The USA Falcons are in the United Arab Emirates for the women’s Dubai Invitational, an international rugby tournament that runs alongside the Dubai 7s, the first stop on the 2023-24 HSBC SVNS series. Irene Gardner and Kelly Griffin are coaching the Falcons, and they have selected 12 players to represent the USA developmental side. Autumn LoCicero and Sarah Levy serve as co-captains. [lead photo c/o USA Rugby]

“We expect high-paced, physical play and are excited to showcase USA Pathways at an international tournament alongside a SVNS event,” USA Falcons head coach Irene Gardner said. “The opportunity for our pathway players to experience the international tour is critical for their development and the future of the USA Women’s Sevens program. We are grateful for generous donors who have made this a reality for our developing players.”

The USA Falcons last took the pitch in May 2023 during the NextGen 7s tournament in Canada. Six players have returned from that tournament, including USA 7s residents Autumn Czaplicki and Kaylen Thomas. Thomas was a freshman at Mount St. Mary’s University when she first represented the Falcons but has since relocated to Chula Vista for that full-time experience. SoCal local Makell Edwards also debuted with the Falcons during the Canadian tour, and both she and Thomas  recounted their time in British Columbia: Read more.

NextGen returners and Life University Running Eagles Autumn LoCicero and Alex Wantlin are back in the Falcons kit, as is Natalie Bjorklund, who is full-time at the Rhinos Rugby Academy. The SoCal organization provides lots of playing opportunities – whether in PR 7s or abroad in South Africa and Fiji – and several Falcons enrich their experiences through the Rhinos.

Karina Gauto is one such player. The Rhinos member has also represented Canada at the Rugby League World Cup and debuts with the Falcons in Dubai. Gauto is joined by fellow Falcons first-timers Syd Copeland out of Western Washington University and Ashley Cowdrey, the USA U20 standout who helped Davenport University to the DII NIRA championship a couple of weeks ago.

That youth is balanced by three more USA 7s residents in Mata Hingano, Sarah Levy and Jess Lu. They’re in that high-performance daily training environment alongside Czaplicki, Thomas and the rest of the USA 7s Eagles who are also in Dubai looking for their first HSBC SVNS win this weekend.

USA FALCONS ROSTER

Natalie Bjorklund – Rhinos Academy
Syd Copeland – Western Washington Univ.
Ashley Cowdrey – Davenport Univ.
Autumn Czaplicki – USA 7s
Makell Edwards – Golden State Retrievers (PR 7s)
Karina Gauto – Leprechaun Tiger RC (Can)
Mata Hingano – USA 7s
Autumn LoCicero – Life Univ.
Sarah Levy – USA 7s
Jess Lu – USA 7s
Kaylen Thomas – USA 7s
Alex Wantlin – Life Univ.

STAFF

Coach Irene Gardner
Coach Kelly Griffin
ATC Jennese Bacon
Analysis Lauren Barber

The Dubai Invitational includes 10 teams divided into two pools of five. The USA Falcons will play Ireland A, Rhino Stompers and France Militaire on Friday (Dubai local time), and then wrap up with Kenya on Saturday. The knockouts are Sunday, Dec. 3. The top-two teams from each pool flow into the Cup semifinals, and the 3rd and 4th-place teams in the pool standings head to the Plate semifinals. The 5th place teams will contest a final game for the 9th place overall ahead of the Plate and Cup finals. The Plate Final is 3:40 p.m. in Dubai, and the Cup final is 4:42 p.m. on Sunday.

There is no livestream. The best place for information is the “Emirates Dubai 7s” app. Download the app, then click on the homepage, click the trophy icon for the Fixtures & Results page. Select “tournaments,” then scroll to “International Invitation Women” for a full schedule and results. The app does not adjust for the viewer’s time zone and kickoffs are listed in local time. Dubai is nine hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST).

USA FALCONS SCHEDULE

Times listed in EST
FRI 6:20am Ireland A
FRI 8:40am Rhino Stompers
FRI 10:20am France Militaire
SAT 10am Kenya
SUN 5am Knockouts begin