LONDON, ENG. – The USA Women’s Sevens have named their roster for RugbyX, a new five-on-five tournament taking place at The O2 in London on Oct 29.
Led by recently appointed Assistant Coach Warren Abrahams, the USA women bring a group diverse in experience. Six of the 12 players recently won gold at home in Glendale, Colo., for the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, while seven also won silver just before that at the Pan American Games in Lima.
Most capped USA Women’s Sevens player Alev Kelter will serve as co-captain alongside Kayla Canett who, like Kelter, helped the USA win its first ever gold medal at the 2019 season finale in Biarritz and then silver at aforementioned PanAm Games.
Club Sevens Champion Kayla Lawson (San Diego Surfers) and fellow tournament standout Saskia Morgan (Scion Rugby) will both feature as well. Morgan most recently won the Las Vegas Invitational with the USA Falcons in March.
“I am really looking forward to leading this group of players, into an exciting new format of the game,” said Coach Abrahams. “RugbyX will provide us with another great opportunity to continue building on this exciting learning journey and keep challenging ourselves individually against the world’s best. I have no doubt the atmosphere at the O2 arena will be amazing but it’s imperative we enjoy the moment and represent the badge with pride.”
The USA are joined by teams from Ireland, England and France. Each side will play two games in total starting with a group match — where the U.S. faces Ireland — and then a final for either 3rd/4th place or the title.
A full contact version of the sport with a unique twist, RugbyX will be played on a half-sized pitch with no lineouts, scrums, conversions or penalty kicks. Standard rules for the sport still apply with more details on format, as well as tickets, available at rugbyx.com. Broadcast information is still to be confirmed. Fans can follow @USARugby on Twitter for score updates.
USA WOMEN’S ROSTER
Kayla Canett (Co-Captain)
Cheta Emba
Emily Henrich
Fane Haungatau
Jazmine Gray
Alev Kelter (Co-Captain)
Kayla Lawson
Kasey McCravey
Saskia Morgan
Alena Olsen
Stephanie Rovetti
Naya Tapper
STAFF
High Performance Director | Emilie Bydwell
Head Coach | Warren Abrahams
Athletic Trainer | Hilary Stepansky
RUGBYX SCHEDULE
vs Ireland | 11:55 AM ET
3rd/4th Place Playoff | 3:40 PM ET
Final | 4:25 PM ET
*Broadcast information TBD