Thirty players have been named to the USA Women’s National 15s team that will face France in a three-test series this month (June 7, 11, 14). Similar to the November tour to Europe, the Eagles have centralized their experience in the forwards, while the backs are still experimenting with newer combinations.

Prop Jamie Burke leads the team as captain and is joined by seven fellow forwards who played in the 2010 Rugby World Cup. Of the youngest breed, the tight five sees DI college championship MVP, Hope Rogers (Penn State), vie for a front-row spot, as well as Jess Davis (American International College), who traveled to Europe last fall but wasn’t capped.

Sharon Blaney anchors the second row and she’ll be working with two uncapped players at lock. USA WNT coach Pete Steinberg has praised the noticeable improvement of Stanford alum Molly Kinsella, who will compete against 32-year-old Carmen Farmer for time at lock. Farmer has been playing rugby about a year and until recently played wing.

There was no room for “up and comers” in the back row, as six well known, well deserved players fill the roster. Steinberg has his mobile flankers in Lynelle Kugler – the standard – Stacey Bridges and Shaina Turley, to name a few.

Scrumhalf might be the most hotly contested position. Jossy Tseng has taken a break from medical school to pursue the 2014 RWC team, and will split time with Jenny Lui, who spent last summer in Canada transitioning from center to 9, and Caroline White.

Flyhalf is in a similar situation: Hannah Stolba and Sadie Anderson have been swapping out of 10 for the last couple of years. Anderson was added to the USA 7s payroll in January but her inexperience with the 7s game left her off the RWC Sevens roster. She’s available for France now and should feel more at home in 15s. But Anne Peterson turned some heads at both the DII college championship, which her team (Washington State) won, and the Top 60 camp. Peterson hails from Tanzania and has been playing for years, and it shows.

The rest of the backline – centers and back three – have a slew of relatively untested players. Ashley Kmiecik is the most senior, having played in England in 2010, and will most likely be seen at wing. Meya Bizer follows in terms of caps and played two games against France at center last fall. The Penn State center brings loads of physicality to the position and was most recently seen at the USA 7s CRC final stiff-arming her way to two tries and a tournament title.

Ryan Carlyle shouldn't be considered a rookie, as she's been training with the USA 7s team for more than a year now. Amanda Street has 7s experience, too, and should transition nicely, while University of Colorado stalwart Erin Overcash will look for her first cap. 

Erika Cavanaugh and Megan Bonny will be working off each other at center. The former has been on the periphery since leaving the University of Virginia a couple of years ago and made the cut for one USA 7s tour last year. Bonny spent the last four years with Washington State and ended her career with a DII title and MVP nod. 

Back in November, the dynamism of the backs’ attack was scrutinized, and this three-test series is an opportunity for younger players to plead their case for when the USA selects the Nations Cup squad in late July. Then, the USA 7s Eagles will be available for selection (they're currently preparing for the RWC 7s in late June), and we might see players like Vix Folayan, Nathalie Marchino and Vanesha McGee repopulate the lineup.

The first two tests against France will be contested at Oxnard College, 60 miles west of Los Angeles. The June 14 match will coincide with the USA Men’s test against Tonga at the Home Depot Center (although the women’s game will occur outside of the stadium).

USA Women National Team - France Tests (June 7, 11, 14)

Sadie Anderson – flyhalf

Katy Augustyn - hooker

Meya Bizer - center

Sharon Blaney - lock

Megan Bonny - center

Stacey Bridges - back row

Jamie Burke - prop

Ryan Carlyle - wing

Erica Cavanaugh - wing

Sarah Chobot - prop

Kate Daley - back row

Jessica  Davis - prop

Mel Denham - back row

Carmen Farmer - lock

Molly  Kinsella - lock

ashley kmiecik - wing

Lynelle Kugler - back row

Jenny Lui - scrumhalf

Erin Overcash - center

Anne Peterson - flyhalf

Naima reddick - prop

Hope Rogers - prop

Hannah Stolba - flyhalf

Amanda Street - wing

Jocelyn Tseng - scrumhalf

Shaina Turley - back row

Kittery Wagner - hooker

Sarah Walsh - lock

Caroline White - scrumhalf

Kristin Zdanczewicz - back row

Penn State had a good weekend in Philadelphia, as both the men’s and women’s 7s teams put forth their best-to-date performances at the Collegiate Rugby Championship. The men advanced to the Cup quarterfinals (falling five points shy of Navy), while the women took the whole tournament, beating Ohio State 31-5 in the title match.

