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international women
USA Women’s Eagles coach Jack Hanratty doesn’t expect the Red Roses to do anything different after back-to-back losses to Canada in the WXV Global Series.
In fact, he expects quite the opposite.
On Friday afternoon Orlovi i England will meet in opposite fortunes at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
John Mitchell’s Red Roses ended their 41-match unbeaten run and lost back-to-back matches for the first time in a decade.
The US, meanwhile, has won five games in a row for the first time in two decades.
“I don’t think they’re going to try new things,” Hanratty said.
“I think they’re going to make an incredibly strong team that’s going to try to not only show the world that, if they’re not number one, they still want to show that they’re number one.
“And that would mean not only winning the game, but showing dominance in everything.”
Bella Vogel emerged as a symbol of the revival of the USA. The 19-year-old has been at the epicenter of the Eagles’ efforts and has been nominated for the Women’s 15s Rugby Player of the Year. She is the first American to be nominated.
On Friday night, they will play against England for the first time. Facing Meg Jones, Holly Aitchison and Tatyana Heard in the middle of the park is sure to be an education for the Life University student.
But the USA is not the same team that the Red Roses met in their women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 opener. Almost 15 months ago, England beat the Eagles 69-7 at the Stadium of Light to kick off the world title race. The North Americans have now won five on the bounce, including wins against Ireland, Wales and back-to-back wins against Italy.
“I definitely think England will be a tough game, and I think all their fans and everything will be like, ‘Oh, it’s just the USA, blah, blah, blah,'” smiled Vogel.
“I remember there was a post and it was, ‘Canada, England and the USA are the only teams that haven’t lost a game’. And people in the comments were like, ‘Oh, why would you compare England to the USA?’
“And I think this is our chance to show them that we’re comparable and that we’re just as good as any of the top three teams.”
Ahead of the trip to England, Hanratty made just two changes to the team that won 54-24 Italy last time in nashville.
This includes a return to the starting XV for record scorer Hope Rogers, who came off the bench a week ago, while Abigail Paton has been installed as the starting scrum-half.
Friday’s game is sure to push the Eagles to the limit. Beating up Ireland and recording a win against a team ranked in the top five in the world is one thing, but a long-time number one side? That’s a whole different kettle of fish.
“Our job this week is to challenge them,” Hanratty said. “We want to see what aspects of the game we’ve developed so we can challenge the best in the world? That’s our job.
“I think we have a little bit of a free kick opportunity. But I like the fact that we’re going into it with momentum.”
“It’s the end of an eight-week tour, and it’s amazing that our meetings are still energetic and that our training is still high quality.
“For me, the fact that we get to play at home against the world champions – what an amazing end to Bella’s first year, my first year and this team’s first year in what I hope will be an amazing four years.”
