Why Team USA women’s rugby is seeking redemption in Friday’s match in Kansas City
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Players recall beginning World Cup prep at CPKC Stadium last season.
- U.S. faces Australia Friday in the Pacific Four Series after losing to New Zealand.
- New head coach Jack Hanratty is implementing a new free-flowing system.
For some United States women’s rugby players, playing in CPKC Stadium is an anticipated return to the place where they began their World Cup prep last season.
Team USA faced Canada in Kansas City last season in the first match of the Pacific Four Series, an annual tournament featuring the two North American foes as well as Australia and New Zealand. Last year’s match was attended by 10,518 fans, record for a USA women’s rugby match.
This year, the PAC4 Series is back in KC with all four teams participating in a doubleheader on Friday. Second-ranked Canada faces third-ranked New Zealand at 5:15 p.m. and the U.S. (ranked ninth) will battle Australia (eighth) at 8 p.m.
It’s the second week of the tournament. New Zealand beat USA 48-15 and Canada beat Australia 24-0 in Sacramento last weekend.
Kansas City Current co-owner Angie Long was eager to host the national team and its players last season before they played in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup later that summer. The players were grateful for the record-breaking experience, including the raucous environment in a stadium built for women’s soccer.
That atmosphere prepared them well for the loud European crowds they’d encounter in the World Cup.
“I think all of us were not used to that many fans.,” flanker Freda Tafuna said.
Tafuna is a rising star in the USA pipeline. A senior at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, she helped the powerhouse program win two national titles and is the first athlete to win MA Sorensen Award twice. The honor is given to the best college women’s rugby player.
“We’re not used to ... having the crowd overtake our voices on the field,” Tafuna said. “So when we had that last year, we went to World Cup knowing, ‘OK, we’re gonna have the same thing in the next few months.’ So we came up with stuff to be able to understand each other on the field.”
Friday’s doubleheader includes World Cup rematches. Canada beat New Zealand in the semifinals, while the U.S. tied with Australia in pool play, eventually causing the Americans to miss the knockout stage.
The Women’s Eagles have plenty of family and friends coming to Friday’s showdown. They’re arriving from all across the country for the grudge match.
“I think (her family is) just really eager, especially after we tied Australia at the World Cup, and that was kind of what decided our fate in the World Cup, to not make the quarterfinals,” American center Emily Henrich said.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Henrich is one of the many multi-sport athletes in women’s pro rugby. She was a champion before as a nationally ranked teenage aerial skier.
The Dartmouth alum now plays for the Leicester Tigers in the Premiership Women’s Rugby league in England, as well as for the Boston Banshees in U.S.-based Women’s Elite Rugby.
“I think we’re all really hungry for redemption, to get that win,” Henrich said. “And so I think there’s even more of a reason to like, come out and support, because it is that sort of like redemption arc.”
Some former University of Iowa rugby players may be on hand to support wing Erica Coulibaly. The former Hawkeye started playing with the school’s club team and debuted for USA’s 7s and 15s team last year.
“Having last year been my first year with the USA, getting my first cap,” Coulibaly said, “it’s exciting to come back as somewhat of a seasoned player and show what I’ve done, the growth that I’ve had in the past year.”
In addition to multi-sport athletes, Friday’s matches will showcase some of the best women’s players in the world. Internationally known personality Ilona Maher was one of the main draws of the show last year but wasn’t selected for this tournament.
This time, such veterans as Hope Rogers, Alev Keltier and captain Erica Jarrell-Searcy will lead the squad.
Jarrell-Searcy has one of the most interesting stories on the roster. The Harvard graduate is the granddaughter of Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Dudley Herschbach. Jarrell-Searcy, 27, earned her bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology in 2022 and has pursued a rugby career ever since.
Leading from the back row, the Boston native currently plays for the Sale Sharks in the PWR. She and her teammates are playing their first matches under new head coach Jack Hanratty, whose free-flowing system has supplanted a more traditional style of play.
“There’s things that are a bit clunky,” Jarrell-Searcy said. “We played our first game of the season against the third-best team in the world, so I think we’ve definitely gotten put to the test pretty early.
“But within that challenge, we were able to show some stuff that is definitely bolstering our desire to kind of stick with what we’re doing and perfect it, because we’re pretty sure it’s the right way to go.”