The women’s team is synonymous with winning national titles, but victory wasn’t the outcome during the last CRC. Elena Cantorna remembered the 2011 final's loss to Army.

“I broke my hand in 2011 leading into the stadium, so I never made it in,” the scrumhalf said. “I was just trying to get on the field [in 2011], so this was a turnaround year for me – and the team, too. We’re a lot closer this year, both in 7s and 15s, and we’ve become a really cohesive unit. It feels great stepping out with them, and there aren’t as many nerves because you know the person standing next to you has your back.”

PSU began their path back to PPL Park with three shutout wins against Georgia Tech, Temple and Drexel, then knocked out Texas 17-5 in the semifinals. Again, little surprise that Penn State was contending for the championship, but the team’s successes during the first two days of competition were the result of intense preparation.

“It was hard coming off a national championship,” Cantorna said of the DI college 15s title in early May. “We were still celebrating, and then all of a sudden we had to get serious again for a month’s push of 7s. It was a really hard turnaround, but we had some really good coaching [Bay of Plenty’s Chad Tuoro] that helped. We played some lead-in tournaments that were a little rough, but we kept building and by the time we got here, we were set, confident and ready to play.”

Ohio State was ready to play, too. OSU had defeated Texas, Boston University, Kutztown and Georgia Tech en route to PPL Park, and the Buckeyes wanted hardware just as eagerly.

Penn State started the scoring before a minute ticked off the clock. Once in striking distance, USA 7s and 15s Eagle Meya Bizer planted two huge stiff-arms on defenders before dotting down. Bianca Dalal, who proved incredibly effective off the boot and at sweeper, notched the conversion for the 7-0 lead.

Ohio State kept their heads up, and even though down 12-0 quickly, were able to run some offense, side-stepping defense and linking up with support. But once inside their 22 meter, the Penn State defense was impenetrable – save one instance.

Akua Adu-Gyamfi was the undeniable highlight of the OSU squad, but never took on too much by forcing an individual effort. After a PSU forward pass, Ohio State won their scrum and Adu-Gyamfi tap-danced around some Lady Lions long enough to put her winger into space. She then received the following offload and dragged some defenders into the try zone, 12-5 into the half.

The most telling series of play occurred early in the second half. Ohio State was building nicely to the 50 meter, and as the ball was working out of the ruck, a nice, steep OSU line stretched across the pitch. But the ball was kicked deep across the field, and had Adu-Gyamfi received notice, she might have beaten Dalal to the ball. But instead, the sure-footed sweeper kicked it immediately into touch for the OSU lineout in Penn State’s end.

Penn State stole the lineout but then a no-pressure knock-on awarded OSU a scrum right in front of the posts. The PSU defense made up for the error and stifled the Buckeyes’ attempts to compose themselves and move forward – or anywhere other than backward. Finally, PSU regained possession as Ohio State sent a forward pass (that would have been a try), typical of a retreating offense, and forcing a scrum.

The series showed that Penn State was not infallible – they dropped balls, slipped off tackles, got caught out of position – but there was always another layer of protection ensuring one mistake didn’t result in points-against.

The game ended the way it began: After a systematic advance downfield, Bizer dummied from a five-meter ruck and dove into the center of the try zone, 31-5 the final. OSU was a worthy opponent but couldn't match the uniform speed and precision of Penn State.

As the players remained in their jerseys, medals around their neck, while watching the rest of the CRC inside PPL Park, it was clear that the tournament was more than another title in the books; there was a different brand of pride that came with playing in front of thousands of rugby fans.

“We wanted to take this opportunity to have fun, because we don’t play in this kind of environment often,” Cantorna said as the crowd thundered above. “It was the one chance where we could show how good women’s rugby can be, so we wanted a good game from us, which we got. Women’s rugby deserves some of the respect that the guys get.”