USA RUGBY — The USA Women’s National Team (WNT) has had a short week to prepare for its final WXV 1 match against Ireland this Friday, October 11 at 12:30 p.m. PT. Catch the free livestream on RugbyPass TV. [lead photo: Travis Prior for USA Rugby]

WNT Head Coach Sione Fukofuka only made two changes to this week’s roster, bringing Cassidy Bargell into the starting scrumhalf position and adding Emily Henrich to the replacements bench. Starting prop Hope Rogers is set to appear in her 50th tournament with the Eagles, becoming only the second woman to hit the 50-cap mark with the program. Captain Kate Zackary will also earn her 40th international test cap, a testament to the growing program.

Hallie Taufoou / Photo: Travis Prior for USA Rugby

“I just wanted to acknowledge the milestones in this game with Kate and Hope celebrating 40 and 50 test matches, which is an amazing achievement from two very special players,” Fukofuka said. “We are looking forward to putting in a team performance that reflects the respect that the entire playing group and management have for both these players. We have looked to speed the game up with Cass coming into 9, while the two changes to our bench with Taina and Emily reflect the manner in which we want to finish the game with our bomb squad adding impact off the bench.”

The Eagles have won five of eight matchups against Ireland, most recently in 2018. Their last meeting on the pitch ended with an Ireland win during the 2021 Autumn Internationals. Ireland beat New Zealand in week 1 of the WXV 1 and followed with a loss to Canada, while the USA have dropped its matches to England and France.

“Ireland are playing with confidence after beating Australia and New Zealand recently, so we know that it will be an 80-minute contest with set piece and the collision zone a feature,” Fukofuka said. “Ireland have a good kicking game and are tactically smart, so we are looking to turn that pressure into opportunities with ball in hand and expressing ourselves with and without the ball.”

Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. PT (local time) and streaming for free on RugbyPass TV.

USA Roster v Ireland | Oct. 11, 2024