go all in, all the time,” the USA ’s Ines Rodriguez said. “We played our hearts out till the end and we have to be proud of ourselves for that.”

New Zealand would go on to play Australia in an outstanding final that would come down to extra time sudden death on Saturday night. In the end, Australia 's Shirley Matcham scored the decisive try to clinch a dramatic victory over their Down Under neighbors and Australia would become the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens champions.

For more information on the Women’s U.S. Sevens Team, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/womens_sevens or contact Sara John at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information on the RWC Sevens, please visit www.rwcsevens.com.

For prior U.S. Women's news from this event, please click here!

USA 19, France 0
Tries: Watkins (2), Ringgenberg
Conversions: Ringgenberg (2)

New Zealand 14, USA 12
NZ Tries: Porter, Manuel
Conversions: Winiata (2)

USA Tries: Ringgenberg, Daniels
Conversions: Ringgenberg

USA Team Lineup:
1. Amy Daniels, Boston , Mass. (Beantown)
2. Teena Mastrangelo, Chicago , Ill. ( Chicago Northshore)
3. Ellie Karvoski, Little Rock , Ark. , ( Little Rock )
4. Ines Rodriguez, Philadelphia , Pa. (Keystone)
5. Christy Ringgenberg, Minneapolis , Minn. ( Minnesota Valkyries)
6. Jen Starkey , Washington , DC (NOVA)
7. Jess Watkins, Palo Alto , CA (Stanford)
8. Pam Kosanke, Chicago , Ill ( Chicago Northshore)
9. Jen Sinkler, Philadelphia , Pa. (Keystone)
10. Kelly White, Belmont , Calif. ( Belmont Shore )
11. Alison Price, New York , NY ( New York )
12. Lauren Hoeck , Washington , DC (NOVA)

Friday's Fixtures
1. Australia 50, China 12
2. Netherlands 17, France 14
3. Canada 52 Thailand 7
4. Spain 19, Brazil 0
5. New Zealand 50, Uganda 0
6. South Africa 17, Italy 5
7. England 17, United States 0
8. Russia 31, Japan 10
9. France 14, Australia 10
10. China 31, Netherlands 12
11. Brazil 12, Thailand 10
12. Spain 12, Canada 0
13. New Zealand 45, Italy 0
14. South Africa 26, Uganda 0
15. England 29, Russia 0
16. United States 38, Japan 0
17. Australia 36, Netherlands 0
18. France 19, - China 5
19. Spain 19, Thailand 12
20. Canada 38, Brazil 0
21. Italy 12, Uganda 7
22. New Zealand 22, South Africa 0
23. United States 12, Russia 0
24. England 47, Japan 0

Saturday’s Fixtures
25. China 21, Japan 5 - Bowl Quarterfinals
26. Italy 17, Thailand 0 - Bowl Quarterfinals
27. Brazil 12, Uganda 7 - Bowl Quarterfinals
28   Russia 12, Netherlands 5 - Bowl Quarterfinals
29. United States 19, France 0 - Cup Quarterfinals
30. New Zealand 33, Canada 12 - Cup Quarterfinals
31. South Africa 15, Spain 7 - Cup Quarterfinals
32. Australia 17, England 10 - Cup Quarterfinals
33. China 18, Italy 0 - Bowl Semifinals
34. Brazil 17, Russia 12 - Bowl Semifinals
35. Canada 19, France 12 – Plate Semifinals
36. England 12, Spain 7 – Plate Semifinals
37. New Zealand 14, USA 12 - Cup Semifinals
38. Australia 19, South Africa 10 - Cup Semifinals
39. China 10, Brazil 7 – Bowl Finals
40. England 12, Canada 0 – Plate Finals
41. Australia 15, New Zealand 10 – Cup Finals

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Tom Chick, Rugby News Service) - The USA women's team cannot wait to kick off their Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 campaign on Friday, with both captain Christy Ringgenberg and Ines Rodriguez insisting they are ready to challenge for the title after some intensive training sessions.

Fresh from their 17-12 sudden-death extra-time defeat by England in the final of the women’s warm-up tournament in San Diego , the women flew to Little Rock in Arkansas to begin focusing on the inaugural Women’s RWC Sevens.

“We went to Little Rock and we played the NZ Maori, and worked on our attack and we will look to keep it more fluid and open. We are quite happy with our defense so we are hoping to keep with that,” Ringgenberg said.

“It is a big honor for me (to captain the side). There are some extraordinary athletes and some extraordinary women on this team and so to lead them out is quite an honor  and the fact that they respect me enough to follow me is amazing.”

Drawing inspiration
On Tuesday under the sun in Dubai , the USA women took part in a practice match against Brazil - the first women's side to qualify for RWC Sevens back in January 2008 - and Ringgenberg was full of praise for the South American champions.

“It was fun. They are quick and feisty and it was great to play with them.”

Ringgenberg and her team will need to hit the ground running on Friday as they face England , the top seeds and many people's favorites to be crowned world champions, in one of the standout matches across both tournaments.

Rodriguez is itching to get on the pitch, but took time out to reveal the benefit of having the USA men's team, now being coached by her former coach Al Caravelli, in Dubai .

“Al was our national team coach when I first started and when I was first captain, and in 1998 he was our assistant coach. We do a lot of work together. He comes to our training sessions, gives us tips. We have a fairly good relationship with the men so it is nice to have both teams here cheering each other on."

The U.S. Women kick-off their RWC Sevens campaign against England at 1:12 on the main pitch at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai . They will follow that up with a match against Japan at 4:30 p.m. and then their last pool play match against Russia at 7:04 p.m.